Recreating a Photo Gallery from an Amazon Product Photo
We moved into our house in May of 2021. Our old house had a cozy farmhouse feel and white kitchen cabinets. Choosing the cabinet color in our current house was not a choice since it was already built when we found it. We were landed with dark espresso cabinets and it has challenged every decor decision since we moved in. Our ceilings are also higher so the walls are larger and all of our previous wall hangings are now better suited for a dollhouse instead.
The Challenge
In an attempt to embrace the cabinet color, we worked the almost-black color into the dining room by recreating the photo ledge/gallery wall in this Amazon product photo (right).
Set of two 72” floating shelves in black
($104.99)
Analyzing the Photo
After looking at the picture, we guessed the smallest frame size to be an 8”x 10”, which meant the larger, thin-black frame might be an 11”x 14” and the largest ones 16” x 20”.
When the shelves arrived, we measured the wall and hung them, leaving enough space to place the 16” x 20” frames with room in between.
The hardware that came with the shelves wasn’t long enough to go into the walls and hold it securely. We learned this the hard way and lost a bit of drywall in the process. This led to an impromptu trip to the hardware store for larger screws and drywall anchors and something to patch the drywall.
The upgraded screws ended up being bigger than the stickers included with the shelves to cover the holes would conceal. However, the screw holes are conveniently located where the frames will hide them anyway.
Shopping for Similar Frames
The weekend after we hung the shelves, we went to Ikea to see if we could find frames matching the sizes and layout of the ones in the product photo. Here’s what we ended up purchasing:
4 Ribba 16” x 20” in white ($14.99 x 4 = $59.96)
1 Ribba 16” x 20” in black ($14.99)
3 Lomviken 7 3/4” x 9 3/4” in black ($9.99 x 3 = $29.97)
1 Lomviken 12 1/4” 16 1/4” in black ($14.99)
1 Lomviken 16” x 20” in gold ($17.99)
Total Cost of Frames: $137.90 + tax
Once we got home and put the frames on the shelves, we noticed the black 8”x10” frames wouldn’t sit in front of the 16”x20” frames without falling off the shelves. We then purchased 3M strips to help hold the frames in place.
While my husband is a photographer and we could have chosen all kinds of photos, we ultimately went with the ones that capture the best memories and elicit the happiest of thoughts when looking at them. Brandon has a professional photo printer, so we stayed up late one night and filled the frames.
Here’s how our project turned out…
Overall, the project cost us around $250. We love the color and interest it adds to the room. Not to mention, the versatility of being able to change out the prints whenever we want a refresh.