See the Rainbow
Personal goal #1 : get some art on the stairway
Personal goal #2 : make said art reflect Jer and I
Personal goal #3 : spend under $10 on all of it
The stairway frame gallery needed some art and I’ve been feeling fiesty lately – so I really wanted the wall to be a little less ‘classic-neutral-Katie” and more “spicy-colorful-Katie”. It’s out of my typical comfort zone to use color but to be completely honest with myself, it does makes me happy to see a rainbow of hues and lately I’ve been feeling like this house needs to be more ‘us’. Plus I think that the fact that this stairway is the beginning of my day every single morning, well, a little infusion of color could put a smile on my face when I in a ‘why-the-heck-won’t-Will-let-us-sleep-in-and-now-demands-the-novelty-of-food” kinda mood.
As you may remember - the stairway frames were in place…
And now, after the color-infusion, it looks like this:
First of all – the picture above is much more accurate in terms of our tooth-paste colored walls (which I have no idea what color they are so please don’t ask. I promise to color match it one day and let you know!)
The first part thing I did was print some 5×7 photos to include in the wall…spending under $6 for all of them. It was really important to put pictures of Will up because well, he’s kindof a big deal. And when I asked Jer the crucial question of “What is our mutual interest?”, he was quick with the answer “water”. yeah. we love water. it’s true.
That love is well represented with a sea fan that I picked up when we had a work-vacation in Grand Cayman. I blogged about framing that a long time ago. It’s like Betty White and resurged people!
I also loved the ‘cedar chest’ sign because it was from Tennessee…Jer’s hometown and the place we met. Above the green cedar chest art (that I found in this old chest that I scored at a yardsale ages ago), I made a little sign with one of our favorite CS Lewis quotes which goes
“I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen : not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
and a bit of an old envelope cut into the shape of a sun. And next to that is a little homemade illustration of our first baby.
Yeah…it’s not perfect and looks like a fifth grader drew it but it was free…and it reminds me of all our good times in that house :)
On the second part of the half wall is a bit more of our pictures demonstrating our Will-love and our H2O love. First, we included some fish on a string – yeah, random but literal 
There was some button art that I loved on The Little Green Notebook and told myself that I HAD to make it myself. It was free because I have a giant jar of spare buttons. Plus it makes me happy.
I really was stumped by what to put in this frame. REALLY stumped. Like more confused than when I look at every calculus problem I’ve ever seen. Or basically anything Lindsay Lohan has done in the last three years. Enter one of Will’s books. While I was reading his nighttime routine, I saw a sea urchin illustration. I mentioned a while back that Jeremy always looks for sea urchins for me when we go to the beach. It is silly but those delicate little things mean the world to me. Plus, this sucker is made from cut up paint swatches (which is soo me).
The last wall! Yay! Sorry about that little frame at the bottom corner – I took the photo before realizing the picture had fallen
First up – the “B” – leafy and free…I switched up the mat by putting some scrap striped fabric on it. Jeremy liked it. I’m on the fence I think it would be cute nursery art but here it looks a little off to me for some reason.
I dug out our old boarding pass stubs from our honeymoon. Yup – we newlyweds sat next to each other on the plane. I know you’re shocked. What’s shocking to me is that Jeremy had two bags and I didn’t have any
The littlest frame got a big job by representing the good ole US of A. The little wood cut out is a twenty five cent piece from Hobby Lobby. And I was thisclose to throwing out an old Missoni box (we bought Clara Petersik some ballet slippers to give to her when we went to visit) and since the box didn’t have a lid, we put them in a gift bag and the box narrowly escaped the trash by being recycled into a backdrop for our country. Funny – because I consider myself an Italian American Get it!?
In the big center frame we used at our wedding as an autograph piece, I took out the photo. First of all, neither Jer or I loved the photo. BUT I do love this little needlepoint piece that belonged to my grandma. It reminds me of her and I dig the layered frame on frame look…especially since the proportions are similar.
Last is a little bit of me and a little bit of Jer. The Monet inspired lily pad art (water? check!) was actually part of a three piece series in my little studio apartment in college. It’s painted with cheap paint on a bit of cardboard (I dare say it was a pizza box)….and it still makes me smile. The empty frame got a little pom-pom string with a bicycle clipped to it. Jer’s obsessed with bikes…so it kinda works…although I wish I had more pom poms to add to it. There can never be too many pom-poms
So there you have it folks – us. in rainbow form. I must say that I pause a little longer in the hallway now…it is simply smile-inducing…and that is exactly the way I want this house to be. Out with the whole “needs-to-appeal-to-the-masses” mentality and in with the “if-it-makes-me-happy-that’s-what-counts” kinda decorating. Now to save my pennies for a new runner – any suggestions on how to do that for cheap? I’m thinking stripes
Oh and did I mention that Will loves it? Yeah…obsessed. He gets on the stairs now and points at everyone and tells me who is who. Of course it all sounds like “Eee” or “Grrsh” but hey, art speaks differently to different people
Have you guys infused your walls with homemade art lately? Anyone love the water as much as we do? Or perhaps you are more of a mountain person? Or maybe you’ve been painting on pizza boxes lately? Have any leftovers? Because I’m kinda hungry
Love love love love….
I have a hallway wall of the cottage that i’ve been eyeing to do this kind of wall display, but i’ve been struggling to find frames in the area I live in. I like the idea of buying a frame and painting and using just the frame! thanks for inspiring me!
did i mention i love it!
It looks fabolous, and much better than the neutral, which I loved originally. Good job
It looks great! I need to do this in my house stat!
HUUGE improvement. I honestly didn’t like all the pictures on the stairs — the stairs are already kind of fussy with all the curving architecture and such, and then all the pictures were kind of overwhelming, but suddenly, it is all completely charming and cheery and I magically like the banister a lot now, whereas before I think I thought it was a touch dated.
Yay stairs!
I also think you should just do away with the carpet runner. Let the photos shine! I grew up in a house with VERY steep, uncarpeted stairs, and nobody ever had any accidents or falls or anything. Since yours are pretty winding, they’re already safer than our stairs ever were.
Also, from a practical sense, stairs get a lot of action (read: dirt), which means that any carpet runner will never be truly clean.
P.S. The only thing my husband and I have in common is our cat, which would make for a hilariously batty (or catty, rather) wall.
Love the pictures and how you arranged everything. You are super creative! You’ve definitely given me some inspiration when it comes to hanging pictures up in our place.
Also, you should make more of those paint chip sea urchins – because I would totally buy one off etsy!
one of the things on my must-have-list when we bought our first place was stairs. i have always loved picture frames full of family and memories lining the stairwell. i have been working on mine for 3 years, adding things a little at a time. my frames are all the same color but different shapes and styles, and full of things and people i treasure!
oh this looks so great! it inspires me to add more of “us” into our home for sure! great job, i love the color!
The new colorful art looks great! So fun!!
1. Looks great and I thought that literally you were going to put art work in the frames in a rainbow pattern. Starting from the left, everything you have that is red, moving onto somepictures with orange in them, etc!! Lol
2. I must make the button and paint chip sea urchin art, thanks for the ideas!!
3. What about painting a stencil on the stairs in a runner pattern going down the middle? Or just painting a solid color going down the middle? Or maybe paint the stairs first then do a color over? Even painting multiple colors in stripes going down? Or maybe you like the carpet feel under your toes in the morning and none of these are a good idea!! Lol
That looks awesome! Can you please tell me how you have the time to do all this stuff?? I know you stay home but a baby has to be time consuming. I work full-time (no kiddos) and we’re also remodeling our house…sometimes I think I’m drowning in my to-do list! Any tips?
Well, to be honest, it’s overwhelming sometimes. And you guys just see the finished product right next to the before picture so it does seem instantaneous whereas it takes a full week of concentration just to get it done. I would say as my number 1 tip is to put one task on the top of the list and not do any other project until you finish it. Also, small daily lists can help …before you know it the week is up and you got a lot done with smaller managable chunks
xo – kb
You are very talented and VERY creative! The wall looks great! Thanks for sharing!
Totally love it! Collage walls are one of my favorite things and I love how you made your $10 limitation into a fun thing instead of letting it hold you back. My favorite is the USA cutout with the Missoni background, simply because most people would have thrown that away and you made it work for you!
I think you should try to paint your existing runner. What do you have to lose? I am thinking dark blue with a brown stripe or two. Dark colors to hide dirt and the color of the existing carpet.
Good luck!
Ooo love the idea of framing your honeymoon plane tickets…now I feel validated in saving mine in my wallet forever. Add that to the list of things for my future wall of frames up the stairwell.
I love it! Especially the home made pieces of art. You are so much more talented than you give yourself credit for.
Love so much what you did with the frames, and love that it brought you some joy
Wow- what a great transformation. The colors add so much – it’s definitely a good change from the muted version. Thanks for the inspiration!
I love your gallery wall because it tells the story of your life. Well done – I still can’t get over how much you get done each day with a toddler. I am so impressed!!
I love the sketch of your old house. It’s very charming!
I love your new frame gallery look. It’s so personal! I always want a frame gallery but I get put off by the cost of frames (maybe I don’t look in the right places?), I never know if I should have all the frames be the same color, and once I start collecting frameable things/pieces, I get distracted and forget! I need to stick with it!
Love the colorful art!!
Hi Katie, the new art looks great! I also usually lean towards the classic, non-”rainbow” colors but this has inspired me to liven it up! It really looks awesome, great job.
I love it! I love all the happy colors and that you made half of it yourself (this is the kind of DIY that I can manage!). Looks great.
Katie, it looks great! So colorful and full of nice memories for you guys. I love the photo of Will looking/pointing at it. Is it just me or does he seem super-tall here? (like, older than 19 months)
I met your girl Sherry (and her guy John) at an event in Richmond today, for which I won tickets via their blog. They are lovely, I can see why you love her.
Now I just need to run into you one day!
Since you live further, I can settle for waiting until heaven, if it doesn’t happen here on earth. But if it does, bonus!! In the meanwhile, God bless you, girl.
Yeah – it totally distorts him and makes him look longer
It must be because I am so low! And yeah – Sher is the best 
xo – kb
Katie, I love how this turned out! It’s amazing and I love how you make it really reflect you guys. And the color is an added bonus! It’s really brightened up the space!! I want to do a frame wall sooo bad, but I’m waiting until I can figure out a way to get to an Ikea to stock up on frames!
The closet one to us is around 5 hours away…very sad. I absolutely love how personal you can make them and inviting too. I LOVE the drawing of your first house. It’s fantastic! I did something similar, but took the easy way out and ordered one from a girl that does custom renderings (because I can’t draw anything!). You are very talented!!
I’m dying to do something just like this! Someday!
I don’t think your house looks drawn by a fifth grader! It is lovely. And I am absolutely adoring your sea urchin paint chip collage.
So love it! We just moved into our new house and I am trying to decide where to do our friends/family photo collage. Ours is all different frames (colors too) – I love the mismatchy of it since that’s how we just are – but yours looks so clean and professional! And since our walls here are dark (they were on the only white wall in the previous house) the white would really pop. Thanks for sharing!!
I have a runner idea! A former neighbor of mine did this and I thought it was so smart. She took FLOR carpet tiles and cut each one in half and affixed the rectangle of carpet to each step. It looked fresh and modern, and of course FLOR has a ton of stripes to choose from. My neighbor’s steps were very narrow so 1/2 tile did the job for each step, but if yours are wide steps, I guess you could lay the two halves side by side on each step. The only thing is you would not have carpet on the rise part of the step, but you certainly don’t need that for safety.
Love the gallery wall and all of the personalization – it’s so much better than some i’ve seen that are full of just random stuff. Lots of inspiration for my own one-day gallery wall. I especially like the paint chip sea-urchin!
I had a thought about your need for an el-cheap-o stair runner… have you ever thought of making a floor cloth? I have a pinterest pin (http://pinterest.com/pin/269512358919942216/)that sparked the idea… Canvas can be expensive, but i’ve also read lots about using canvas drop cloths for various things, as they come in huge sizes, they’re thick, durable and super cheap (and they can be purchased at True Value!) You could cut a dropcloth into strips wide enough for a runner, hem the edges and sew them into a runner. Paint your design and then roll on the poly. Lay it on the stairs and hide the seams under the runner rods. It could work!
Just a thought!
If you are thinking about the canvas runner idea, I have a large amount of canvas I would part with on the cheap! I’m in the ATL area. Let me know!