There is an awkwardly shaped wall in our living room, sandwiched between two open entries into said room. Part of this wall is cut on a diagonal on one side because our staircase is on the other side. I am sitting here on my front porch struggling to describe this wall. Regardless of my lack of finesse in painting a vivid picture of our wall, all you really need to know is that it was a blank canvas, begging to be decorated.
~For the longest time, these decals were the only thing I had decorated this wall with. (Feb. 2, 2019)~
When we had our home built, like everyone else in this development, we didn’t have any say in the paint colours, fixtures, carpet etc. We got what we got. In the case of the paint, we got the cheapest of the cheap, in the most boring shade of bland possible. After a series of rentals, I was longing for some colour. Unfortunately, it was only hindsight that showed us we should have used the delay in our belongings being delivered by the moving truck, to paint all of the walls. Since I am not versed in the theoretical art of time travel, I could only press on and hope that making it my goal to paint just one solitary wall of our home was not too much to task myself with. I should have known myself better.
~I finally removed the musical decals. It was bittersweet because they had been there for so long. However, they also ripped off parts of the wall so that was fun… (April 12, 2016)~
It wasn’t as simple as finding the perfect paint colour. I had a vision, fueled by years of flipping through Country Living magazines, and browsing room designs on Pinterest, to create a gallery wall. So, I just had to find a bunch of unique, kitschy items and pictures to hang on the wall, right? Wrong. I did have some of those things stashed away, but I also decided I wanted to make some of the artwork and decor as well. Thus, this goal to Create an Eclectic Gallery Wall was added to my Forty Before Forty list.
~There was a lot of deliberating. (Dec. 16, 2025)~
~If you’ve ever watched Gilmore Girls, I absolutely sang the painting song Lorelai sang to Luke.
(April 11, 2026)~
It took way too long to settle on the perfect colour. I even ordered paint chip samples and lived with them on the wall for weeks (er…months), studying them in various lighting and times of the day, trying to envision how it would make the room feel. Eventually, I landed on Sherwin Williams Coastal Plain. Raymond took me to Lowe’s for Mother’s Day to pick up my lovely green paint, and to replenish our paint supplies. Then I seized the first moment that I felt relatively well to get started taping off the wall, and then painting. My daughter volunteered to help out as well, so we got the first coat done pretty quickly. Unfortunately, I went with a cheaper base than I usually do, so the paint didn’t go on as smoothly as I was expecting. However, I got the second coat done, did some touch-ups and happily stood back to admire the accomplishment.
~The winning paint chip colour! (April 13, 2026)~
~My daughter’s help was appreciated. (April 12, 2026)~
~The joy of checking off goals! (April 12, 2026)~
There were some framed prints on the wall before I painted it, and I wanted to include them in the new gallery wall, but the frames did not fit the aesthetic I was aiming for. I found some gorgeously ornate picture frames online, then I used Procreate to mix and match the frames with the prints. This allowed me to see how the different combos would look together. When I was waffling a bit, my daughter gave me some excellent feedback and it all fell into place. I was elated when the frames arrived and I got to see how well they worked with the artwork I wanted to continue to display.
~This messy mock up I made in Procreate really helped me settle on which frames I wanted to order for these lovely prints by Amy Kavelaris that I ordered several years ago.~
~Our family’s verse was the first thing that was hung up because we left holes for it, and just put it back up. (April 14, 2026)~
In the end, I was able to create multiple pieces of art of my own to add to the gallery, in addition to pieces created by other artists. Since the placement needed to be precise with so many items, I laid out what I had on the floor to get an idea of how I wanted them placed. Then I snapped a picture. I also used a tip I saw online years ago, and traced all of the things I wanted to hang on the wall. Then I cut out the tracings and taped those to the wall where I wanted them. This made Raymond’s job of hammering nails and other wall-hanging hardware a lot easier.
~Visualizing the layout. (May 6, 2026)~
~Raymond was a huge help in getting everything hung up. (May 17, 2026)~
~He loves me. ^_^ (May 17, 2026)~
I purposefully left some small spaces to add new items in the future, and there is one thing I still need to paint. I offered each of my family members the chance to add a piece of their own art to the wall, but my husband is the only one who took me up on that. He wants to add the clay mask he made in high school to the gallery, but we can’t seem to find it. We didn’t do an exhaustive search, so I am hoping that once we tame the nightmare that is our garage, we’ll come across it in one of the storage bins. However, despite these little details, the wall is done. It is green, it is lovely, and I am excited to look up and see so much hard work on display above our piano.
~This is a wonderful mix of art and words that make me smile. Sorry about the lighting!
(June 12, 2026).~
~I love how embroidery and cross-stitch look but this tiny project confirmed that even I just don’t have the patience for it. (November 18, 2025)~
~I love dapper animal portraits, so I decided to try to paint my own. I chose a selection of Canada’s best known animals. (May 1, 2026)~
~Ever since I saw the Hobbit wreath idea online, I have wanted to make one. I decided to use only what I had on hand already and I am happy with how it turned out. (May 17, 2026)~
~In another effort to use what I already had, I repurposed a necklace to make this cheap frame look prettier. I got the print from a recent ladies event at my church. (May 6, 2026)~
~I got this blank wooden piece so that I could paint something for Raymond. He chose Mipha from Breath of the Wild. I sat down and painted it that evening so that it could join the other things he had already hung on the wall that day. He was very happy with how it turned out. ^_^ (May 17, 2026)~
Goal Accomplished: May 18, 2026
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