How to Hang an Ikea Gallery Wall

This was a project and a half...but it's done(ish). (The hardest part was the planning, so hopefully, this post helps someone create a gallery a little bit quicker than we did.) The first issue was figuring out how to hang 12 Ikea frames consistently and evenly. If you're familiar with their frames, they include a wire kit, which is super easy unless you are hanging 12 pictures that need to be straight and evenly spaced. Mr. Hubs and I came up with the idea of using wood to create a mount. Now, this is where the story gets blurry. I think that I came up with the idea of attaching the furring strips to the wall, but Mr. Hubs thinks it was his idea. Since I'm the author of this blog, I'm totally going to take credit for it, mmmkay? I mean, really, I didn't help with anything else, so I have to take credit for something. Actually,  I take that back. I unwrapped the frames and gave encouragement. Those things are really what made this happen. So, this is what we did...

We laid the frames on the floor to figure out the spacing. Of course, everything was ten times harder, because of the cable and electric outlet that live right in the middle of the wall. (Why do outlets hate me?) After adjusting the spacing again (and again) and reassuring Jeremy that I did not need to hire someone to finish this, Mr. Hubs attached 12 1x2 inch furring strips (cut to 8 inches) to the wall, using a level to make sure they were, well, level. The great thing about using furring strips, is that you can slide the picture from left to right if you need to adjust it.

Once all 12 furring strips were attached to the wall, Jeremy predrilled small holes into the tops of every frame. At this point, we were finally ready to hang the pictures. Each frame was hung, and then attached to the top of furring strip with a small screw. (Well, actually only 11 were hung, since one frame was dropped. Not to point fingers, but it wasn't by me.) Each frame has a tiny screw in the top of it. We decided this was a must, since the wall is in a high traffic area, and we have littles that come to play at our house. Plus, it's not like I am going to change the pictures very often. After all, they have had the Ikea paper in them for at least three weeks now.

So, there's the gallery. I just need to print some pictures. And what am I going to put in all of these frames, you ask? Well, Stella of course. One can never have too many pictures of Stella!