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DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall

This post was sponsored by ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that so generously help The Sweetest Occasion keep on keepin’ on!

DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion

I’ve been wanting to tackle a gallery wall in my office ever since we moved in as a way to showcase my art print collection. I have a huge collection of letterpress prints that I’ve been building on for the last several years and I typically frame them in the same simple blonde wood frames and just add new sizes when necessary. I love how the clean lines of the frames allow the artwork to pop, but lately I’ve been thinking they could use a little bit of a makeover. So when ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape contacted me about teaming up to bring you a fun DIY project, I knew I had my inspiration!

DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion

DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion

  • Unfinished wood frames of your choice
  • Various paints and/or stains
  • ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape
  • Craft paint brushes
  • Sand paper or sanding sponge
  • Clean cloth or wood cleaning wipes
  • Kraft paper
  • Picture frame hangers
  • Scissors
  • Chalk

DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion

Start by lightly sanding the entire surface of the frame to give it a nice smooth finish. I personally like the ease of sanding sponges, this time opting for the 3M Pro Grade Sanding Sponge in extra fine. I usually keep a stash on hand for quick little projects like this. You don’t need to sand it down much, just a quick pass or two on all the sides of the frame will do. Just be sure you’re sanding in the direction of the wood grain!

DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion

Next up, use a damp lint-free cloth or a wood cleaning wipe to clean down the surface of the frame to remove any dust or fine particles. This step just helps to prep the surface for your paint or stain. Allow it to dry for a few minutes and then you’re ready to paint!

DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion

DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion

DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion

Before taking your brush to paint, think about how you want your finished frames to look. I personally chose two colors of paint – Beach Glass in High Gloss by Martha Stewart Crafts and my trusty Rust-Oleum Specialty Metallic Gold spray paint. I knew I wanted a mix of the two paint colors and the existing natural finish of the wood. So I kind of played with it as I went along, mixing and matching and layering different coats of paint to achieve the look I wanted. To get started smooth your tape over any area you don’t want painted. Apply the paint you’re working with, remove the tape and then retape over the part you just painted before adding your second color.

DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion

DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion

DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion

Once your frames are painted and completely dry, it’s time to hang up your gallery of frames! I like to start by first using a piece of chalk to trace each frame onto kraft paper. The chalk isn’t absolutely necessary, but what I like is that it will wipe right off the edge of your frame whereas pen or marker might be permanent. Then cut out your kraft paper to correspond with each frame and arrange them on your wall to determine how you’d like your gallery to look. Once you have a layout you like, tack each piece to the wall with a low-tack tape like washi tape.

DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion

DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion

Next up, tap a picture hanger in place for each of the corresponding frames, using your kraft paper layout as a guideline. I personally love and always use the kind that come with the little pin because they’re a cinch to hang up. (Like these ones.)

DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion

Once you have all the picture hangers in place, hang your frames up (without removing the kraft paper) to check for placement and spacing. If everything looks agreeable, pull the frames back down, tear away the kraft paper and then rehang all your frames. Voila! You have a gallery wall.

DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion

DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion

DIY Painted Frame Gallery Wall | The Sweetest Occasion

[Design + styling by Cyd Converse for The Sweetest Occasion. | Photos by Alice G. Patterson.]

Sources –
Natural wood frames purchased at The Art Store
You Are  My Sunshine print by May Day Studio
Live What You Love print by Heartfish Press
Things That Are Round print by 1Canoe2

The fine print: Please link with love! As with all of our posts, DIY projects featured on The Sweetest Occasion may not be copied, distributed or reproduced without express written permission. Love and links are always appreciated! If you’d like to share this post, please link to this post directly for the DIY tutorial and do not include the instructions in your own post. Thanks so much! xoxo

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This post is a collaboration with ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape Brand. Join the community at Facebook.com/scotchblue or visit scotchblue.com to learn more.

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[…] that I would also feel comfortable having in my own home, so I took inspiration from these DIY painted frames and decided to glam it up a […]

Sara Gray

Friday 23rd of August 2013

Love these, Cyd! Perfect color choices.

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Friday 23rd of August 2013

[...] Painted frame gallery from Cyd at the Sweetest Occasion [...]

Nadine

Thursday 22nd of August 2013

Oh Cyd, if only you had shared this a few months ago, it would have saved me hammering loads of nails in wrong places. Honestly, I never even thought about using craft paper placements to determine where to put my frames. Next time I will be prepared now!

cyd

Tuesday 20th of August 2013

Thanks, Brittney! I definitely love finding great prints and the Things That Are Round print has been a favorite of mine for years :-)

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