DIY Picture Rail (Gallery Wall 2.0)

I got a few people interested on how I made this picture rail, and it only took me about an hour (including going to Home Depot to get materials). I got the idea from Little Green Notebook ah I love this blog but I couldn't afford getting custom framing etc. She paid $39 PER frame...she has 10 frames, + whatever she paid for the rail materials...do the math.

So I decided to come up with a more cost effective method without really compromising the style.

What you'll need:

-Plumbers chain (also known as Jack Chain in gold they also have silver/black - $.65 per foot, I got 15 ft but could've used 20)
-Rod ($3, I used a metal one because the wood ones were too thick for my hooks, all depends on your preference)
-Hooks or curtain brackets ($0 - I had some laying around but I couldn't imagine a pack being more than $2)
-Picture frames ($10-30 - I had a few extra laying around the house that I used, but Michael's ALWAYS has good coupons if you needed more)
-Hot glue gun

OPTIONAL:
-Spray paint/paint (I used leftover gold paint I had, but totally up to you on the colors you want to use)
-Photos (The reason I put photos under optional is because I just printed these out on my computer and didn't have to go to the store to get them done aka FREE & they look just as good. If you want the glossy finish, then I'd just get them printed at Office Depot or something).

I lined up how I wanted the picture frames to look and put up the rod on the wall first. I hot glued the chain to the back of the pictures at the length I wanted them to hang. I got my pieces cut for me at HD by guesstimating, but if you have pliers then you can totally cut them yourself.

I waited for the glue to dry and then put the pictures on the rod one by one. For the ones that are hanging down underneath some of them (since I ran out of chain, hence why I needed 20 ft) I made do with what I had and just nailed them right under the frames. See below.

Deceiving, I know. If I had more chain, I would've just connected it back up to the rod. I don't care about putting holes in the wall so I didn't mind doing this but if you want minimal holes, buy more chain than you anticipate and you'll be fine.

And voila! Super easy and fast and looks AWESOME for my new dining room. Here's a couple close up pictures...try not to laugh at some.

TIPS:

-Measure how long you want your picture rail to be. I ended up just winging it and picking a 48'' long rod, but totally could've used a longer one to cover the entire length of the wall. I'll probably go back and add more later.

-Spray paint your frames v.s regular paint - it dries SO much faster and you can have this step done in minutes plus no brush strokes.

-If you're shopping for frames, lay them out on the store floor (I've done this many times) and arrange them there, you'll find it way easier to pick what frames you need and what ones you don't need.

-Try to use all the same style frames. What I mean is that I used all different sizes but they were all squares. Some were 4x4, 5x5, 8x8, etc. If you used different shapes and sizes, it might throw the whole thing off.

Enjoy!