Oh, I’m excited about this one. I have been dreaming of a gallery wall over the credenza for a long time, but have lacked the proper kick in the pants to get it going. Last weekend I stopped in at a thrift store to check out their stock of frames. You had really great suggestions about where to best find frames, but I hadn’t given up hope of collecting used frames and refinishing them.

As I wandered around the thrift store, I saw a handwritten sign above one of the doors that said “Art 1/2 off.” I stared at it for a second, checked with the front desk to be sure that frames, empty or not, counted as “art,” and got to work. I wound up with a nice stack of frames in different sizes and edge styles for under $30. (Score!)

My first order of business was to take everything out of the frames. Some of the artwork was professionally framed (with brown paper backing, etc) and I felt only slightly guilty ripping through all that work to get to bare frames.

With that done I took them to the garage, a few at a time, to prime them. I used RustOleum Painters Touch Primer. It went on really nicely (especially considering it was way below the recommended paint temperature) and dried super fast. Priming and drying all the frames took me a good portion of Sunday, as I could only spray two frames at a time (with the amount of cardboard I had to cover the garage floor).

The rest of this week has been dedicated to spraypainting the topcoat. I used RustOleum Protective Enamel in white semi-gloss. I was able to do two, sometimes three, frames per night. I spraypainted once I got home from work then left them to dry overnight and the entire next day. I just finished up my last set yesterday evening.

I am absolutely thrilled with how they came out. My goal is to have this small collection grow and expand to take up the entire wall.

To arrange the frames I used Young House Love’s method and it worked like an absolute charm. Learning from their arrangement, I grouped the frames pretty darn close together.

Down the line I am going to fill these frames (with art, photographs, and a few cool graphic pieces), but for the moment I am digging how they contrast with our gray wall and match the glossy white credenza. I may have stood for a few minutes and started at them in undisguised glee. Maybe.

Told you I was feeling frame-y! This week I busted through Jane Eyre in record time. I can’t believe I’ve never read it, it’s so good! And have you seen the previews for the new movie? I. cannot. wait.

I’m linking up at The Inspired Room’s gallery wall party!

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