Our Coastal Modern home renovations are almost done, so we had time to choose photos, design and install a gallery wall in our dining room. My husband, Jim and I are lucky to live near the beach in South Florida, so when we take vacations, we prefer to visit the mountains. Over the past 20 years, we’ve spent time in many U.S. National Parks, as well as some amazing spots in Europe. We had fun going through our travel photo books and pictures. Seeing them every day will bring back wonderful memories and help to personalize our space.
Choosing the Photos
As you can imagine, we have collected many photos over the last twenty years. To help us narrow our gallery wall options, we created categories:
- Lakes
- Rivers
- Mountains
- Deserts
- Structures
- Animals
- Waterfalls
- Canyons
- Flowers
- Beaches
Your photo categories may include other options, like family, pets, and travel. You will want to measure your wall area, including the photo size and spacing to determine how many will fit in your space. Once you’ve chosen your categories, create folders for each and add the photos you are considering for your wall. The next step is to create another folder for your final gallery wall choices. Once you have your top 2-3 for each category, see how your top choices look together. For example, we wanted to keep this gallery wall happy and upbeat, so we eliminated any moody pictures.
We plan to create a moody gallery wall for the office, but that is a project for a later date.
Choosing a Printer
I chose 60 Minute Photo because they were conveniently located, locally owned and operated and have high quality print options. You can download your photos directly to their site, but we brought a memory stick with the photos to the store. The staff were really helpful and knowledgeable, including offering advice on the best printing options for our needs. There are four printing options available, including canvas, framed prints, acrylic glass, or aluminum panel.
https://www.60minutesphoto.com/
Print Options
Canvas – Create a custom gallery wrap canvas using your own photos. The printer will adjust the color and density to ensure the highest quality. These prints are a wonderful casual way to display family photos.
Print Photos – Your printer will use high-quality paper to create sharp digital photos in a wide variety of print shapes, sizes, styles, and finishes. You can ask a local frame shop for help, or you can carefully place your photos in frames from Michael’s or Target. This print option can be modern, formal or something unique.
Acrylic Glass – Turn a favorite image into a stunning modern work of art. Our gallery wall uses 1/4-inch high-polished acrylic glass over the printed photo. The 60 Minute Photo representative recommended acrylic prints for our landscape photos.
Aluminum Panels – Display vibrant and eye-catching work with the increasingly popular aluminum panels. Modern and durable, they are great for commercial applications or high humidity locations. We had a Etsy artist print one of his photos on aluminum, which looks great and works perfect in our bathroom.
Gallery Wall Reveal
We had a large work of art created by a local artist hanging in the dining room, but the colors blended in a bit too much with the space. We originally thought about placing the prints in our family room, but once we got the prints home, I convinced Jim that they needed to be placed in our main living area. I think you will agree that they add a bit of drama, tons of personality and lots of color to the space.
We are thrilled with the results! Let me know if you have any questions about this post or design questions about your space. Be sure to subscribe below to receive future posts, including details of our upcoming trip to NW Montana.
Design, Garden, & Travel by Majestic Meadows 
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