eclectic entryway gallery wall.

i really love our entryway.

guests step off our front porch into this cozy little area of our house, with stone floors and light grey walls.  i have had a beautiful green buffet from my favorite antique store that i bought last summer, but it's been pretty empty other than that for the past few months.  over the summer i've been trying to finish it up!  i still have a few projects in the works, but i was eager to complete this one.

i have a thing for gallery walls (if you can't tell from my house).  i love, love, love them.  most of mine are full of pictures, but i wanted a really eclectic one for our entryway in a giant blank space we have above a little bench.  it was really important to me that it represented our family and all the things that we want our home to be about.  

i tried a few different things and hemmed and hawed over what i wanted it to look like.  i changed it a few times (ok: you guys do NOT want to know how many nail holes are in this wall...yikes) and ultimately came up with this:

and i just love it.  i wanted it to be full of things that say "us" as we welcome friends and family into our home.  i love color, words that are special to us, different textures and pictures, so this wall just really makes me so very happy.  here's a closer look at all of the pieces:

i knew from the beginning i wanted this verse displayed in our entryway; it is such an expression of our family and what is most important to us.  i've been wanting to try my hand at embroidery for a while now: yall, i used to faithfully cross-stitch when i was a little girl.  i think i started a million different ones and never actually finished any of them, but see?  i was a grandma at like age eight.  and i loved it.  so in an effort to return to my stitching roots, i ordered this pattern off of etsy, transferred it with dressmaking paper to the embroidery fabric and needled away.  it's definitely not perfect, but i love it.  and now i want a new embroidery project...definitely addicting!

this is one of my favorite parts of the whole wall.  i found these little typography porclein trays at nordstrom for ten bucks.  i seriously love them (and the "c" just happened to be yellow&turquoise...it was so meant to be).  i knew i wanted to put mine on this gallery wall, so i just glued a ribbon loop on the back so i could hang it in the middle of a frame. check them out; they're so cute!

there's my ikea kvill frame again; this baby is plastic and only like four dollars, but i love it and want one for every room.  this one displays one of my favorite family pics that was taken last fall by a great photographer here in maine (cait wilson photography; check her out!  she is awesome!)  i love how my coral sweater and bella's coral shoes match my "home sweet home" print.  i know; i'm such a nerd.

a while ago, i found this strip of wood in our garage in a scrap pile and i grabbed it as fast as i could.  i love how it looks weathered and the little knot hole in the end just adds character.  with just a coat of paint and some cursive writing in bright paint, i knew it was just perfect for my wall.  i thought and thought about a word that i wanted to describe the mission of our family and what captured us, and finally i landed on "love".  when i was single, if anyone asked me what i looked for in a man, i always said that i wanted to find someone who "loved jesus and loved others".  when i met nick, this was totally his heartbeat (and the verse he had on his myspace page... yes, myspace...i know, we are old!)  i want our home to be a place where people feel loved; not just our girls, but all who enter.  

i found this plate at tj's on clearance a couple of years ago for like three dollars: score.  it's perfect for the vintage-y theme of our home.  the photo above it is one of my favs taken by my dear friend of amanda kate photography; if you're in dallas, look her up!  you will not regret it, friends!!  i wanted to do something different, so i took the glass out and just used scotch tape to stick the photo to the wall in the middle of the frame.

if you've been following my blog for any amount of time, you know that i love lace and i love doilies.  i've refered to my decorating style as "funkified grandma"; it's totally true.  i love decorating with embroidery hoops to add pops of color and also some variation in shape and texture.

i'm in love with all things katie daisy and her etsy shop, the wheatfield.  i have a few of her prints in our home, and wanted this one for our entryway (for obvious reasons).  my sweet sister surprised me with it for my birthday last year, and i was so excited!  i love the color and cheerfulness that it gives this wall.

there you have it, guys.  an eclectic entryway gallery wall with so many things precious to my family's heart.  i love this sweet little display.  i am a firm believer in decorating with things you love, items that represent you and what makes you happy.  this is a perfect example of that for me.

because home should be sweet.