I’m a big fan of the gallery wall, and have several in my home. I’ve always liked using them in a non-traditional way (traditional being matching frames hung in a perfectly symmetrical grouping).
I like thinking of my gallery moments as wall scrapbooks. I mix and match frame styles, include photos next to artwork, and hang objects like baskets and hats.
If someone writes me a cute note, or I leave a wedding with a polaroid keepsake, I’ll tuck these pieces into the edges of frames.
My gallery walls are constantly changing as I bring in new pieces from my thrift adventures, like puzzles that are never finished.
One of my favorite galleries is the one above my desk/office space in our primary bedroom.
It includes a floral painting found years ago at Stitches and Rust (the owner now operates a shop called Trashé Vintage), and a painting given to me by my mother.
The artist’s granddaughter was my mother’s neighbor in Missouri, and gave this piece, along with another large collection, to my mom for free, as long as she promised to keep them safe.
Now that my mom lives seasonally with us in Florida, we’re keeping all the art on our walls.
I’ve hung a hat from Stone Button Studio in Northwood Village, a little stained glass and shell mirror purchased at the Northwood Holiday Home Tours market in 2024, a basket I’ve just added to the collection this weekend (purchased at The Rust Market in Lake Park), and my favorite piece of all — framed hand written notes from my mother.
My mom wrote these notes to me when I was two years old. I had done a couple of cute/sweet things, so she jotted them down as memories and added little love notes in too.
To this day, I can’t read the notes without crying. Even before becoming a mother myself, they brought tears to my eyes.
I love those notes so much that when my parents asked what I wanted for my college graduation gift, I just asked to have them matted and framed.
My mom couldn’t believe it — frame her slanted writing and spelling errors?!
Hell yeah! That’s what I love about it. The busy, working mom of a toddler taking a few minutes to jot down a moment she wanted to hold onto. A piece of life with her family she wanted to keep from fading. A quick little love story for later.
I love having moments like that on my walls.
Last week’s thrifted ‘fits:
>> Goodwill thrift haul reel on my Instagram profile!
>> Consignment shopping reel on my Instagram profile!
This is my hobby. 
What a lovely way to have your mom’s sweet letter ever present in your home! My dad wrote me a letter when I was 16 and I can’t read it without crying. I just might take it out of that keepsake box.
Frame it!!!