gallery wall(s)

 
As soon as we removed the side rail from Ben's crib over a year ago, I knew the time might be approaching to update his nursery gallery wall.   I just couldn't bear the thought of not looking at those teeny tiny hands and toes everyday but knew Ben wouldn't want baby pics in his room for long.  When we brought the big boy bed in after Christmas, I forced myself to make a plan to update the wall as well.  It took some time for planning and fine-tuning and then a ridiculous 3.5 week ship time for the last piece because I refused to pay for upgraded shipping.  Ryan is my framer extraordinaire with canned air and precision in his tool belt to insure no little specks or dust remain inside the frames to drive me crazy for years to come.


 After his painstaking attention and re-edited and fresh printed photos, we arrived at...............
                                   ta-da!

I kept the center Remember the Day by Chloe Marty and this will likely always stay in Ben's room one way or another.  I added the custom-color You are Loved print by Skoope Home and had a mat cut so I could keep the orientation and frame and I loved.  I have always so loved the pup pic Nana took while we lived in Wichita but gave it a fresh edit and had it printed by Mpix for better quality and crispness than the old copy.  The top right is one of my most favorite recent B&W pics of Ben and he loves any picture that includes Jelly.  I got some B&W family pics printed as well in case I decide to rotate pics in that spot.  Finally, I found the perfectly colored vintage racing poster for the bottom right.

This pic .......

has been the inspiration for 

 the design of Ben's room for three iterations now and I wanted to tie the racing inspiration to the gallery wall on the opposite side of the room.   When I found the mostly gray and red print that was also affordable I jumped on it.  I was shocked during my search at how expensive vintage racing art can be.

 

I'm very happy with the update overall and hope Ben likes it for many years.  There is talk in some circles about an addition to the wall in the form of art created by a family member and you know I'll share the update if that comes to be. ;)

In the end, I couldn't let go of those teeny tiny baby pics so they joined another Chloe Marty graphic that hung on the hallway wall outside Ben's room.  I re-edited and printed these as well and changed sizes of the hand and feet pics.  Thanks to creative-couponing, Pottery Barn frame sales and Mpix promos, both updates were done for under $100 total including the new prints.

Ben's big boy room is nearly complete! The trundle has been assembled and is awaiting stain and I just ordered the perfect pillow for a little project I'm doing to complete his bed.  We scored this West Elm nightstand at a dock sale last weekend and just need to refinish it to match his other furniture.  The design and leg angles matched his other furniture and new bed so perfectly that we couldn't pass it up.  Our Spring and Summer weekend calendars are quickly filling but I hope we can have it all done with the night stand finished by his big 0-4!