Design-A-Wall with Shutterfly

Thanks to Shutterfly for sponsoring today’s post.  As always, all opinions are honestly my own.

For years now, I’ve wanted a gallery wall in my home.  I see these beautiful ones on other blogs and on Pinterest, and they inspire me.  But they intimidate me too.  It’s hard enough for me to hang one picture straight, let alone a gallery full.  I’ve always been afraid I couldn’t translate what was in my head to the wall in front of me.  Then, I heard about the new Shutterfly Design-A-Wall feature.

With Design-A-Wall, you follow three simple steps:

STEP 1: Choose from six different wall art materials, from wood to metal, and more than 45 arrangements.

STEP 2: Personalize your design with your favorite photos and art.

STEP 3: Easily display with our step-by-step instructions and customized template.

I decided to give it a try and found it to be easier than I expected!  Here’s how it looked when I went through the three steps.

Step 1: I chose this arrangement; a horizontal 24×36 framed canvas with three vertical 8×10 canvases below it.  I partly decided on this particular one because of the space I had, and partly because of the particular photos I wanted to use.  I had originally thought about doing nine 12×12 squares, but my favorite photos didn’t work well cropped that way, so I opted for something that would show them off better.

Step 2: Next, I uploaded my favorite photos.  I knew immediately that I wanted to use a precious photo of Little Crafter with me at my brother-in-law’s wedding as the focal point.  I also wanted to make sure hubby was represented in the gallery wall, so I chose a recent photo of us that I love, also taken during “wedding weekend” in NY.  Then, I chose a photo from LC’s last day of Kindergarten.  The colors in all three photos worked together nicely, so I left them full color, but you can also add effects like black and white if you prefer.

Based on some of the inspiration walls I’d seen, I wanted to have a quote as part of my gallery instead of having nothing but photos.  So, I used PicMonkey to create a simple design using one of my favorite quotes about family: “Family: Where life begins and love never ends.”  I uploaded the design and used it as the third of my 8×10 canvases.

Step 3: When my canvases arrived, my in-laws happened to be visiting.  As I opened the boxes and unwrapped each piece, all of us were amazed by the gorgeous quality of  the photos and when I unwrapped the largest one, everyone was speechless.  It is absolutely gorgeous.  And huge!

Along with the artwork itself was the hanging kit, which contained a small level and a huge customized template.  It looked like a great big sheet of graph paper and illustrated exactly where each piece of the gallery wall needed to be so that it was evenly spaced.  There was even a spot marked where you’re supposed to attach the level.

All we had to do was tape the special grid to the wall over the couch.  Then, using the guides, we made nail holes in all the right spots.  There are different letters marking the various spots to place your hardware depending on whether you’re using canvas prints, framed canvas prints, wood, metal, etc.  Since I chose the framed canvases, we used the letter “B” markings.

Once the nail holes were made, we removed {or I should say hubby removed} the paper and inserted nails into the holes.  All that was left to do was hang the canvases on the nails!

It was easier than I ever thought it would be, and I can’t get over how gorgeous it is!  The Shutterfly Design-A-Wall option made this so simple from start to finish so that I was able to order and hang exactly what I wanted.

Here is a look at the Before and After…  Pay no attention to the ugly couch!  I’ve been wanting to replace it for years and I’m finally just a few weeks away from getting a new one {that is, as soon as I can find someone to take this one…}.  Anyway, ta da!

What about you?  What kind of wall would you design?

For more inspiration, check out the Design-A-Wall landing page and visit my friends Bethany at Pitter & Glink and Melanie at In a Blink to see the gorgeous walls they created!