JUNKERS UNITED with a JUNK GALLERY WALL, a pin board and a link party!
October 15, 2013
Welcome to Organized Clutter, and welcome to Junkers' United first round up! I jumped at the opportunity to join this team of talented DIY women, including our fearless leader, Funky Junk Donna.
If you are new here, I call my blog, Organized Clutter, because my hobby is hunting for vintage bargains, and using them as home decor. To manage all of my collections, I need to be organized.
I haven't always loved junk. When I was in my early 20's, and newly married, I wanted new stuff. I had had enough "second hand" stuff growing up. Owning junk to me back then meant you were poor.
In my early 40's, I discovered the wonderful world of hunting for and collecting vintage items. Little by little, I began working more and more of my vintage collectibles into my decor. I loved a collected, unmatched, and interesting style.
My first full fledged junk vignettes originated in my flower gardens. I had just read the book "Garden Junk" by Mary Randolph Carter, and I liked the idea of decorating my flower gardens. I started with galvanized watering cans, and soon collected old sprinklers, farm equipment, and galvanized tubs and buckets. I was a "Junk Gardener" for sure. Today my home is decorated inside and out, almost exclusively with vintage decor.
My project for the Junkers group's first round up is creating a junk gallery wall over the sofa in my family room.
I started out with a pair of colorful, vintage, chippy red and blue painted oars, that I purchased at a resort rummage sale. The oars were hung on a diagonal above the sofa.
I then gathered together some shallow crates. Two were soda crates, one a raisin crate and one a greenhouse crate. The measurement from the top of the oars to about 8 inches above the sofa was 46 inches. Even though the crates were fairly shallow, I raised them high enough above the sofa to avoid taller people's heads from bumping or touching the crates.
When I put together a wall display or gallery wall, I do not draw it out or hang brown paper. (I see these tips for gallery walls on Pinterest.) My walls never have many framed photos or prints like the Pinterest walls. My stuff is usually odd shaped, so I rely on laying it out on the floor, and moving it around on the floor until I get it right.
I discovered that the "Beware of Unruly Dogs" sign, the green house crate, and the raisin crate positioned the long way, was very close to the 46 inches I needed from top to bottom. I hung these three items first, trying my best to get them even and level.
The green house crate was filled with a red plaid lunch box with a couple Hemingway novels. Luckily a lot of junk works well with magnets so displaying a vintage black and white family photo here and there is easy! I picked up the red wooden level at a thrift shop for $6 a while ago. It is perched atop the greenhouse crate. (And no, my crate is not hanging perfectly LEVEL!)
The right side of my junk gallery wall came to together with a coke crate and an empty rustic frame, that I was thrilled to learn would work with a license plate. (This one is from the year and state of my birth.) Another lunch box, and more books fill the soda crate. I actually purchased the lock above the frame attached to the hinge. It was marked "lost key"!
A vintage photo of my parents is displayed with a magnet on the black lunch box.
Another coke crate is hung on left side along with a vintage black lab tray. The crate was filled with a graniteware coffee pot, books, a clock, and a small red plaid thermos. Four small funnels (from my funnel collection) are lined up on top of the crate. A vintage padlock hangs above the dog tray.
Now to fill in at the far left and right of the junk gallery wall!
On the left, I hung a vintage ice fishing dipper and a door knob plate, and on the right a wooden masher with a red handle and an old pulley with chippy red paint.
That's my junk gallery wall! If you have been dreaming of a gallery wall or a junk gallery wall, I hope I have inspired you to give it a try!
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I had that very same plaid lunch box. And I think a dress to match that my mom made out of fabric from a shirt she sewed for my dad. So not cool back then!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a perfect example of junk not looking junky! I think people get worried if they use junk it will look too cluttered. This neat arrangement proves that theory wrong.
ReplyDeleteYou wall is absolutely junkaliciously gorgeous! I could stare at each old relic all day. There is nothing like looking at all the things you love when you glance up. Art? Who needs a painting when you can look at the real thing?! Truly love this, Carlene!
ReplyDeleteUh, Hi there.... you wouldn't notice if that red box and that red carpenter's level kind of.... went missing, right??
ReplyDeleteI am coveting some of your junk, Carlene!!
-b.
ps. i just bought a red box, too! Mine is metal...
Great wall decor. The bolt with the pin on the end of it was probably used to hold an implement to a tractor.
ReplyDeleteYour gallery wall is splendid Carlene. I have linked my wee tiny tutorial. xo, olive
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool way to display your collected treasures!! LOVE it all :)
ReplyDeleteI think this is my favorite junk project you've created, Carlene! All that red plaid framed by the vintage boat oars....brilliant!!! Your family room looks so cozy and inviting. Well done!
ReplyDeleteI just started a mini gallery wall with 3 items. It's a start, right?
Carline--This looks like so much fun! One day I'll be back to my blog and will join in. . .Love your junk wall. It's gonna get pinned!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Dru
Hi Carlene, I love how you pulled your funky junk gallery wall together! Much more me than photos. I love each and every thing! I have many of the same collections. I lay my wall décor out on the ground the same way. I am a visual person and have to see it. Congrats on being included with the wonderful ladies! Happy to be linking up!
ReplyDeletehugs,
Jann
YOu have outdone yourself with this gallery wall! Best one I've ever seen girl!
ReplyDeleteLove your wall! I especially like the lunch box...reminds me of my Dad.
ReplyDeleteWow!!! Nice work!!! I also like to upcycle things!!! I would love you take a look at my Dictionary Art Prints on Antique and Vintage Books Pages...please, stop by my site...https://www.facebook.com/pages/Elsie-Von-Craft/469111323202966
ReplyDeleteOh WOW!... what a beautiful collection you've curated!... looks like something out of a magazine!... amazing work!
ReplyDeletexo