My updated gallery wall

One of the first home decor projects I wanted to tackle was a gallery wall. I had the space—a perfectly blank, white canvas by our entryway, hundreds of photos to choose from, and plenty of inspiration from the countless design accounts I follow on Instagram.

So, I did it.

At the time, I was pining after some gorgeous matted Target frames, but I had mild sticker shock and was unsure of spending $65 on a single item after spending so much money on painting, cleaning, and buying our home, along with bringing our puppy home. Because I waited too long to purchase the frames of my dreams, they went out of stock (probably because of the pandemic home décor craze—who didn’t do a million projects around the house?!).

I decided to settle with an alternative, more affordable version from Michael’s. These flames were smaller than I wanted, and were floating instead of matted. Though I was a little disappointed that the frames weren’t what I imagined, I loved filling the space with a modern design and personalized photos.

You can read the full post here: My Modern Gallery Wall.

Fast forward to post-Christmas: Target gift cards have entered into the picture. My dream frames were back in stock. My desire to rev up our home décor was raging. This, my friends, was a perfect storm brewing for this (extremely) armature interior (as in, my own home) designer.

I finally was able to pull the trigger on the investment frames, and within days I sold the temporary ones on Facebook Marketplace.

Upon their arrival, I chose a fresh batch of photos (some remained the same, but now Wally is in a few as well), and got to work hanging them myself. I used nails and a hammer this time, and measured, which is a huge improvement from my former eye-ball and push-pin method.

Here are the photos that are featured in the frames—some of my very favorites.

And now, the final result.

She’s beautiful, and well-worth the wait.

I think there are two messages here. First, home takes time. Improvements often require various resources, from time to money to motivation, and it’s okay that things don’t or can’t happen overnight.

Two, you don’t have to settle. With a little patience and planning, you can create the home you want and love.