As I looked around my house, I found myself more overwhelmed than at peace. Not because of the toddler shoes scattered throughout every. single. room. Not because our beds weren't made. Not because there were leftovers in my refrigerator that expired nearly three weeks prior.
It was because every wall and nook and cranny was filled with some type of decor. Prints, signs, greenery, you name it. And individually I loved all of these pieces but together, it was causing me anxiety. And yes, I am an interior designer.
And I remembered something I had read years back about the psychological benefits of having pictures displayed in your home. It was fascinating and was yet another reminder of why I do what I do - because there are loads and loads of data to support why having a peaceful, personal, well-designed home is good for your soul. Furthermore, did you know displaying photos prominently in the home sends the message that your family and those in it are important to one another? Did you know that it helps boost a child's self esteem? Yes and yes. As a working mom that strives to creatively mother my daughter, I want to maximize any way I can encourage and lift Zoey up (and my husband, too!).
And it was in that moment I decided I would transform my very robust dining room gallery wall (exhibit A below). I had loved it 4 years ago when I executed it but today, I craved more space, more purpose. I wanted less. I wanted organic psychological benefits in my home. And I wanted it done well.
Thankfully, the team at Framed and Matted was on board and partnered with me on this project. I had never used Framed and Matted before and was so excited to try out their service and design my own museum-quality frames! I was inspired from their Instagram account and decided to go for a less is more approach in my dining room AND try out their colored mat option.
More specifically, I chose:
The addison frame in white
Single mat - which btw, they offer double mat for free if you wanted to do that!
The color mat I chose was soft sky to offset some of the warm tones in my dining room and also, to carry in the light blue/gray I had in other rooms. They have 30 colors to choose from which makes it fun to get creative, especially in spaces like a play room, a kids bedroom or to create a colorful gallery wall perhaps paired with B/W photos?!
I went big! The frame was 20x30 and the photo size is 14x11
Scroll through the images below to see how incredible the gallery wall turned out!
And you guys...the process was super simple. I did have an idea in my head about what I wanted so that helped but as soon as I went into the frame builder area of their website, it took me about 20 minutes. While I didn't need to use their customer service during the process, one thing I LOVE about this company is they have Mistake-Free Guarantee: Mat doesn't fit your artwork? They will send you a new one free.
The frames came within about a week, all in perfect condition. They were relatively easy to hang (I hung myself) - my recommendation if you don't have experience hanging a gallery wall and oversized frames would be to hire someone to do it.
I have since had a few moments while having dinner where Zoey and I go through each picture and talk about them, especially the one where she is still a baby. The space now gives us all a sense of peace and joy that I am so thankful for! My plan is to have these for about a year and then swap out the pictures at some point after that. Also, it may be fun to change the mat color in the future as well, depending on if the decor in my home changes. Love the versatility and shelf-life a DIY custom frame brings!
Thank you to Framed and Matted and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. Last but not least, I am excited to share they are generously giving my readers and followers 15% off. You just need to use code ANNUENO15 at check out!
Cheers,
Ann