February 4, 2021

All About Our Gallery Wall

Happy Thursday, friends! I have been meaning to write this post for weeks and I’m so excited to finally hit publish!! As many of you know, as soon as we moved in to our condo, I knew I wanted to put a gallery wall here. The only question was… how? I love the eclectic look of different frames and different sizes, but where does one find all of the frames? How do you decide which photos to put in which frames? And the kicker – how do you plot out what should go where?

I got to a point where I was really overwhelmed and was considering just buying a set 4-6 matching frames to hang in a square and call it a day – and then a sweet gal named Kerry reached out to me and told me that her new business, Sweet Sanity, does exactly what I’m looking for help with. She also recently moved out of Chicago and her wedding was postponed due to COVID. Seriously, between the timing and the similarities, it was meant to be!

About Sweet Sanity

Kerry created Sweet Sanity as a side gig while she worked in technology in Chicago. She has since moved to Virginia and taken her business full time, working with a cabinet maker to create built ins and cabinetry for locals, while continuing to design gallery walls for clients all over the country. And not only does she have an amazing eye, but she also has a huge inventory of antique frames and connections with artists. But for me, the best part was how interested she was in making it perfect FOR US.

The Process

After filling out the questionnaire she sent over, we chatted about the vibe we are going for, things that are important to Adam and I, special memories and trips, etc. It wasn’t a call just about the photos of the room and wall measurements, it was to help her figure out how to make our gallery wall a reflection of us.

For the next step, we sent her all of the photos and artwork that we wanted to feature. If everything is digital, you can send them electronically, but if you have physical artwork or any other memorabilia that you want framed, you would mail those her way. We sent her way more photos/artwork than we needed and she helped us narrow down what would look best, based on colors and sizes.

And then she works her magic! She finds the perfect frames and matting, figures out what size to print your digital files, and draws up 3D renderings of your wall. It’s really cool to get those emails and be able to see exactly what it will look like when you hang it up!

Once we approved the design, she mailed us all of our frames, along with a packet with instructions. It’s a little hard to see, but the photo below shows the page with rough measurements. You don’t need to follow everything exactly, but it was still helpful to be able to follow a plan and make sure that we were roughly on track as we hung everything up. Instead of creating holes all over our wall, we got everything hung on our first try. Such a big win!

As for pricing, you’ll have to reach out her directly!

Her pricing varies based on if you have a large space (over 10 framed pieces) or a small space (under 10 framed pieces). Like any designer, you are paying for her expertise and guidance , but what’s nice about Sweet Sanity is that her price also includes the printing and the frames, too!

Our Photos/Artwork

We really wanted this wall to include a mix of artwork, our travels, our engagement photos – and Luna, of course 😉 This mix would make it easy to swap some out when we eventually have wedding photos to hang. One day we’ll have those, right?!