Creating a gallery wall for our treasures

Wrenda Goodwyn • special to the Fort Myers News-Press • February 1, 2020

Let’s face it: we love our stuff.

It’s why parting with things is so difficult. And no matter how often we have a healthy decluttering, there are just some items that are too important to part with. These are the things that tell a story about who we are and how we got here.

Mix art, accessories, books and personal treasures for a fun and playful statement wall. This arrangement combines items with art displayed on Pottery Barn’s Frame Rail with industrial chains that work with artwork or photos. Photo: Pottery Barn.

It’s also what makes a house a home.

But there’s a difference between a pile of things that we can’t say goodbye to and a carefully curated and styled grouping. It could be a collection of art, photography, objects from travels, collections, books. Anything that makes us happy when we look at it.

As a Fort Myers interior decorator, I can tell you that gallery walls are a huge trend right now and it’s no wonder. They look great and give us pleasure when we look at them. It gives us a place to display what we love in a creative way that adds to the look of our home. Arranging art and other objects on walls or shelving also frees up space on surfaces that can add to the cluttered look that none of us want.

This easy-to-hang and stylish frame rail offers a chance to curate a gallery wall designed to fit the style of the room. Photo: Pottery Barn.

You can create a gallery wall in a large or small space with two or three objects or 20. It just takes a little imagination and a wall.

A few tips to get you started:

Pick a wall. Decide where your gallery space will be located. It can be over a table. A sofa. In a small nook. In a dining room. You can fill a hallway with family photos and artwork.

Pick a theme. Family photos. Nature. Fine art.

What to use. Give the display more dimension by carrying the theme of the pieces to a table or shelving.

Photo: Pottery Barn.

Decide on framing. If your wall will be a photo gallery, select matching frames if you want a cohesive look (my favorite) and the photos will be the focal point, not the frames. Or mix up the framing for an eclectic look.

Figure out the space. If pieces are of different sizes, begin by placing the largest piece first and filling in with smaller pieces. Do a layout of each item with brown wrapping paper to see how the sizing will work in the space.

Create drama. Take your display from the floor all the way to the ceiling.

From floor to ceiling, combine a bench artwork, family, photos and other items in a floor-to-ceiling gallery wall.. Photo: Pottery Barn.

Keep it clean and simple. If your style is clean and modern arrange two rows of photos the same size.

Eye level. If you are hanging pieces of different sizes, the largest piece should be at eye level. And if you are hanging a row of several pieces of different sizes, align the pieces at their center points.

Ledges. If nailing into the wall makes you a little nervous, style frames on a ledge (or two).

Photo: Pottery Barn

Make it easy. A frame rail from Pottery Barn lets you customize a statement wall with industrial chains that hold art or photos. See photo.

Make it fun. You are creating a collage of objects that means something to you. Use your imagination and see what happens!

Wrenda Goodwyn is a Southwest Florida interior decorator, A.S.I.D. associate and gold member of the Interior Redecorators Network. She helps homeowners throughout Southwest Florida with timeless, affordable ways to create beautiful spaces and solves decorating problems. Her article appears the first Saturday of each month. For more information visit her website at spectacularspaces.com. Call her at 949-1808 or e-mail wrenda@spectacularspaces.com. For more decorating tips, articles and photos, visit spectacularspaces.com/blog

A new year: Finding peace and comfort at home

Wrenda Goodwyn • special to the Fort Myers News-Press • January 4, 2020

A new year begins. With new dreams, hopes and possibilities. A time to take inventory and come up with new inspiration to enhance our homes for 2020.

If you’re like me, the decorations are almost all put away and things are looking a little sad without the lights that kept things bright and cheerful over the past month.

Never have our homes been more important to us. They’re our sanctuary. Our refuge from all of the stress and turmoil that is swirling around nonstop. From everything that is thrown at us on a daily basis. Some days it’s just a relief to get home and turn off all of the noise. To disconnect.

And whether “home” is a temporary rental, a studio apartment, spacious condo or estate home, we all want the same thing when we walk in the door: peace and comfort. It’s the only resolution worth having (in my opinion) because if you have peace and comfort, you have everything.

Each January, I like to take some time to think about how I can renew and refresh. A little reboot for myself and my home. I like for ways to enhance what I already have. A bit of a reimaging for the New Year. A tweak here and there. Some fine-tuning.

This is the time of year, as a Southwest Florida interior decorator, that I receive phone calls from clients who tell me their home needs something but they don’t know what. Just something to give it a little life. It can mean anything from new paint to new sofa pillows to a new kitchen backsplash. Here are a few of my suggestions. Maybe a few will work for you or at least give you a little inspiration.

• Take a photo of the room. A design trick! There is nothing like a photo to help you zero in on what you need. Artwork? New lighting? A new rug? Furniture rearrangement? I promise this tells the truth and will help you to say goodbye to what isn’t working.

Thibaut’s Palm Frond wallpaper from its Tropics collection adds a perfect Southwest Florida coastal look to a home. Photo: Thibaut

• It’s all about you. A client recently told meat she wanted to redo her home for herself this time. Huh? She said that she had always tried to make it look like a home in decorating magazines and it had never worked. Of course not. Those rooms were styled for the camera. Here is a fact: the design of your space will only make you happy of a personal approach is taken. One that is unique to you.

• Add some sparkle. An outrageously beautiful chandelier over your bed. If it means removing a fan, give it a try. You can always switch it back or you may love it some much that you don’t give it a thought.

• Pick one accent color and flow it through your home: paint, pillows, flowers, wall covering, a tray on a table. A little sprinkle here and there. This is an easy one.

• Set your table. It looks pretty and chances are that you won’t need to purchase anything except maybe some new napkins.

• Hang a pot rack in the kitchen. This gives the space a new look with a gourmet kitchen feel (even if you never cook).

• Rethink the walls. Maybe this is the year that you go for a huge change and invest in a beautiful wallcovering. Botanicals are outrageously popular and you can’t go wrong. Powder rooms are perfect for this treatment.

• Supersize lighting. Kitchen pendants and chandeliers are all trending huge and it is a great look. Go big if you are replacing lighting.

• Bathroom mini makeover. The New Year is a perfect time to refresh with new towels, rugs, scents.

• Paint the ceiling. If you are looking for a small investment that will give you a huge change. Designers have been doing this for years and you can too.

• Speaking of designers. This may be the year that you decide to call one of us to help you come up with a plan. We can keep you from making mistakes, come up with creative solutions that you have never considered and we have great sources.

• Refresh window coverings. If they are looking a little tired but a total replacement is not in the budget, think about trimming them with tape for a designer look. You can find directions online or have them done professionally.

• Kitchen reboot. If it’s looking a little tired and outdated, purchase a showstopper faucet. A knockoff of the ones that you see in magazines that homeowners design a kitchen around! It’s a small investment for a kitchen reboot. You can find them (affordable) online and at big box home stores.

Wrenda Goodwyn is a Southwest Florida interior decorator, A.S.I.D. associate and gold member of the Interior Redecorators Network. She helps homeowners throughout Southwest Florida with timeless, affordable ways to create beautiful spaces and solves decorating problems. Her article appears the first Saturday of each month. For more information visit her website at spectacularspaces.com. Call her at 949-1808 or e-mail wrenda@spectacularspaces.com. For more decorating tips, articles and photos, visit spectacularspaces.com/blog