Weekend Project: Gallery Wall and Sconces

We made some baby steps in house decorating this weekend.  I say baby steps because it really wasn’t a lot, but two small projects with 3 small children around still took the good part of a day.  First wiring and hanging these beautiful, brass sconces that I lurve so much from School House Electric & Supply Company. Originally we wanted them to be hard wired into the wall, but since the lights themselves didn’t have an on/off switch, that means the only way to switch them on and off by from the bed (which is the point of having bedside lighting in my opinion) was to add a cord with a switch.  Now we could have sent them back to Schoolhouse Electric & Supply and paid a little extra to have them rewired, but we wanted to control where the switch was and we wanted to choose the cord.  A quick internet search led us to the Color Cord Company.  They have everything to you need to make your own pendants with cloth covered cords that come in so many great colors and patterns.  They also have switches, bulb cages, socket covers, plugs and pretty much anything you need for wiring a DIY light fixture.  We went with the olive colored cord and a black switch.  B drilled a hole through the bottom of the sconce and did the simple wiring to make a switch.  Voila!  I love how they turned out.

I know a hanging cord would be a deal breaker for some people but I don’t like things to look too perfect (remember that fact… it will be important later on) and while it’s not exactly an industrial looking room, I feel like the fabric covered cords give it a slight vintage industrial vibe that I really like.

Next we tackled the gallery wall in the living room.  It always seems like hanging pictures is the thing that happens about a year after you’ve lived in your house.  Hanging pictures seems like such a big commitment, so I want to get it right the first time.  However my new MO is just to get things up on the walls and if I don’t like it, then I can always re-arrange it or change it up later.  What makes it even easier is using Command picture hanging strips.  I bought a whole bunch of these on Amazon when we first moved in and I am loving these!  I’ve used them before but sorta forgot about them for a while.

First we decided what pictures we wanted to display on the wall, then we cut out paper the size of each picture and arranged those on the wall first.  It feels like a huge pain to do this step but it makes the rest of the process so much smoother and assures less mistakes in the actual hanging process.  So overall, it’s a time and sanity saver.

B hung the three largest pictures with the ol’ drill, screw and wire method, but everything else was hung with Command hanging strips.  For light pictures just one strip along the top will do, heavier pictures will need a 1-2 strips on each side.  Make sure to read the directions because you have to press them for a few seconds on the wall and then let them sit an hour before hanging pictures, so it takes a little longer but worth it!

OK–so remember how I don’t like things to look too perfect?  Well at the end I found some pictures of Zuzu that weren’t in frames yet and I had the idea to put them on the wall in some of the bigger gaps with a little washi tape.  I like the look.  Not too perfect, a little pop of color–sort of hodgepodge.  B however does not like it.  At all.  Thinks it just looks like a place holder until I get frames.  So we’re taking a poll–do you like the wash taped up pictures, or like B do you think it just looks crazy?  Remember I can change the color of the tape and switch out the pictures even quicker.  I was going to add a few more to the wall too so it wasn’t just the two, but so far it’s just those two.  Please, please give your honest opinion.  B told me that no one would give their honest opinion on the blog.  Ha!  I assured him that was not a problem… so if you have a minute leave a comment letting us know which you prefer.  Not that it will change my mind  🙂

Overall I really love the gallery wall this time around… I like that we left it a little asymmetrical and thrown together looking.  I think it helps the chairs look a little less formal.  The only thing is that I’m realizing I need more art besides my own.  I’m going to start working on a collection.  And if there are any artists out there wanting to do a trade, hit me up!

So that’s it!  It’s funny how even a couple projects really help me feel more settled and like we accomplished something major around the house.

ps–For any of you fellow Mormons out there that middle drawing is all of the temples in Utah drawn on top of each other by artist Maddison Colvin.  I’m not a big fan of most church art, but still want to represent in my home ya know?  I love this piece and told B, now we don’t just have one temple picture we have 13!  You can order a print here.