DIY Gallery Wall

After sharing on IG stories last week that I was working on a gallery wall to go above my bed frame, y’all blew UP my inbox! As most of you know (and can probably tell from all my budget-focused apartment posts) I’ve been doing my very best to not break the bank while decorating the new apartment. If I’ve learned anything from moving into an apartment on my own, it’s that decorating from scratch is EXPENSIVE. This leads me into the DIY gallery wall!

I was super inspired by Lauren from LC Steele’s frames in her home. I decided to ditch the traditional mismatched gallery walls with a variety of frames and go with uniform frames and monochromatic photos. This look is so much more clean, and sophisticated in my opinion. I love it!

The first thing I noticed when shopping for frames was that frames are not cheap. Especially when you have to order 6+, it adds up. At $20 a frame, you can easily spend over $100. On top of that, all the frame sets I found started at around $75. I also didn’t want to cheap out on some dinky frames that looked cheap. Lucky for you, I’m a bargain hunter! I searched near and far for quality frames for a good price, and here I am sharing my secret with you!

I scored all of my frames from Michael’s! Sure, this may not be a revolutionary idea or anything. However, when you add in all the promotions, you can a pretty dang good deal on these guys. The specific frames I ordered were on a buy one get 2 free promotion. Michael’s runs these kinds of deals all the time, so pay attention! They also ALWAYS have a 40% or 50% off coupon, so I never purchase items at Michael’s for full price. A lot of times, you can even stack the coupons! Take notes, ladies and gentlemen.

With all the discounts they were offering, I was able to order a total of 9 frames (2 in the 8×10 size, and 1 in the 11×14 size) for under $50. Pretty crazy, right?! ***EDIT: These frames are on sale now for only $5 a piece!!!!! Shop them here.***

Onto the photos.. when deciding which photos I wanted to display, I struggled so hard! I have so many photos I love, how can you make me choose only 6? I decided to choose 3 photos with me in the picture, and 3 photos that I’ve taken. I’m in love with the artsy, photographic effect that these photos have all together, since a few are candids and not just your typical “smile for the camera” poses. And of course, all my favorite people are in them! Note: my mom is my favorite person too! She made it onto one of my big frames instead, since I’m a dummy and forgot to print her in a small black & white. Sorry, Mommy!

And voila! You have your DIY gallery wall for under $50! I know this wasn’t much of a tutorial, but I had so many questions on these frames that I wanted to share all the details behind it. If you recreate this DIY gallery wall look please let me know, I’d love to see it!

xoxo, Summer