Collage Wall

When we moved into our house in Charlotte back in April 2010, one of the first things I did after painting the walls, was hang pictures. After a few months, I ended up moving them all at least once.
This time, I didn't hang anything on the walls for the whole first month (or almost). The main reason was because I originally thought I wanted to paint the walls a different color, but Ive changed my mind. I actually like the yellow color. Its not as bright or overbearing now that all the furniture is in the house.

**FUN FACT: The owners of this house actually painted with more than one shade of yellow. I think there are about 3 shades per wall. Its obviously very subtle, but they are different**

So after deciding that I will only be painting the three rooms and two bathrooms, and after living in the house for three or four weeks constantly thinking about where I wanted to hang things, it was time to hang em'!
I had all of the frames, pictures, and paintings all in a pile. While unpacking, I just put them all here.

There were so many! I knew from the time I put that shoe cabinet in the entryway that I wanted to do a collage on the big wall above it. Ive learned a few tricks from reading other blogs on how to create a great collage of frames. The main one being to make sure all the frames are the same distance from one another and only about 2 or 3 inches. You don't want them to be too far from each other, it will just look like they are misplaced on the wall.
The hardest part for me was deciding which frames I wanted to use on that wall, and what frames to keep for other walls, so I just started to lay out some until I got the design and look that I liked.

I originally thought I wanted this big map or Hilton Head and Beaufort right in the middle. Mr. Hunt and I love this map, but it just took too much space. As you can see, I laid the frames right in front of the wall that I was using so that I knew how wide I could go, and then measured how high I could go too and made sure not to make it too tall.

After two or three tries, I came up with a collage that I loved!

To transfer it to the wall, I used the measuring tape and tried my hardest to copy what I had laid out on the floor. I originally tried the newspaper trick where you cut newspaper to the exact size of the frames and tape the newspaper collage to the wall first so you get the exact look you are going for, but it was a lot harder than it sounds and I lost patience. I think it would definitely work with smaller frames, but I was having to tape more than one sheet of newspaper together for one frame and it was getting annoying. Luckily, I went slow and really tried to copy what I had and I think I did a pretty good job.

Welcome to the entrance of our home! (Promise Ill be back with pictures and videos of each room VERY soon)

I loved it, but just one thing looked a little off. I really liked the white "H", but there was too much white in that area, with the white frame and white mats for the two pictures right near the "H". So I took the "H" down and took matters into my own hands, but it would take a little while to be finished so I kept it up there white while I took pictures. As you can see, I made sure there was only a few inched in between each frame. It makes it look more like a collage than just a mess of frames. I originally wanted to have all white frames because I thought the mix and match of colored frames would make it look too busy and definitely not like a collage, but I actually love the way it looks now. The frames will stay their original color....for now!

If you are wondering what is in each frame, here you go! This first one is one that I ordered from Etsy. The frame and mat is from Ikea. Its a picture of the state of South Carolina with a red heart where Columbia is located since that is where Mr. Hunt and I fell in love! Awwwww! On the bottom left corner, it says Christopher and Jennifer. Columbia South Carolina. I love it.

This next one, I just threw together and I'm not sure if it will stay like this, but Ill let you know. I had this frame and mat from Ikea, and this beautiful painting of a palm tree and moon from Mr. Hunt's Grandmama. The painting was in another mat, but I took it out, threw it in there, and liked it, so it stayed for the time being. Every time I pass it now though, it catches my eye. It bothers me that the picture wasn't big enough for the opening of the mat, so I'm thinking I might make my own mat with some colorful craft paper and make it fit. What do you think?

I really like this next one. We got it from our family friends the Butler's when they threw us a bridal shower. It says Hunt. Each letter is a picture.

Next up is a painting from my Aunt Laura and Uncle Dean. They gave it to me when I graduated college all the way back in 2008. It was in our bedroom in our house in Charlotte, and I love it. I love the gold frame, and the painting just makes me smile. Its just a little town with a church, some rolling hills, some flowers, and some homes. I look at it and wish I was there. I also smile because I remember when they gave it to me, they said "This is your first REAL painting", and they were right. This was my first painting, and Ill always remember that.

Next up is a painting from my grandpa. When we moved into our home in Charlotte, my mom brought a bunch of paintings from my Grandpa so that we could have things hanging on the wall. I love this one, it reminds me of the beach. I especially love the colors, they go with my house color scheme too. My favorite part is that it looks like it was drawn with chalk. Not sure if it really was or not though.

The next two were given to me from my sister in law Rachel right before we moved here to Texas as a goodbye gift. They are backwards on here, but you can get the point. She cut out a map of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Texas, and put a heart around the cities that mean the most to us in each state. One is around Columbia and it says "We Met" another is around Hilton Head and it says "We Married" another is around Charlotte and it says "We Loved" and the last is around Austin and it says "We Lived."
PS: Texas lost its leg in the move so I have to wait for Rachel to come back and visit to fix it. Oops!

Above those two is a painting that my cousin Melissa painted for Mr. Hunt and I for our wedding. We both love is and I'm glad I finally found somewhere to put it. It was in our master bedroom before, but now we can share it with everyone.

In the middle is another picture that came from my Grandpa. I'm not sure exactly what it is supposed to be, but I like it because everyone can use their imagination and decide for themselves what they think it is. Its also bright colors which go with my color scheme. I think its a yellow barn door on a bright blue barn that's open letting the warm farm air into the barn so the chickens and horses inside can have a breeze.

Lastly is another picture I ordered from Etsy in an Ikea frame and mat. This one is of River and Hannah. I told the lady who makes the pictures about River and Hannah and she did the rest. It makes me smile.

That's it! I just realized while typing all of this that 8 out of the 11 things on this wall were a gift. I'm going to call this the gift wall. Now every time I pass this, I smile because I love the way it looks, but I also smile because it reminds me how much Mr. Hunt and I are loved by friends and family. We are so lucky.
After my "H" was finished, I put it back up on the wall, and it looks ten times better now. Now I really love this wall.

What do y'all think?


Love,
Jennifer