Shoutout to the older lady who taught me frame math at a yard sale

Last spring I found a stack of old, ugly frames at a yard sale for like 2 dollars each. She saw me holding them and said, "Honey, just buy one big canvas, paint it all one color, and stick those in a grid. Nobody looks at what's inside, they look at the pattern." That changed how I do my whole hallway wall, no joke. I've done three grids since and every time someone walks in they ask where I bought the set. Has anyone else tried the fill-the-grid approach with random thrift frames?

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grantthomas1d agoMost Upvoted

The grid trick works great, but you gotta be careful about one thing. Those old frames usually have different widths and finishes, so if you paint them all the same color first, the pattern pops way harder. I tried it once without painting and the mismatched wood tones made the whole thing look messy, not intentional. Also, spacing matters more than people think, keep it even all the way around or it falls apart visually. Take the yard sale lady's advice with a grain of salt on the "nobody looks inside" part, though, because guests will definitely peek at the art if you put anything interesting in there.