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There’s nothing like being home all day during quarantine to make you realize how bare your walls are. After dragging my feet, I came across this gorgeous gallery wall by Studio McGee.

After a little digging, I found the same look over at Framebridge with their Triptych gallery frames. Perfect! Except for their hefty $450 price tag. Luckily with a little more googling I stumbled across this amazing tutorial by Janelle over at Laundry and Lashes.

Materials

  • 3x Picture Frames (24×36”) $72.40
  • Mat Cutter $21.63 There are much more expensive options out there, but this one was priced right and did the job.
  • Uncut Mat Board $8.39 (each). In theory you only need 3 boards, but in real life, it took 10 boards. With Michael’s 20% coupon, the price for each board wasn’t too bad.
  • Print 11×14” photos. I printed from Target with a 50% coupon. $11.98.

Total: $131.18

Steps

  1. Use a pencil to draw your cut box where your picture will be. Make sure you draw on the back of your board (I lost 1 board drawing on the front). For an 11”x14” photo, I cut a 10.5”x13.5” box.

    • Quick tip: Make sure your mat board fits in your frame before you start. I assumed the 24”x36” mat board would fit in the 24”x36” frame, but it was about .25” too wide.

  2. When you are ready to cut, make sure the 2 lines on the mat cutter line up with your cut line. The mat cutter needs to be positioned inside your cut box! If it is not then the 45° angle will be positioned the wrong way (lost another mat board this way).

  3. Press the mat cutter firmly against the ruler and cut.

    • Quick tip: Cut slightly beyond the cut lines at each corner. This will make the corners crisp and clean.
    • Quick tip: When you slide the cutter down the cut line don’t go too slow. If you go too slow, the mat board is more likely to flake.
  4. Tape your photos in and hang!

This was by far one of my favorite (not to mention successful) DIY projects and I love how it came out! Now, for the rest of our walls. And thanks Jacqueline for the amazing photos!