At the top of our stairs we have a giant blank wall that has been screaming for some sort of attention. I decided to put a gallery wall on there, but I wanted it to be something that could grow and change as I wanted.

This project is perfect to do now in the new year – sort through all the photos you took last year from vacations, family outings, or milestones and pick out your favorites. Give those photos for the holiday cards another use  – or maybe even start a collage showing each year’s holiday cards.

I did two different types of collages for this project. The first one uses an 18×24 floating frame. I printed 10 images in 4×6 (6 horizontal, 4 vertical) and positioned them inside the frame. There are lots of printable images available online (especially Pinterest) which is where I found the “Never Grow Up” print. Use double sided tape to adhere the photos to the back of the frame. This will keep the photos positioned when assembling the frame and the tape will be hidden against the wall.

The second collage I designed in Publisher as a 12×18″ document. I inserted my favorite images from the past few years into the document and then saved as a high res JPEG. I also used images from Facebook and Instagram as well since many of the photos that I took the past few years were on my phone instead of a real camera. I printed the image and then put it in this frame.

This gallery wall can easily be updated – print a new collage for the 12×18″ frame or swap out just a couple photos in the floating frame. It can also expand since it only takes up part of the wall.

In addition to pictures, I wanted the gallery wall to feature some fun items. For this, I chose Brad & My monogram and also a Washington cutout. I bought both of these laser cut shapes off Etsy and then spray painted them in fun colors. The “HOME” was cut out from vinyl and then positioned after the Washington had been nailed to the wall (it conveniently covers up the nail head).

The final item of the gallery wall is a photo from our wedding. This photo is one of our favorites because it features just about everybody who participated in our wedding (its just missing the three little boys who were my train bearers and playing in the nursery by this point). I’ve had the “happily ever after” sign for a few years but it definitely still applies to the wall as all of the photos on the wall are from our various adventures since our wedding.

Not only was this project a fun way to reminisce about the adventures over the past year, it is a project that only takes a few hours and can be completed over the weekend (especially now that the long weekends are done for a while).

If you have some home projects on the horizon, make sure you check out porch.com where they combine project inspiration with professionals who can get the job done for you. Visit their site to see what sort of projects have been done in real homes (at a wide variety of costs). I like that the project cost is shown so that you have an idea of what sort of project would actually fit your budget. You can also narrow it down into a geographical area to help find a contractor or designer in your area.

This project is featured as one of the Best DIY Projects for the New Year from Porch.com. Click on the image below to see all the other projects! What projects are you doing in the new year?