$20 Photo Gallery Ledge

So, not to rub it in ya all's faces, but I'm getting the heck outta dodge and heading west to SoCal for an extended weekend vacation.  Oh wait, it gets even better.  I get to go with my hilarious and awesome sisters and...wait for it...ZERO kids!  Holla!!!  Are you jealous now?

But, before I head out, I wanted to share a super quick and easy diy project that I just checked off the to-do list.

All you sista's out there with a ginormous {or even a gi-teeny} wall with not a darn thing on it, raise your hand.  Higher.  Own it, girl.

Today is your lucky day, cause I'm gonna show you how to make your sad little {or humongous...whichever it is} wall into a masterpiece.  No seriously. I'm gonna show you how to turn your blank canvas in to a fabulous photo gallery.  It'll be like going to an art museum, except the artwork will be totally way better because it will be photos of you and your lovies...and I'm gonna do it for $20. 

All you need is:

• A piece of wood {I used a piece of 1x6x10...$6}
• and a couple of wall brackets {I used the industrial/building kind...$5 at "the depot"}
• stain {in the color of your choosing}

You will probably want to enlist the help of a friend to help you mount the shelf onto the wall. 

Studly and I attached the brackets to the wood first, then leveled the shelf and attached the brackets to the wall.  It's a pretty simple, pretty straight forward process.  I would definately recommend screwing the brackets into to studs, just for safety sake.  Once you get all of the pictures up, the weight on the shelf could become quite heavy. 

And that's all there is to it.  See, I told you it was super quick and easy.

The wall I had to work with was 11 feet by 9 feet...a pretty substantial space.  So, I opted to make two, 10 foot shelves for my gallery. It is definately a statement wall now.

I'm debating on whether or not to stack some larger photos along the floor.  I just feel like it needs something.

I have to say, that it's also nice having a home for the gazillions of photos I've accumulated through the years.

The best part about this project is seeing the kiddos start to walk by it, then stop to admire all of the pictures.  I've even caught my 14 year old, big boy standing there gawking.  

See I told ya, even better the Metropolitan Museum of Art {kay, maybe not quite, but pretty darn close}.