Master Bedroom Gallery Wall

Who else has a giant wall in their master bedroom? We love the vaulted ceilings, but the wall behind the bed sat empty for over two years. Below is a picture of the master bedroom before we made any changes.

After pulling together my inspiration and sharing a few months ago, I started to think about what I wanted on the wall. I researched making shutters to match the barn door, and looked around for something cool to hang on the wall, but didn’t find anything that I loved. I wanted the decor to be meaningful, but also streamlined and not cluttered.

The photos

Enter the master bedroom gallery wall. After our trip to Charleston in May, I decided to use some of the photos from our trip. I looked through the images and found six that picked up on colors in the new bedding from Pottery Barn. I chose a mix of buildings, nature and metal with the goal of creating the feeling of a cohesive collection (even though I wasn’t thinking about that when I took the pictures). I printed the photos at Costco. If you’ve never used Costco photo services, I highly recommend taking a look. They are very affordable and I’m always pleased with the quality.

The frames

I looked at a bunch of black picture frames online and ended up going with the Ikea Ribba frame. I bought six 16×20 frames, which hold an 11×14 image with the matte. One important note is the mats. After reading some other reviews, it turns out the mats that come with the frames aren’t a bright white. That may be fine, and it may not. I wanted bright white mats, so ended up ordering these from Matboard Plus for a very reasonable cost. Another trick is to flip the mat over and use the backside, which is white. However, you lose the bevel edge when you do this.

The Layout

For the layout, I knew I wanted a symmetrical pattern. I also didn’t want it to wide, as eventually, mirrors will hang above the nightstands. Using the inserts from the frames as a template, I measured and nailed holes into the wall. From there, it was easy to hang all six frames.

We love the frames above the bed, and it’s a great daily reminder of our wonderful trip to Charleston!

Shared on Thoughts of Home on Thursday and Metamorphosis Monday and Thrifty Decor Chick