entryway gallery wall

As soon as you enter our house you are greeted on the left with our gallery wall. It’s filled with photos of people who have lived in our family farmhouse throughout the years, some architectural pieces, and just items that make me smile.  This wall definitely captivates your attention when you walk in and there’s many stories to tell from it.

Once upon a time…

There was a young boy whose grandparents lived on a farm. He loved to visit frequently during the year and spend many summers there.  He would dream about the day he could live on the farm himself, envisioning how he could make it his own.  Fast forward over 20 years and that boy is now living his dream of owning the family farmhouse!

My favorite sign

“Ever since I was a little boy I wanted to live on the farm. I’m thankful it’s actually happening.” -Isaac Miller, May 30,2016

This sign means so much to us.  I gifted Isaac with it on Father’s Day while we were in for a visit from Birmingham to demo bathrooms.  A few weeks prior we were traveling back to Birmingham from a weekend trip not long after his grandparents moved out of the farmhouse.  It was a very emotional time.  We were so thankful to be able to live in the family farmhouse but it was so sad to see his grandparents move out after living here for over forty years.

His Granny made us a scrapbook about the house and Isaac was looking through it on our drive. After a while I looked over and tears were streaming down his face. He was so overcome with emotion about the whole situation he just couldn’t contain it anymore.  I ask him if everything was okay and he just nodded while wiping away the tears and he told me, “Ever since I was a little boy I wanted to live on the farm. I’m thankful it’s actually happening.” Well just melt me into a puddle!

I cannot imagine the way he felt. I had been dreaming of living in the farmhouse for a few years but he had been dreaming of it his whole life!  The next day I found a custom sign maker on Etsy to make him a sign for Father’s Day.  That beautiful sign has been adorning our farmhouse since our first demo day on Father’s Day weekend 2016. It’s the perfect beginning of our gallery wall!

The creators of the sign are amazing to work with and can create anything you’d like, click here to go to their Etsy shop.

Handprint Art

I recently added a simple project of the kids’ handprints that I adore.  I purchased these birch pieces at Hobby Lobby and used a paint I had on hand to make their handprint. After drying I added a command picture hanging strip to the back and stuck it on our gallery wall.  It’s a quick project that looks nice and will be sweet to look back on one of these days.

Architectural Piece

“Trash” to treasure couldn’t be more true in this case. A chippy corbel that was rotting outside was brought in to add some dimension and texture to the gallery wall.  It also acts a shelf to showcase a thoughtful gift from a friend, it means home sweet home. Our guests always ask us what that cute little sign means. I enjoy telling the story.

Family Photos

Every family photo on our gallery wall is a photo of a family who has lived in our farmhouse. The house has been in the family for well over 200 years and I enjoy representing each of them and remembering all the history here.

Kentucky

My mother-in-law gifted us the Kentucky made of barn wood and it fits perfectly in our house! She purchased it from a local craftsman and the quality is amazing. Once she gifted it to us I started designing our gallery wall around it.

Hidden Thermostat

Can you find our thermostat?  No, you can’t? Mission accomplished then. My OCD game was strong on this move according to my husband but I thought it was a great idea. The Welcome Ya’ll sign fits perfectly over our thermostat and I plan for it to be there until my husband decides to throw it out in the yard.  It probably seems silly to some people to cover up our thermostat but it really bothered me having to look at our ugly thermostat among all the beautiful things.

I adore and appreciate gallery walls that tell a story. Our gallery wall gave me the opportunity to tell a few stories about our family farmhouse and I hope you enjoyed it. Remember to fill your home with things that make you happy and your house will smile back at you!