A Bead Board Stairwell Update

One of the projects on our to-do list for the summer was to update the stairs in the new house with bead board and a gallery wall. The space was untouched when we moved in and we lived with it for a couple of years, but in my mind, I could picture fresh paint and bead board just like downstairs.

BEFORE We added bead board below the new black hand rail and painted the walls the same color as downstairs.  There's tons of wall space so I've started a gallery wall using all white frames, with some of my favorite beach images.  If you've got a smart phone full of great pictures, start printing them out!  The 16x20 images were shot with my iphone while at the beach this summer and I love how they look framed up nice and big on the wall.

AFTER

I usually wing it when hanging gallery walls, however, I wanted to do this one time and do it right so I used the fool proof method of laying the frames out on a roll of craft paper, traced around the frames and cut out the shapes.

The next step was to hang the shapes on the wall with painters tape. This allows you to get the layout you want without all the "oops' nail holes in the wall. 

Then I measured where the hanger was on the back of the frame and made a mark on the craft paper.  That's where I hammered in the nail, then pulled the paper away and hung the frames. It was perfecto. 

As beach lovers, I decided to use my favorite images of our summers spent in Seaside, Florida.  The boys are so little in some of these and I love seeing them on my way upstairs to pick up dirty socks. 

I mixed color images with black and white since they all have the same vibe, and it works.

IPHONE PICTURE.  I KNOW...AWESOME, RIGHT?  GO MAKE ONE FOR YOURSELF, YOU'LL LOVE IT.

There's quite a bit of wall space up the stairs and my plan is to totally cover the walls. We're off to a pretty good start.