Hello! I’m Kelly and I blog at Here Comes the Sun where I share easy crafts, recipes and DIY projects. I’m so happy to be here today to share some decorating tips for renters.
I currently live in a rental and face many decorating challenges, one of which is the big expanse of off-white walls that we are not allowed to paint. An easy way to decorate blah walls is to create a Gallery Wall. A gallery wall can be any combination of pictures, drawings, or momentos. In our home, we created a gallery wall using family photos from a photo session last summer.
When planning a gallery wall, first lay out your frames on your floor first so you can move things around until you are satisfied with the layout. And here is where I use my secret weapon…3M strips. These are what makes the gallery wall temporary and perfect for renters. If you have never used 3M strips, you need to get your hands on some. They are the holy grail of decorating tools for renters. One side sticks onto your frame and the other side sticks onto the wall.
3M strips make it so easy to hang things! No more nail holes AND they don’t damage the walls. Our home has REALLY cheap flat paint on the walls which get damaged easily but the 3M strips do not damage them at all. If you want to add new frames or switch things around a bit, it’s easy and there won’t be any nail holes.
In order to obtain a cohesive look in a gallery wall, repeat a common theme such as using the same color frames or pictures from one event. I used all white frames and one pop of turquoise blue. I have different hues of the blue color throughout my house so everything flows.
One reason I love this decorating technique is because it is easy to add to the gallery wall. When you have a big expanse of blank wall space , a gallery wall is an easy way to fill it up. A single 8×10 frame on a wall will look small but if you combine numerous frames into a gallery wall, you can really make a statement in your home.
If you are a renter and have been debating about how to decorate your walls, I hope that you’ll give this technique a try! And remember..it’s completely temporary and won’t damage your walls (or your security deposit)!
