Gallery Wall Around the TV {part 1}

It's Friday!  Who loves Friday?  Everyone, that's who.

Sometimes I am inexplicably lazy about doing a certain project and when I finally get around to it, I kick myself for waiting so long.   This is one of those projects.  I have known for awhile that I wanted to add a mini gallery wall around my television in the living room.  Here:

I didn't want to fill the wall entirely with pictures, but I did think a handful of photos would look pretty good up there and would definitely make the space feel more homey and welcoming.  I already had a bunch of the Pottery Barn Gallery Frames in off-white in my space (above the dining room table and above the fireplace), so around Christmas when they went on crazy sale with free shipping, I tonto jumped on it and ordered the four additional frames that I needed.  

I used old wrapping paper and traced the frames onto the paper and marked the location of the hangers on the back (which makes hanging the frames a breeze).  I played around with placement using painters tape until I finally settled on this arrangement:

Then I just nailed my nails in the right spots and hung my frames!

All that's left is to put photos in the frames.  I have some amazing shots of the kids from a photo shoot this past summer, so I will order them and pop them in place.  I'll be sure to post the final results here.  The frames on the wall are a great start.  Even though I did not initially want a wall of frames, the more I live with this, the more I think more frames would look good.  These four are fine for now, but I'd like to build my collection over time and maybe bring in four more and create a larger grid/gallery.  I plan to stalk the Pottery Barn website for good sales and free shipping.  In the meantime, though, I will enjoy this mini gallery.

And I am thinking, after seeing them against the wall color, that I will stick to a warm white, versus a cream, on the walls.  The frames are very cream with cream mats.  I think the walls need a hint of contrast, and if I paint them cream it will be a little too much.   What do you think?  

See you swoon,