ocean-inspired gallery wall reveal

A few months ago, I wrote this blog post over at JAX does design about wanting to create an ocean-inspired gallery wall. And WOOT! It’s finally done. Another item knocked off the 2012 project to-do list – YAY! I’ll post a tutorial later this week about how I put it all together, but for today it’s just the reveal. This is the long empty wall in the hallway that I walk by countless times a day. It’s so plain and dull and boring and naked – it was just screaming out for a little somethin’-somethin’.

So a little somethin’-somethin’ it got with a collection of photos, prints, DIY art, and a mosaic tile. The hallway gets very little natural light and it’s too narrow to take a decent head-on shot, so they’re not the best pictures.

I ♥ my gallery wall! But I knew I’d love it even more if it was dark grey. This is the picture at Restyling Home by Kelly that convinced me that the colour I needed was Benjamin Moore Chelsea Gray in the ulti-matte finish (that last part I decided myself).

 

 

And I was right – I ♥ my gallery wall even more now that it’s Chelsea Gray :-)

Thank god for digital cameras – it took a LOT of tries to get this head-on shot!

All of the frames are from the Ribba series at Ikea, and all the artwork was created by me or talented artisans from around the world. I posted about creating this DIY shell art over at JAX does design a couple of weeks ago:

This is a picture that I took on the north shore of PEI that was made into a canvas by Posterjack.ca.

I took this picture at Brackley Beach in PEI – $3.00 to have it developed as a 12” x 18” photo at Costco, can’t go wrong with that!

Hubby and I bought these two prints on a trip to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia about 13 years ago.

Close-up of waves behind the whale-watching boat we rode on in the Bay of Fundy two summers ago {the one and only time I ever barfed on a boat – oh, the humiliation!}

This photo is called “Dancing Light”. I bought it from Anna’s Etsy shop my little pixels in Hobart, Tasmania.

A few more Etsy purchases – the Nova Scotia Love print is from Elizabeth’s shop Poppy and Pinecone, and the sand dollar print is from Kerrie’s shop Seawashed.

Laura Trevey’s blue crab from her shop Bright, Bold, and Beautiful.

Last year when parts of Australia were hit with severe flooding, Kerri at Driftwood Interiors decided to donate proceeds from her Etsy shop sales to help the flood victims. It was the perfect time to buy her turquoise coral print that I’d had my eye on.

I had this glass tile mosaic custom made years ago. I can’t for the life of my remember who made it, just that her name was Michelle and I found her on the Internet.

I bought a set of six fish note cards two summers ago at The Maritime Painted Saltbox in Petite Riviere, Nova Scotia. I love the bright colours they add to the mostly-blue palette.

And this piece I bought at a craft show here in Ottawa last year. I’d admired these tile pieces made by Marie-Joel at L’atelier Trema at previous shows, and this one caught my eye with it’s watery colours.

This tile says it all…

“The family to the sea”

I’m telling you, writing a yearly project to-do list really helps to get your butt in gear!

As I mentioned at the beginning of my post, I’ve written up a tutorial on how to create your own gallery wall. I know I was intimidated by the work involved, which is why I kept putting it off. But it turned out to not be so bad, and I hope after reading my tutorial, you’ll be inspired to create your own gallery wall too. Trust me, you’ll be happy you did! Stop by on Wednesday to check it out.

Linking up to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch and Inspire Me Monday at Create With Joy.