a new gallery wall & some darker touches

So I debated for more than a week about whether to add some dark paint to the walls in my apartment and gave that up since there really wasn't a wall that really made sense to paint dark.  So I decided just to fill the long wall of the living room/dining room area with art.   As much as I could fit in [and find, I'll post later on some of the diy pieces I put up].  I moved around a few pieces and added some darker touches, such as my newly framed Martin's Happy Hour Burlap bag [see here], a black floorlamp and the charcoal slipcover on the ottoman in the corner. 

On the dining room wall I hung two rolls of kraft paper that double as a sketch pad and an alternative to a chalkboard wall since I really didn't want a dark wall there [I'll post later on the simple method of hanging these that only cost $3]. 

I really happy with the end result.  Hanging a gallery wall of frames and art shouldn't be stressful and shouldn't involve a lot of crazy measuring, sketching, marking and multiple nail holes.  It took me about 30 minutes to hang the entire wall [yes, I've had practice before, but not much] and I had an assistant to help eyeball [although he was much more interested in a movie on TV and quit halfway through], but I really feel anyone can do this. Start with the larger pieces and tilt them up against the wall along the length of the "gallery".  I started at my light switch [can you spot it] and worked my way right and then left.  I hung the larger pieces first from left to right with similar spacing horizontally and staggered them up and down the wall vertically allowing me to fill in top and bottom with the smaller pieces.  Once the big pieces are in place, filling in top and bottom with the smaller pieces is done really quickly and I do everything by eye, no measuring.  If lines and spacing are slightly off, it's better that way, like it evolved over time.  I tried to distribute colours and contrast [dark and light] evenly down the length of the wall and grouped certain themes together [such as the Group of Seven prints, my Paris prints, the coins and mirrors, and the playing cards].  Have fun with it.