A New Gallery Wall for My Creative Space

A few months ago, my desk and sewing table were packed up and moved to a new spot here in the farmhouse.  While we repainted a few rooms, everything had to be dismantled to make way for our ladders and DIY equipment. Because we did most of the work ourselves (I’ll have more of that to share with you soon), the process took months to complete.

When we finally finished, I couldn’t wait to settle back in and have a dedicated spot to write and sew. I had big plans for that space. I wanted it to be functional and comfortable. I also wanted to make sure that it didn’t feel too much like a place that was all purpose and no play.

After all, this is my creative space and I wanted it to be a spot that seemed ripe for creative pursuits. Sure, it needed to meet the demands of daily office tasks, but I also hope to do a lot of writing, creating, and sewing there.

Right behind my desk was a freshly painted wall with delightful possibilities. It is flanked on either side with deep columns that stretch up to ten-foot ceilings. I saw plenty of space to display things to inspire me as I write and stitch there.

Then the days passed and I found myself still dreaming of a gallery wall filled with my daughter’s artwork. I got busy with the aforementioned writing and sewing and the days turned to weeks and months without me hanging a single thing on the wall.

This month, I decided to change that. First, I needed to decide what I was going to frame and what to frame them in. I decided on 11 x 14 white picture frames with white mats so that the art would be the focus. I had seven of them just waiting to be filled.

I measured the wall carefully and began to plan out how I wanted to display the frames. After trying a few different layouts, I decided to leave a little space for small pieces to be added later should I decide to. Then it was on to the really difficult step: deciding which pieces to frame.

I have dozens of pieces of my daughter’s artwork and found it nearly impossible to narrow down my selection. It took me more than an hour to choose a dozen pieces that were my favorites. From there, it became even more difficult to narrow down my selection to fit the frames I had chosen.

In the end, I matted and framed six pieces of artwork and started to settle them on the wall. With hammer and level in hand, I added each piece. By the time I had two of them hanging in place, I was already in love with how it was all coming together. It was even better than I had hoped.

Every time I look at these pieces, I am filled with pride and inspired to create something new of my own. I love being surrounded by reminders that my daughter finds beauty in the world and captures it on paper. From the peony bloom she drew for me when peony season ended last year to the cupcake and pie that graced our tea towels this year, I find myself breaking out into a smile each time I take a moment to look at them.

You may have noticed that I mentioned choosing six pieces of artwork for seven frames. If you know me at all, you could probably guess how I was going to fill that last frame. I knew that I needed a photo of Penny Lane on the wall above my desk.  

I enlisted the help of my son to go through the hundreds of photos of Penny that I have on my phone and computer. We laughed as we looked back on her puppy photos when she was a pile of wrinkles with bright blue eyes. We narrowed down the selection and then my son chose a photo that seemed to capture our Penny Lane perfectly.

We ordered a print of this photo of her napping on her favorite pink pillow with little brown dogs on it. It arrived a few days ago and I finally added it to my wall yesterday. Now I’ll have our beloved Penny Lane watching over me when I’m writing and sewing. There’s something that seems perfectly right about that.

Look closely and you’ll see that Penny Lane has two spots on this wall behind my desk.  Her photo hangs above and a drawing of her happy smiling face looks right back at me every time I look up from my keyboard or sewing machine.  What can I say? She’s had my heart since the first moment I met her, so it’s only fair that she’d have two prime spots on my new gallery wall!