Here’s my take on how to add modern style to your home by creating an IKEA gallery wall.
You don’t have to look too hard on Pinterest or in design magazines to find beautiful gallery wall art displays. Whether incorporating personal photos, artwork, 3D objects, or a mix of all three, you will find plenty of inspiration.
Home Design on a Budget
It can be a real disappointment when you land on an idea you love, but you realize the cost is not realistic. Welcome to the story of our home design! Luke and I realized pretty early on in our design process that we had expensive taste. Building the Tree HousE was stressful enough, but then trying to decorate it and on a budget? It has been a bit of a challenge.
Thankfully, we have had amazing help with the interior design process from my friend, Kristen Suding, who is the owner of Inland Interiors. She has a genius mind that can see an empty space and know exactly what to do with it.
Filling the Space
We have a very large great room, which is an awesome feature of our house, but the ceilings are very tall, which leads to extremely large, empty walls. I am perfectly fine with some blank wall space, but the vast space that we have was leaving me overwhelmed and uninspired.
Kristen suggested using utilizing gallery wall art displays in a few areas of our home, including the great room. I was excited because I loved the look, but I was concerned because I know that paying for framed wall art can become very expensive, very quickly.
What I love about Kristen is that she can usually come up with a less-expensive version of a high-end look. This is where she suggested creating an IKEA gallery wall…yes, using inexpensive IKEA frames.
Creating an IKEA Gallery Wall
Purchasing the Frames
IKEA has the Ribba frame series, which comes in white or black, and in a multitude of sizes. They range from $7.99 for a 12×16” frame on up to $19.99 for a 24×36” frame. The frames are nice quality, but instead of glass, they are made of plexiglass. You can’t tell a difference when they are hanging on the wall, and this also makes the frame a little lighter in weight.
Ordering the Mats
The next step was ordering mats for the frames. We wanted to frame a lot of our children’s artwork (check out this post with more info about what to do about all the artwork your children bring home from school), which meant that we would need mats in different sizes than the standard ones including with the frames.
I had no idea that custom mats would be so expensive! I was floored to see mats ranging from $15-$20 each. There was no way I was going to spend that. However, I discovered two websites that offered custom matting at amazing prices! Wholesale Matboards and Matboard and More both allowed me to order custom mat sizes at an extremely affordable price. Custom mats from Wholesale Matboards cost under $6 for most of them, even the large sizes. I ended up having to use Matboard and More for two mats that I wanted to be offset and not centered in the frame. Wholesale Matboards and More did not offer this option. Matboard and More was a little bit more expensive, but still very reasonable compared to other places I researched. All of the mats from both companies arrived in perfect condition and well-packaged. The quality has been perfect!
I ordered special acid-free framing tape from Wholesale Matboards so that I could safely adhere the art and photos to the mat without causing yellowing or cracking of the tape over time. We assembled the frames and got to the hard part — arranging a layout!
Picking a Layout
There are lots of tutorials on how to design a gallery wall on Pinterest, but we just went with what felt right. I struggle with gallery walls that are not in a grid pattern, whereas my husband likes the off-set, less precise look. We have a mix of both in our house, but the majority of our gallery displays reflect a grid pattern of some sort.
A mix of our girls’ artwork and a couple favorite photos for our downstairs living room area. I chose super bright and funky colors for both the art and the rug.
I let Luke hang this artwork “off-set” on this wall. Compromise.
Because of the lightweight nature of the IKEA frames, we actually used Command Hooks for a lot of our hanging. This was a great option, because if we didn’t like the placement of a frame when it was hung, we could easily remove it without having to repair a hole in the wall. Not every frame worked will with a command hook, but the bulk of them did!
Printing the Photos
For our photo gallery wall, I had the photos printed at MPix, which is my favorite online photo lab. The images were printed as 11×14 inch prints, and then I had the custom mats made to fit that opening in the 19 ¾ x19 ¾ inch Ribba frame. I used the acid free tape (mentioned above) to secure the photo to the back of the mat. I taped around each side and left no gaps.
I am so happy that we were able to achieve the look of expensive gallery wall displays for much less. I would say the average price of each frame, once you account for the frame, mat, and command hook (if using), is roughly $20-$25 each. Custom framing in any other way could easily be 2-3 times that amount, or more. The IKEA gallery wall for the win!
I am so happy with the final result.
Do you think you will create an IKEA gallery wall? I’d love to know your thoughts!
