A Beach Art Galley Wall

Tom and I splurged this month and bought a few new pieces of furniture; a wine cabinet, (gotta have one of those!) a new desk for Tom, new office chairs for both of us, and a fun couch table with baskets for storage.  Now that our little abode is starting to look more like a real "complete" home, I see a real need to rearrange all of the art in our living room and along the walls in our dining room.  So, for the past few months I have been collecting ideas on my "Beach Art" board on Pinterest, to see if anything strikes me for inspiration.

The more I think about it, the more I really like the idea of a gallery wall, as our ceilings are almost 10 feet high and we have a ton of room to play with.  Now, to simply edit our collected (combined) art, and family photos to figure out what style works the best for our eclectic taste and for our space.

Picture rails, no picture rails? Love the collections, and mixed objects in these images! (Pottery Barn)

Such fun family photos!  Especially love the idea of the unifying theme of black and white "beach".  If only we had a staircase...

This is just plain whimsy!  Again, wish we had a staircase... and wish my mom  (or my grandma!) had saved her bathing suits.

Aqua and sand dune color blocking sea shells, sea stars, sea fans and sea biscuits.  I like the idea of bringing together different sizes and different materials, but marrying them with matching frames. But that would mean that I would have to think about re-framing some of my favorite pieces.  Hmmm... might not work.

Pretty! Neutral and soothing for the beach, but too matchy-matchy? (Coastal Living Magazine)

Another great collection, interesting fish, birds and shells.  Brought together by a neutral color palette, but still an unique mix of art.  Love the round mirror as the center highlight!  Hmmm....now, that's an idea that I could start with?

Great use of blue and white! Especially the royal-navy blue frames on the white "ship-lap" type of wall.

These last images are probably my favorites! Combining just the right sea blues, shells, books and fabulous collected art images.   Honestly though, if I could just talk Tom into hanging a few picture rails (hammering is not his favorite thing!) I would opt for image inspiration #1.

What do you think?   Do any of you have a wall like this in your house?

P.S. All image sources (if there is one) can be found on my Pinterest Board - Beach Art