Colorful Craft Room Gallery Wall!

My craft room makeover is well underway, folks!  *Insert happy dance*  I’ve already shared several projects that I’ve made to beautify this space as well as a review of my craft supply organizer, and now I’m revealing one of my favorite features: the colorful gallery wall!

Since I now have a WorkBox 3.0 to store all of my supplies and machines (check out my review), I’m lucky and don’t need a lot of other storage space.  There’s this big blank wall that was available for anything, so I decided to add a colorful gallery wall that will brighten up the space and serve as inspiration.  I mean, it’s only the fourth gallery wall we have in our house, so yeah, you could say I have a thing for them.

Oh!  Erin Condren helped me out with some of my decorating needs (thanks again!), and we’re hooking up one lucky reader with a $100 eGift Card.  Keep reading to find out all the details about my colorful craft room gallery wall AND enter to win!

**UPDATE: The giveaway has ended!**

[Many thanks to the wonderful folks at Erin Condren for supplying me with lots of awesome goodies to deck my craft room out in style and sponsoring the giveaway!]

 

Colorful Craft Room Gallery Wall!

 

My Dream Craft Room Makeover is Happening….Finally!

This was me on Moving Day….January 1st, 2016!  Can you tell I was just a wee-bit excited about finally having a creative space of my own?  No more crafting at the kitchen table!

As exciting as it was that I was going to get the craft room of my dreams, it was also very overwhelming.  Ultimate freedom is intimidating!

 

 

This might look like just an empty room (with a crazy lady lying on the floor), however, it will eventually become the #craftroom of my dreams! That’s me soaking in the fact this is actually a reality now, and no longer just a Pinterest board. #soexcited #lotstodo #letsdothis

A post shared by Christine (@wherethesmileshavebeen) on Jan 3, 2016 at 3:55pm PST

 

Erin Condren!

My craft room makeover has been a long process, so when the lovely folks from Erin Condren asked if they could help me beautify the space with their goodies, I jumped at the chance!

In case you’re not familiar with them (what rock are you living under??), they have the *cutest* office supplies in all the land.  They’re most known for their LifePlanners and other office goodies (like stationery and notebooks), but they also have just as adorable home decor items, apparel, and more (I LOVE their floral ink kimono robe and blossom pajama set, but lucky for you, I won’t be modeling them). :)

Not only do they have the the most colorful and creative designs, but you can get just about everything they have PERSONALIZED!  And you know me….I love me some good ole personalization (just scope out my Project Gallery).

Here is just a small sampling of some of the LifePlanners and office supply products that I’ve gotten from Erin Condren over the years.  See, supreme cuteness!

 

I love using their products so much that I started DIYing some accessories for them.  Here are a couple tutorials I’ve shared:

 

 

I also love gifting their goodies too.  At the end of my oldest son’s first year of pre-school, we gave his teachers these personalized stationery sets as their thank you gifts.  They included a notebook, notepad, and colorful pens.  What teacher wouldn’t be thrilled to receive personalized office goodies??

 

The Craft Room Before Shot

Ok, back to the craft room!

Life has a funny way of laughing in the face of your plans, and just a couple weeks after we moved in, I found out I was pregnant!  So Operation Craft Room was put on the back-burner until Operation New Baby was complete.

Fast-forward 18 months, and this is what the room looked like….not very dreamy, huh?  Boring beige and an organizational disaster zone.  Whomp, whomp.

I had finally had enough of this mess (and had gotten through the super needy newborn phase with Mr. Brayden), so Operation Craft Room was back on track.

 

Mapping Out the Gallery Wall

After my craft supplies were finally organized in my new WorkBox 3.0, and my painter (a.k.a. my husband) got his butt in gear and painted the walls gray (I mean it was only supposed to be my Mother’s Day gift last year….2016, people!), I got to plotting out just what was to be included in the gallery wall.

The floor became my work space, and four pieces of painter’s tape marked the perimeter.  Along with the Erin Condren art prints (more on these beauties below!), I included some of my own creations (naturally), and some other fun prints from various sources.  A couple floating shelves would be used as well to add some dimension.

I wanted the bottom of the gallery wall to be interactive and interchangeable, so a magnet bar, some triangle cork boards, and a picture wire would be added to complete the wall.

 

Craft Room Gallery Wall: In Progress!

If you’ve never hung a gallery wall with your significant other before, let me tell ya, it’s probably more intense than couples therapy. :)

Since this was the fourth one my husband and I have completed together in our house, I’ve come to learn that it’s not a pleasant marital activity for us.  At all.  The hours are filled with lots of annoyed sighs and eye-rolling.  And “Is it level??  Are you sure??  Are you even LOOKING??”  And cursing.

Oh, is there cursing, to which my four-year-old member of the Grammar Police (who was *supposed* to be watching Thomas & Friends in the living room) would overhear and scold us with “Don’t say that word!  That’s a BAD word!”  Add another dollar (or twenty) to the swear jar.

I shared the following meme on my Facebook page just before we dove into this project to give everyone a heads up in case our marriage suddenly ended. :)  Luckily, we pulled through.

 

After I was pretty happy with the floor layout, I quickly jotted down a very lifelike depiction in my notebook (I mean, just look at how realistic the shape of Kentucky is) along with some measurements, then it was go time!

 

We first hung up the two floating shelves, followed by the two outer Erin Condren art prints.  And since we’re terrible at planning ahead, we ran out of picture hangers (whoops!), so the middle print would have to wait.

Most of the other items were hung using Command Strips, so those started getting added to the wall one by one.  And yes, I made a minor adjustment from my mockup by switching the ‘Make Stuff’ sign with the ‘Enjoy the little things‘ print….it just looked better after staring at it for hours.

 

My Completed Colorful Craft Room Gallery Wall!

After a quick run to the store for some more supplies, the gallery wall was complete!  All in all, I’d say hanging this beauty took us probably three hours, with several diaper changes, nursing sessions, and lunch breaks thrown in.

And I just LOOOOOVE it.  The neutral gray wall coupled with the bold black and white as well as the bright pops of color is exactly the vibe I want in my craft space.

It’s fun and modern and playful and casual and….completely unlike any other room in the rest of our house.  And I’ll probably keep tweaking it and add/remove/adjust things for the rest of eternity because I’m like that, but for now, I couldn’t be happier

It’s, in a word, perfect.  At least I think so. :)

 

Here’s a super fast closeup of everything.  I hope it doesn’t make you go cross-eyed. :)

 

The room also has a beautiful large window that provides a ton of great natural light….which becomes a nuisance when trying to take photos of picture frames and not get super crazy reflections everywhere.  Le sigh.  I did my best!

I’m currently setting up a little art station for my boys that’s located in front of the window….stay tuned for that reveal!  And I’ve got big plans for that window wall too….let’s hope I have the energy to complete them. :)

 

The main reason that I love gallery walls is because they’re so personal.  You can add anything you want and really make it all your own.  Photos, artwork, quotes, special mementos….just do your own thing and make it yours.  There are no rules.

No one out there has a wall just like this, and there are probably a lot of others who would never want a wall like this.  And that’s fine.  This is my gallery wall with all the weird, quirky, personalized things I like.

 

There’s also just the right amount of motivational and inspirational sayings too, which my husband thinks are corny as hell.  He commented in the most playfully mocking tone “You women and your cheesy sayings….’Make Stuff,’ ‘She designed a life she loved,’ ‘Only you can prevent forrest fires.’  {Gagging sound}”

I don’t care that he despises this room in our house (although I think he secretly is really impressed).  I live with three males, so dammit, I deserve to have a girly space of my own! :)

 

Anchoring the wall in the center are these three fabulous art prints from Erin Condren.  Aren’t they just the best?  I chose two circular prints to play off the round black and white striped rug in the room, and the scribbles one on the right is so freaking cool….I love the controlled chaos of it.  Maybe it reminds me of my mind….and life. ;)

They’re in some cheap square frames that I added colorful mats to….I cut them out of glitter scrapbook paper!

 

You can check out a full tutorial showing how easy and inexpensive it is to DIY your own picture frame mats!

 

My favorite print, however, is the “She designed a life she loved” one….because I did. And am. It’s a constant work-in-progress, but my life is pretty darn great. This print is a lovely reminder on the days when I lose perspective.

Plus….it’s metallic! Yep, who doesn’t love some shininess?

 

Underneath that print is a wooden “B” in honor of our last name.  It came unfinished, so I spray painted it white then added some tiny strips of different colored vinyl to make it look like sprinkles.

Sprinkles are the best.  Especially on donuts.  Look for a post on this soon too….it was a great vinyl scrap buster project!

 

I am a huge lover of displaying photographs all over.  It’s so bad that whenever I come back from a shopping trip, my husband almost invariably asks “So how many frames did you get?”  He knows me so well.

That’s why I absolutely wanted to include a photo wire as part of this gallery wall.  It’s such an easy, casual, and inexpensive way (no frames!) to display a ton of pictures.

Here I’ve got a bunch of adorable pics of my two boys as well as me and my husband.  They just make my heart smile.

 

And look who’s jumping on the letter board bandwagon!  This gal!

These things are everywhere now (again), so I’ve got one resting against the wall on top of the dresser.  It’s currently got one of my favorite little sayings of all time.

Sloth is where it’s at, y’all.  If only my two little boys agreed with me….

 

And did you notice what’s to the left of the letter board? Yep, more sugar skulls! I’ve got a thing for them.

Along with the customized beauty that’s hanging in the blue frame, I have this personalized sugar skull travel mug from Erin Condren too.  I use it a lot in the winter with hot cocoa (sorry, can’t do the coffee thing), so since it’s a bazillion degrees outside right now, I’m putting it on display in here for the time being.  It fits in nicely.

 

On the center of the dresser is an acrylic tray from Erin Condren that I mainly use as a catch-all. It usually houses my monthly planner, pencil pouch, and any other random things I want to hold on to for the short term. And since it’s from EC, you can swap out the inserts! Right now, mine’s got a neutral one with my initials.

 

On the other end of the dresser, there’s a small wire basket that houses my notebooks and previous years’ LifePlanners.  They’s just too cute to get rid of.  Plus, you gotta love those interchangeable covers that you can use again and again!

 

Here’s a panoramic shot of the craft room from the far corner.  You can see that the gallery wall is directly behind my WorkBox 3.0.  It’s a nice little colorful, inspirational, happy space.  I can’t wait to get started on the rest of the room!

 

Shop My Craft Room Gallery Wall

If you’d like to know more details on the individual items I’ve shared, including where to purchase some of them, check out the info below this graphic.  Some of these things I’ve had for years though, and I’ve got a bad memory. :)

1. Blue oval frame: Michaels (I painted it blue and originally had my pregnant silhouette hanging in Rowan’s nursery); Sugar skull print: I created this for a makeup bag I shared using printable HTV, so I just printed out a copy; Silver glitter mat: I made using some glitter scrapbook paper.
2. Black frame: it’s from Target but I got it at Dirt Cheap….for dirt cheap!; Bear print: It’s from a previous Hungry JPEG bundle.
3. I made this ‘Creativity takes courage’ sign….see the full tutorial AND grab the free cut file!
4. Black frame: Also from Dirt Cheap; Flower doodle print: Came in a previous online bundle, but I can’t remember the exact one!
5. Pink frame: It’s years old and was originally black so I spray painted it light pink; Watercolor abstract art print: Graphic Stock; Black & white striped mat: I made it from scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby.
6. I made this ‘MAKE STUFF’ sign….stay tuned for the tutorial!
7. ‘Enjoy the little things’ print: Came in a previous online bundle, but I can’t remember the exact one!; Circle frame: I made the frame out of an embroidery hoop and pipe cleaners….stay tuned for the tutorial!
8. I made this ‘My Old Kentucky Home’ sign….see the tutorial here!
9. ‘Dream on Dreamer’ print: Doodle came from the Silhouette Design Store (I made it white and printed it out on a black background); White frame: It’s old….not sure!  Maybe Kohl’s?
10. Prismatic art print: Erin Condren; Square frame: Walmart; Yellow glitter mat: Scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby.
11. Floating shelf: It’s from Target but I got it at Dirt Cheap; Potted plant: IKEA; Dressed-up dino: Rowan’s room (I painted it fancy for his dinosaur first birthday party)
12. ‘She designed a life she loved’ metallic art print: Erin Condren; Square frame: Walmart; Pink glitter mat: Scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby.
13. Floating shelf: It’s from Target but I got it at Dirt Cheap; Wooden figure: IKEA; Potted handprint flower: Rowan’s preschool gift to me for Mother’s Day :); ‘She believed she could so she did’ bookmark: My summer Cause Box.
14. Scribbles art print: Erin Condren; Square frame: Walmart; Turquoise glitter mat: Scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby.
15. Magnet bar: IKEA; Colorful flower magnets: I made them….look for a tutorial soon!
16. Wooden ‘B’ letter: Zulily (see the tutorial soon for how I sprinkled it!)
17. Triangle cork board set: Target’s One Spot; Colorful flower push pins: I made them….look for a tutorial soon!
18. Photo wire & clips: IKEA; Photo prints: Most were printed via Mpix, some using my home printer.
19. Pink beaded frame: Target….15 years ago!
20. Personalized sugar skull travel mug: Erin Condren
21. Letter board: Groopdealz (It originally had a blah brown frame but I painted it a metallic silver)
22. Ice cream pencil holder: Target’s One Spot
23. Acrylic tray: Erin Condren; Monthly planner: Erin Condren (but it looks like they’re not offering this kind anymore…?); Pencil pouch: Target’s One Spot.
24. Sprinkle square frame: Not sure where the frame came from, but I made it sprinkled to match the ‘B’….look for a tutorial soon!
25. Wire basket: Target; LifePlanners and notebooks: Erin Condren
26. Malm dresser: IKEA

 

While I was snapping pictures for this post, my curious nine-month-old moseyed his way into the room and decided to do a little breakdance.  I thought I’d share it with all of you.  Enjoy. :)

 

Enter to Win a $100 Erin Condren eGift Card!

Now, what you’ve all been waiting for….the Erin Condren giveaway!  Woot!

This is a great time to win too since it’s back-to-school time again.  Teachers, students, parents….Erin Condren has something for eveyrone!

 

Sweet, huh?  To enter: just complete the entries in the Rafflecopter widget below.  You have 11 potential entries, which means a lot of winning power.  So, hurry up and enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

{This giveaway runs from today through Friday, August 4th at 11:59 p.m Central.  Winner will be chosen at random and contacted via email, and will then have 48 hours to respond.  If winner does not respond within timeframe another winner will be selected.  You can read the rest of the terms and conditions in the widget.}

 

Good luck!  But hey, if luck isn’t a lady tonight, you can still SAVE $10 off your first order! :)

 

Other Craft Room Fun!

Here are some other things I’ve shared that are in my craft room, which is still very much a work-in-progress.  Stay tuned for even more projects that I have in the works, including some items on the gallery wall!

 

 

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!