Photo Gallery Wall and Clothesline Picture Frame

Alternate title: Does Somebody Live Here?! (This is what I imagine all our neighbors/visitors saying when they enter our home since we're just now, 5 months after moving in, hanging things on the walls. Slowly but surely, our place is starting to look inhabited. Decorating extraordinaires, I tell you.)

I've wanted to try out a photo gallery wall for a while--I figured I better jump on that bandwagon before it rolls out of town--but wasn't really sure I could pull it off. I like the idea of a gallery wall, but to be honest, I'm not insane about most of the gallery walls I see. I often think they look kind of hodge-podgey and random, which is how I was sure mine would look, if I tried it.

Lucky for me, my mom is an interior designer and helped me pinpoint what I liked about some displays and didn't like about others. The gallery walls I like best are mostly symmetrical and seem to have a theme--all the photos are edited in a similar fashion, have matching/coordinating frames, and are hung in a very methodical way rather than just plunked wherever on the walls.

I decided to try out a modified, miniature gallery wall . . . kind of a baby step toward a gallery wall, if you will.

I ordered the photos through Shutterfly, and I'm so happy with how they came out! The photos themselves look beautiful, and they were affordable and shipped very quickly. Plus, as a new member of their site, I got 50 free 4x6 prints--nice!

I had a really hard time choosing which photos to have printed as 8x10s, and realized along the way that I need to be able to change the look of the display when I inevitably get bored with it. I remembered seeing a few clothesline type frames on Pinterest--like this one and this--and decided to incorporate one into my display in the hopes that it would keep it from looking overly organized/stuffy and give me a little freedom to change it later on.

How fun is that? Now I can easily swap out the photos if I want something new to stare at. For all the times I'm just, you know, sitting around staring at the walls.

I just bought the biggest frame at the thrift store I could find and tossed out the artwork, glass, and backing (I'm sure the art world felt the blow when I chucked the log cabin/bear drinking from a lake print that haunted this frame). A few coats of red paint, and it had the look I was going for. I just cut two lengths of twine a few inches longer than the frame and hot glued them to the back, bought a package of teensy clothespins from Joann, and struggled to pick my favorite pictures to hang inside. The total cost of this clothesline frame project was seriously like $7, photos included. (And the black frames are the IKEA cheapies at like $2 apiece--so this entire display was something like $30. Not bad, not bad at all.)

Never would I have predicted getting so many awesome pictures from a photo shoot--my photographer buddy Erica is amazing, I tell you. If you're in the Quad Cities, I would highly recommend her.

And I think it would be a disservice to humanity if I didn't give you a little closeup of one of my favorite photos in this display:

LOOK AT THAT CHILD! I'm not going to lie here, folks. If he weren't mine, I might seriously consider kidnapping him.

Overall, I'm happy with my gallery wall. But I have a few concerns. My interior decorator mama wasn't here to help me when I put it all together, so, naturally, I'm insecure. Do you think it's too busy? There's a lot going on, but it takes up a relatively small amount of wall space, which makes me feel more comfortable with it. Is it photo overload? I mean, I love looking at these pictures, but if someone else came in, would they be like, "Whoa, chill out with the family photos, guys"?

Thoughts? Suggestions? Do I get a gold star or a frown face for this?