Our new living room had this gigantic, empty wall. It desperately needed to be filled with SOMETHING, and since we already had a larger frame hanging on another wall, I wanted it to be something different. I wanted it to speak for itself, you know? Spoiler alert: it does!! Here’s how to create this beautiful shelf in 6 simple steps:
1. Gather Materials to Make & Decorate the Shelf
For the shelf itself, we went to Lowe’s & got each of the following:
- Boards. Spencer and I grabbed a 0.75×1.5 and two 0.75×3.5 boards. We wanted them to go across the wall 5 ft, so we took them to be cut at the cutting center. (I think Home Depot does whole sizes. You can get the same look if it’s 1 inch instead of 0.75.)
- Spray paint or paint in the color of your choice
- Screws if you don’t already have the correct size
For the frames, I just looked for what I liked. I was searching for gold and mirrored accents. I knew I needed bigger options, like an 11×14, as well as smaller options such as a frame for a 2×3 photo. I spent time laying them down (yes, in the store- no shame), stacking them, and going from there. I had better luck with the bigger frames at Walmart. The goal is to get enough variation: aim for 2-3 large ones, 3-4 medium, and 2-3 small ones.
- Home Goods had really great options in their clearance!
- Walmart impressed me! I got a Mainstays Rustic frame for $5 (it was hard not to grab each size!), Mainstays Scoop for $5 with such pretty detail (great quality!), this Laurence Frames, and this Mainstays Ornate Decorative frame. Overall SO happy with all of those!
2. Order Photos
Be sure not to do this before getting frames, because you may not end up with the exact sizes or layout you wanted originally. Once you have your frames all together, make sure to spend some time laying out the frames to decide how they might be ordered and stacked. You may find that one frame looks better horizontal even though it originally comes vertical. Do this to make sure you order the correct photo for it! I am so particular that I spend time choosing which photo I wanted to go into which frame, then ordered it in the size of the frame. I printed through Walmart- their app was easy to use for this!
3. Create The Shelf
Drilling it together was super easy. We stacked the back board (the one against the wall, 0.75×3.5) on top of the bottom board (the one that the frames sit on, 0.75×3.5) and used 4 screws. We placed the front board (0.75×1.5) in FRONT of the bottom board, this way we wouldn’t see the separation from the front, but rather the bottom. See picture below:
4. Paint It
We just went with spray paint. Beige color of course. I laid a sheet in the garage and only needed 2 coats.
5. Hang it
We drilled 3 screws into the back of the shelf into the wall. It was easy as that! The hardest part was leveling it (as always *eye roll*).
6. The BEST Part: Decorate it!!!!
Once you’ve picked up your photos (I was so antsy, I went to pick them up while the paint was drying), fill the frames with them & begin decorating!! If you are extremely antsy like I was, and the paint isn’t dry, you could lay out the frames on the floor or a table to see it come together!
If you create this beautiful shelf, please post and tag me! If it weren’t overkill, I would put one on every wall just to feel the satisfaction of seeing my vision come to life again and again!
