When it comes to my home, I used to say less is more when it came to artwork. But, my opinion has recently changed after I came across some images on Pinterest that piqued my interest. These Pins showed how to create a vintage gallery wall using thrift store artwork. I fell completely and utterly in love with the look and I am excited to share with you how I created my own vintage gallery wall with thrift store artwork.
Vintage Gallery Wall Inspiration
If you’re unsure of what exactly a vintage gallery wall looks like, I have chosen a few of my favorite Pins to give you some ideas.
This first vintage gallery wall includes gorgeous baroque frames with artwork portraying people, animals, and landscapes. You could easily replicate this look with frames from the thrift store along with artwork you can purchase from Etsy.
Keeping everything monotone is a great way to group thrift store artwork without it feeling overwhelming in a space.
Or, if you want to add a bit of color and whimsy to your gallery wall. Bold splashes of modern artwork can break up a gallery wall that feels a little stuffy.
My first piece of advice when it comes to curating pieces for a gallery wall is to take your time. Don’t rush the process and definitely don’t buy everything in one place. People will go to Hobby Lobby, Michael’s, or Target and buy everything at one time to create a gallery wall. When you do this, you’re not showing your unique personality and then your home starts to look like everyone else’s. Trust me, I’ve been there, done it and bought the t-shirt!
5 PLACES TO FIND INEXPENSIVE VINTAGE ARTWORK
- Antique Stores – The first place I would encourage you to visit is an antique store. Whenever we hear the word “antique” we tend to think that everything in an antique store is expensive, Which is not necessarily the case. Where I live, we have a lot of antique malls which are more or less places to find antique and vintage items. The items I find for my home are more vintage than they are antique.
- Etsy– Etsy is a great resource for all things vintage. With over 4.3 millions sellers on the platform, you can usually narrow your search for vintage artwork down to a price range that fits your budget.
- Ebay- A lot of people are surprised when they find out how many vintage items you can find on eBay. As an eBay reseller myself, I know just how large this platform is and the great finds it offers. Also, as a buyer, you can also set up an alert on the eBay app for items for which you’re searching. When an item is listed that meets your search criteria, eBay will alert you. This is an extremely helpful tool when it comes to hunting down a particular item you’re looking to find.
- Facebook Marketplace– When it comes to searching for vintage items on Facebook Marketplace, it all comes down to using the correct search terms. You want to be as specific as possible. Instead of seaching for “vintage artwork”, you could search for “vintage artwork baroque frame”, or “vintage mid-century modern artwork”. Try to be as specific as possible for more accurate results.
- Thrift Store- This of course is a no-brainer but there are people that don’t believe you can find vintage artwork at the thrift store. You may have to do some digging and you may have to take several trips to thrift stores. But, I know for a fact it is possible to find vintage and even antique pieces at the thrift store.
LOOK PAST THE UGLY
You can also mix and match the artwork and frames you find secondhand. Say you find a gorgeous baroque frame but you’re not too keen on the artwork inside the frame. Try to envision that frame with another piece of artwork. This will open up your options when it comes to what you find. I have even found, that at times if the frame is pretty but the artwork sucks or vice versa. Those pieces are cheaper because the store thinks no one will want them. So, try and look past the ugly when you’re hunting for vintage artwork.
CHECK OUT MORE THRIFTING POSTS HERE
HOW TO ARRANGE ARTWORK ON A GALLERY WALL
When it comes to how to arrange artwork for your gallery wall, the possibilities are endless.
Personally, I like to come up with my layout a little bit differently. Once I have found all of my artwork, I like to take pictures of each piece along with the wall where the artwork will hang. From there, I go into Canva and I “build” my gallery wall before one nail goes into the wall.
Once I have a good idea of how I want to style my gallery wall, I take sheets of brown wrapping paper and I make templates of each piece of artwork. This may sound like a lot of work but, in the end, you will thank yourself. This extra step will keep you from unwanted holes in your walls because you didn’t like the placement of the artwork.
HOW TO HANG A GALLERY WALL
Once you have all of your pieces of thrift store artwork and you’ve created a layout, now it’s time to hang them on the wall.
But, before we actually hang the artwork, we’re going to use the templates we made as our guide. Using some painter’s tape, we are going to tape the templates to the wall in the layout we have chosen.
For the best results, remember to give enough space in between each piece so your wall doesn’t look cluttered. I prefer to start from the center and work my way out as I am using the templates. The best thing about using templates is that you can easily rearrange them without destroying your wall.
Next, we need to choose what we’re going to use to actually hang our gallery wall. You can go the regular route and use nails or if you’re renting, or don’t want to put holes in your walls you can always use command strips.
THE FINAL LOOK
My gallery wall is a combination of vintage and modern. The artwork compliments my buffet which I affectionately named, Elizabeth. Elizabeth is now a queen complete with her crown of artwork hovering above her. My gallery wall took around 5 months of searching for just the right artwork to hang above my buffet. I am so happy I took my time to find the perfect pieces for my home. In total, I spent approximately $ 55 on my gallery wall. My time and patience paid off and I couldn’t be happier with the final look of my vintage gallery wall.
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