Creating A Hallway Gallery Wall

Since moving into this house, I've been struggling with a small wall at the end of our hallway. I've tried adding interest by hanging a large mirror, of which I disliked because who wants to watch themselves walking down the hallway en route to the powder room.  Then I tried a trio of watercolor prints hung vertically, which looked alright but had little personality.  My last attempt was painting the wall red to echo the one in our front entry, both of which can be seen from the living room.

My rule was that all the elements used in the gallery had to be DIYed from things found around the house.

Here is what the wall looked like before I began...

Creating A Hallway Gallery Wall using elements shopped from the home

Repurposed Clock Frame

Starting with the frame of a wall clock that broke a few years ago.  I removed the broken mechanisms and attached a sheet of striped scrapbook paper onto the clock face with double sided tape.  I had a French Postal Graphic decal in my stash and applied it to the paper.  Voilà, instant art!

Rustic Moss Monogram

I wanted the initial of our last name(s) included in the collage. I say names because despite being married for 28 years, I still go by my maiden name. Thankfully our sir names both begin with the letter B.

I simply covered a wooden letter B with self-adhesive sheet moss.  To add some contrast against the red I whitewashed some pieces of cedar tongue and groove boards, leftover from another project, and attached the B with a hot glue gun.  Then I remembered two plate shelves I recently whitewashed and planned on selling.  I love the added interest it gave to the gallery wall!

Wooden Finial

When I saw the large decorative wooden finial at Michaels, I knew it would be perfectly incorporated into the gallery wall. It is the only item I purchased.

Metal Fleur De Lis Framed Art 

Several weeks ago I won the bid on this Fleur De Lis metal framed art at a local online auction site. The frame was dark wood and the metal a brushed antique gold. To better suit our color scheme I gave the wood a whitewash and rubbed silver gilding wax over the gold.

Framed Scrapbook Paper

I had the small white wooden frame in my stash and I simply added pretty Chandelier felted scrapbook paper inside and voilà, more instant artwork!

Small French Plaques With Glass Knobs

The two small fabric decoupaged frames with pretty glass knobs were hanging in our bedroom. The edges of the frames were black and so I added some contrast by whitewashing them.

Beveled Mirror

Last but not least, a small beveled mirror was added to the mix. I know I said earlier that I disliked having a mirror hanging at the end of the hall but hung off center it isn't reflecting our every move as we walk down the hall.

I'm quite pleased with how I finally succeeded in transforming a rather blah wall into one with lots of personality and character!

If you've been following my blog you may remember how I gave Mom's Stool that she used on a daily basis, a special makeover. Finally, I found the perfect spot to showcase this sentimental piece.

Easy Peasy TIPS for creating a Gallery Wall

TIP 1

Tape craft paper together the same size as the area of your gallery wall.  In our case, it was the entire back wall of our hallway.

TIP 2

On the floor lay out the elements for your gallery onto craft paper.  One rule of thumb is to create a symmetrical configuration by lining up the edges of the art on each side to form a square or rectangular shape.

TIP 3

Once you are happy with the placement draw an outline around each piece with a pencil.  Hang the craft paper on to the wall with painters tape and check it using a level to ensure it's hanging nice and straight.

TIP 4

Measure where the hooks are on the back of each element and mark it on your outlines.  Add nails or wall anchors where necessary and take down the sheet of craft paper.  Hang up your art and that's it!

I hope this has inspired you to create a gallery wall in your home using items that you already have!

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Whether Spring, Summer or Fall, who doesn't enjoy relaxing outdoors with a good book or their favorite beverage. Even better is having a favorite bench to share your morning coffee and glass of wine at the end of a long day. As you create lasting memories together, wouldn't it be lovely to share them on an Outdoor Garden Headboard Bench For Two?  

Today I'm sharing an easy to follow tutorial on how to repurpose a double headboard set into a headboard bench and how to add sentimental graphics to make it extra special.

Outdoor Garden Headboard Bench For Two

One morning while Mr. Frugalista and I were enjoying coffee on the deck, I said: "wouldn't it be nice to have a wooden garden bench by the back flower bed?" That's when I remembered that sitting under a tarp was a sweet head and footboard that we picked up for a song at a local thrift store.

In that moment we decided to repurpose the headboard into a garden bench. When we pulled the tarp off I gasped - some little critter decided it would keep them well fed over the winter!

The two banisters, shown in the picture below we got for $15.00 at an online auction.

Thankfully it only gnawed on the bottom half so it could easily be hidden by the frame of the bench seat as pictured below.

Instead of a long drawn out step-by-step tutorial on how we made the bench I've created a pictorial that I hope will help.

Step 1: Bench Seat

Build a frame for the seat with 2 x 4 lumber and attach it with wood screws from the back of the headboard so the top is 18-inches high.

Step 2: Decorative front face place

Attach a face plate onto the front of the seat frame.

Step 3: Cutting the footboard

Slice the footboard in half using a table saw.

Step 4: ReSizing the footboard sides

Cut each footboard piece 18-inches long (this will be the depth of the seat).

Step 5: Attaching the sides

Place a piece of wood under the seat at a height of 18-inches from the top of the seat frame (this will be the height of the seat). Square and level the sides, clamping them in place. Attach the footboard to the seat using wood screws. Attach it to the headboard post from the back as well.

NOTE: you could use a Kreg Pocket Hole Jig to attach it to the headboard post but we didn't have one at the time of building this bench). You will be filling in the screw holes later with wood filler.

Step 6: Cutting the banisters to use as front legs

The size you cut them is your personal preference but they do need to be a minimum of 18-inches long. You can see in photo 8 that we made ours longer to add a decorative element to the bench.

Step 7: Level the seat

Double check that the seat is perfectly level and attach a temporary piece of lumber to hold the seat level.

Step 8: Adding the front legs

Attach the banister legs to the front of the seat frame.


Now it's time for the pretty...

* Affiliate links have been included in this post so you can see the products that I used to make this bench. See my full disclosure policy HERE.


I used a (*affiliate link) Stain Blocker because our bench was made from all sorts of different wood and I wanted a unified finish.  I was also worried about tannin bleed from the dark wood on the headboard and footboard. I'm glad I took this step because the finish turned out beautiful!

You may have noticed in the tutorial photos there were no Finials on the front legs. As an afterthought, we purchased fence post caps and they echo the posts on the headboard perfectly!

Isn't the *(affiliate link) DecoArt Chalky Finish*(affiliate link) paint color gorgeous? It's called Serene!

It went on like buttah and I only used 1 1/4 jars to paint three coats, underside included.  I could have gotten away with only two coats but there were some spots I missed so I added a third.

To add that special touch to our wooden garden bench for two, I created a graphic in PicMonkey using the Silhouette Image Birds On Branch graphic from the Graphics Fairy. Next, I went to Block Poster to enlarge the graphic to fit the back of the headboard.

I rubbed a pencil on the back of the graphics and traced it onto the wood. Using *(affiliate link) art brushes I hand painted the details.

I could sit here for hours listening to the birds chirping while enjoying my morning cup of coffee.

I just love how this bench turned out and don't you think it just begs for some time with a good book. If you love it to, please share it with a friend and/or save it on Pinterest.

While I adore this sweet bench I did put it up for sale because the pretty serene color does not go with our outdoor space color scheme. I'm happy to report it sold VERY quickly and I hope the new owners enjoy their new Outdoor Garden Bench For Two.

This isn't our only headboard bench, we made an Embossed Leather Upholstered Bench as well as a pretty Parisian Dining Room Bench.

My hope is that I have inspired you to think twice about all those headboard sets you see at your local thrift store.


You will find this project linked to these fabulous LINK PARTIES.

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Thrift Store Upcycle Kitchen Command Center

Today I'm sharing a quick and easy thrift store upcycle by refreshing a handy but dated message board into a pretty Kitchen Command Center. My daughter desperately needed something to hang in her small apartment galley kitchen to sort mail, write quick reminders, and tack things like grocery lists. She was tired of mail accumulating on the kitchen counter or worse, getting lost.

We found the perfect solution for little money and a coat of fresh paint and the color looks nice on her kitchen wall. I surprised her by hanging it while I was babysitting my three-month-old grandson.

This is what it looked like before - well sort of. I forgot to take a before photo before taping the corkboard and middle section in prep for paint.

I had also removed an assortment of mismatched decorative hooks on the bottom before taking this picture.

Here are the products I used for this makeover...

First coat of chalk paint

The message board was painted with two coats of pretty Moon Dew blue chalk paint.

With Frog Shape Tape, I added some fun chevron stripes on the corkboard.

Reverse Transfer Labels

To label the pockets for sorting mail, I used a reverse stencil transfer method by attaching self-adhesive letters from the dollar store onto the pockets.

I dry brushed Simplicity White chalk paint over the blue paint to soften the blue and give it a rustic layered paint appearance. To do this you dip just the tips of your brush into the paint and offload the excess onto a paper towel so very little paint remains on the brush. With light pressure and long random strokes layer the second color so the blue base layer shows.

I applied the paint thicker over the pockets so the letters would be more pronounced. Before the paint dried, I removed each letter carefully with tweezers.

Refreshing the chalkboard

I also gave the chalkboard a quick refresh with a coat of black chalkboard paint. After it was dry I seasoned the board by rubbing the side of a stick of chalk all over the board and rubbed the chalk into the paint with a paper towel.

Such an easy peasy update and what a difference!

That's my adorable grandson on the laptop screen. That smile melts my heart every time I see it. When I arrived to babysit he was screaming like a wild man. Made it hard for my daughter to leave but I managed to get him settled and fast asleep within five minutes - cuz that's just what us Grandma's do.

When he opened his eyes from his nap he looked up at me and smiled from ear-to-ear and showed me how he can make mouth bubbles. I love that little man to the moon and back!

Here is another Chalkboard Message Center idea using repurposed cabinet doors for a girl's room. This is another thrift store upcycle for our daughter's place here in my post Wall Mounted Coat Rack For Under $5.

You will find this project linked to these fabulous link parties.

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Vintage Waterfall Dresser Painted Pink For A Girl's Room

Several months ago my daughter found this Vintage Waterfall Dresser on Kijiji (Canadian Buy & Sell Site). You could tell it had been stored in a garage or shed for quite some time judging by the cobwebs. Never refusing to rescue a a waterfall dresser I brought it home and stored it in our shed for several months.

You might want to grab your favorite beverage before reading further because this post is picture heavy and includes a stencil and decoupage tutorial.

Vintage Waterfall Dresser For A Girl's Room

This is what the dresser looked like before...

Cleaning and prepping the dresser

The first thing I did before bringing the dresser indoors was give it a good vacuum. Once inside I thoroughly scrubbed it inside and out with soap and water. Wherever it was stored something decided this dresser would make a great lunch, nothing a mouse sander (how fitting) and some filler couldn't repair. Two of the drawers took Herculean strength to open so a little sanding in the tight spots got rid of that problem as well.

Painting the dresser

The dresser and drawer fronts were chalk painted in the color Vintage Cupcake by Country Chic Paint. The top trim and recessed sides were chalk painted in the color Simplicity White, also by Country Chic Paint. I applied dark wax over the pink to give it some depth and an aged appearance. White Pearl Wax was applied over the white paint to give it an iridescent patina - so pretty.

Stenciling the sides of the dresser

I started with each side of the dresser using the darling Sew Fun Dress Form Stencil and Patina Green Stencil Creme by Royal Design Studios. The color is absolutely gorgeous and has soft translucent effects that shimmer when the light casts on it.

Stencil Tip

If you've never stenciled before it really is quite easy. Some people prefer using repositionable spray adhesive to hold the stencil onto their piece but I prefer good old fashion painters tape. The trick to avoid the paint bleeding under the stencil is to have very little paint on the brush. Dip only the tips of the stencil brush into the creme or paint and remove the excess by dabbing onto a paper towel. Stencil in circular motions (as pictured above).

You may be wondering why I didn't stencil the dress part of the stencil.

Decoupaging with fabric

Instead I decoupaged the dress using fabric rather than paint as pictured below.

First I brushed fabric stiffener onto the back side of the fabric to ensure it doesn't fray.

Once dry (a matter of a few hours) I placed my stencil onto the fabric and traced the dress portion and cut it out. I brushed Mod Podge onto the back and attached it to the dresser. So easy!

Stenciling the front of the dresser

On the front of the dresser I wanted to switch it up a bit by using a different fabric. Unfortunately the stencil didn't line up on the drawer fronts perfectly so I had to adjust the stencil accordingly. See how the cage part of the dress form lines up between two drawers in the picture below...

To remedy that I stenciled the dress form up to the end of the dress on the top two drawers (see photo above). I then lowered and readjusted the stencil to elongate the dress on the third drawer, adjusting the stencil so the wheels also lined up on the third drawer (see photo below).

To paint the spaces in between each drawer, I used a stick of chalk to draw the outline of the stencil and then removed the drawers. I lined up the stencil to the chalk marks and stenciled the lines onto the dresser. I repeated this step for the next space between the drawers.

Altering Pattern for decoupaged dress

Unlike the stencils on the sides I couldn't simply trace the dress form onto my fabric. I had to make a pattern for the elongated dress. First, I put the drawers back into the dresser and using tracing paper traced the dress - it took three sheets.

I taped my pattern pieces together. Before cutting the pattern I held it up to the stencil on the dresser to make sure it all lined up properly. Measure twice cut once.

I placed the pattern onto my fabric and traced it out with a pencil and cut it out (as pictured below).

Decoupaging fabric onto the front dress form

This next part was a little tricky and it took more patience than skill. I placed the first drawer into the dresser and using the same Mod Podge technique I attached the dress starting at the top. When I got to the bottom of the first drawer I carefully cut the fabric with a sharp pair of scissors along the bottom edge of the drawer.

Next, I pulled the drawer out a bit and lined up the fabric onto the dresser in the space between the drawers and applied Mod Podge to that section and cut the fabric carefully.

I closed the drawer to make sure the stencil was lined up properly, adjusting accordingly.

Next I put the second drawer out a bit and repeated the step above until the entire dress was applied.

I left the drawers out of the dresser once I knew the fabric all lined up properly and let the fabric dry thoroughly before sliding them back in the dresser.

Attaching rose beads to the knobs

While the fabric was drying I started working on adding bling to the hardware.

I found some pretty silver rose beads at Michael's to dress up inexpensive chrome Richelieu knobs purchased at Home Depot.

Using E6000 glue, I attached a rose to each knob (pictured below).

Jazzing up the dresser drawers

Those of you who follow me know that I like to line the drawers on my pieces. Being a dresser for a girl's room I decided to pull the bright lime color from the fabric and add a surprise pop of color to each drawer.

The interior and sides of each drawer were chalk painted in the color Luscious Lime by Country Chic Paint. Using the same decoupage technique I lined each drawer with alternating fabric (picture above and below).

Not being able to leave well enough alone, I added just a little something extra to the front of the third drawer.

I cut a few pairs of shoes from the pink fabric and decoupaged them onto the third drawer.

Here is a close up of the two fabrics decoupaged onto the dress forms...

I find it so rewarding to take furniture with good bones that is collecting dust somewhere in a garage or shed or possibly worse, destined for the landfill, and breath new life into them.

I'm thrilled that this dresser sold very quickly and I hope the little girl who now has it in her room will enjoy it throughout her childhood.

I don't know how I lived without this handy Paint Brush Scrubber by Royal Design Studios. The fact that it's in the shape of a heart is very fitting because I ♥ this tool.

You will find this project shared at these fabulous LINK PARTIES.

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