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Frame Game is an occasional series in which I take readers’ gallery wall requests and find art that fits their personalities. Click here to see past Frame Games.
Today’s walls were inspired by Laura, who was looking for safari gallery wall ideas for her baby daughter’s bedroom.
When Laura wrote me a couple of years ago, Ryan Ellen was turning 1.
(By my count, this little girl is now 4, which means I have been awfully slow at getting through all your Frame Game requests! Apologies for the wait, and I promise to step it into high gear going forward.)
Even though Ryan is now 4, it still seemed like a good idea to come up with some art options for her room because Laura is interested in timeless art that will grow with her child.
“The overarching theme of her room is a safari with turquoise curtains, and some splashes of black, bright pink and a vibrant purple,” Laura wrote.
“I have been trying to avoid pictures and elements that are too cartoonish and babyish. I would like elements that can grow with her.
“We laid out and hung a gallery wall of frames before she was born and more than half STILL do not have any photos! When I look at the empty frames every day, I feel like such a bad mom that she doesn’t have this beautiful nursery you would see on Pinterest. One of the problems I am having is that the bulk of the frames are placed horizontally. When we chosen the gallery pattern and specific frames, I had no idea it would be so difficult to find decent horizontal prints.”
MORE: How to reshape a vertical printable to fit a horizontal frame using free tools.
Frame Game: How I picked the art
I feel like Laura’s struggle to fill the frames is a common one. I’ve certainly been there before.
First things first, I wanted to stay away from the pastel/cutesy nursery animal portraits that are very popular on Etsy. This art, while super cute, definitely has an expiration date. I’d say 4 is pushing it.
You know what never goes out of style or looks too childish? Black and white photography.
I hunted down some great free options on Unsplash. And not all of them are B&W, but it’s easy enough to print out images in B&W straight from your computer. So you don’t need to worry about opening them in a photo editing program like Photoshop, especially if you don’t have one.
My safari search also uncovered some fun free patterns and jungle leaf prints, which got my wheels turning: What if Laura used wallpaper for an accent wall? Or freehanded some black animal spots on the wall itself?
Check out the baby-, kid- and teen-friendly safari gallery wall ideas I came up with.
Safari Gallery Wall #1
A classic foursome of beautiful animal prints — you really can’t go wrong for any age or gender. If Ryan Ellen has a favorite animal in particular, say cheetahs, simply search for “cheetah” to find more possibilities and create an all-cheetah wall.
My daughter’s best friend would love an all-cheetah wall, and she’s 8.
It wasn’t difficult to crop any of these photos to fit a horizontal frame. Even the elephant, and it was a highly vertical image!
Keep in mind that the images may not fit perfectly to your specs, but that doesn’t mean they won’t look amazing.
I love the look of this jungle removable peel-and-stick wallpaper, and the mid-century bed frame would look super stylish against it.
To download these printables, click on the links below to go to the original download pages.
Safari Gallery Wall #2
A gallery wall with one image!?! Is that even accurate? Maybe not, but I couldn’t discount the idea of letting the jungle wallpaper speak for itself, with an animal pattern to put an exclamation point on that statement.
This free printable comes from The Creativity Exchange, and it’s a good example of how you can turn a vertical image on its side to work horizontally!
Safari Gallery Wall #3
Some free wrapping paper patterns by Fablouise inspired me to imagine a wall of handdrawn black animal dots — I like how this infuses a little pop-art personality to the space.
This would be a good option for Laura if she doesn’t like quite so much safari/jungle on the wall. It’s simple, impactful, and also easy to paint over if she tires of it.
To download these printables, click on the links below the roundup to go to the original download pages.
MORE: The complete guide to printing out printables.
If You Wanna Splurge
Sometimes, no matter how long you search for the perfect free printable (hey, it might still be out there!), there comes a time in every curator’s life when you simply must pay for good, quality art. Please do. I believe in supporting artists!
This is what I’d buy for Ryan Ellen’s room:
I was torn between My Dream Wall’s cheetah & girl or Nerdy Living’s Tiger in Houseplant.
Both are beautiful — I could see Ryan decorating her college dorm or even her first apartment with either of these.
Need a wall in a hurry?
Find out about my gallery wall consultation packages. They’re similar to Frame Game but go waaaaay above and beyond, measuring down to the inch and giving you a solid plan for executing your very own, personalized gallery wall.
Feel free to contact me for any custom needs.
Bookmark for later:
P.S. The frames featured in this post are mockups. Check the individual download pages for details on ideal image size. Want to print something huge but it’s sized at 8×10? Consider a larger frame with a mat.
P.P.S. Tons of free printables here.
