This Brilliant Gallery Wall Hack Is Going Absolutely Viral

Gallery walls are a project worth being proud of. They can require thorough measurements, showcase meaningful photos or mementos, and are a feature that might be updated over time. Yet it seems that because people take so much time putting them together, there are new ways to iterate on the classic project. Content creator McKenna Molt recently shared how she upgraded the frame of one of her gallery wall paintings by adding painted scallops around the outside, and once you see it, you’ll never look at your gallery wall the same way again.

Molt isn’t a person who shies away from color and patterns — her house is filled to the brim with all sorts of fun painted accents. So when she turned her attention to the gallery wall in her kitchen, it’s unsurprising that she wanted to add more colorful flair. Using red paint and a drinking glass to trace scalloped details around one of her art pieces, she created a painted frame that makes one painting stand out from the rest.

“My head is a jungle full of color,” McKenna wrote in an Instagram caption. “How cute is this scalloped picture frame border?! Maybe the cutest little project I’ve ever done!!”

You don’t need much to add the same detail to a piece of art on your gallery wall. First, choose the framed painting or poster you’d like to accent and trace the frame onto the wall using a pencil. Next, use a drinking glass to trace half-circle shapes around the entire traced rectangle. Finally, fill in your scallops with the paint color of your choice, and that’s it!

This is also such a great DIY to do if you have a piece that is unframed and just on canvas. The painted border gives the illusion of a piece being framed without you having to spend a ton on custom framing. Take it from the people who’ve tried this project. They have no regrets. 

“I did this in my house, too! I had a white wood frame against a white wall, and I needed MORE. It’s so so cute!!” one person commented on McKenna’s post. Another said, “This is just brilliant. … I’ll definitely be trying that somewhere.”

And to anyone who is apprehensive of painting right on the wall (or if you’re renting), someone else commented, “That’s so cute!! Could also do it on a piece of paper and attach to the back of the frame. Then it would be less of a commitment.” So clever.

Try this project on a painting or gallery wall in your house to give that piece of art you love a little extra oomph. And once you paint a frame behind one piece, no wall art is safe! You’ll just become obsessed.