Want a peek at an odd little room in our house? We have a small loft area in our townhouse on the top floor, and I don’t think I’ve ever posted any photos of it here! So far we’ve been using it as a workout room and affectionately call it the Little Gym (not to be confused with an activity center for kids). After we moved into the house, the loft spent quite a while looking like this (I took this photo in Feb. 2006) as we put our attention into the other rooms:
Slowly over the years we’ve painted, added furniture, curtains, and a TV. This is the space where I walk on the treadmill, occasionally do a workout video, or practice yoga. It’s also where we have the Nintendo Wii set up, so there may be a Just Dance 3 or Zumba Core dance party up in here every once in a while.
I’d love to put hardwood floors up there eventually and maybe crown molding, but for now, the easiest update was putting some artwork on the walls. That back wall was completely empty until last week when I ordered some inexpensive 8×12 clip frames and had a few prints made from our travels. I knew I wanted to fill a good bit of the wall with images (with room to add more photos in the future), and that I wanted a clean, modern look that wouldn’t feel overbearing from the view below, so I decided the frameless vibe would work. Plus I needed the frames to be slim so I don’t accidentally fling one off the wall if I’m swinging my arms on the treadmill. My brother did a similar arrangement in his house with clip frames and it looks great!
Here are the images I’ve used so far, from trips to Switzerland, Italy, England, Hawaii, Alaska, and several Caribbean islands (plus a D.C. photo for good measure). It’s pretty easy to swap images in and out of the clip frames, so it leaves lots of flexibility for future images.
To hang the frames, I measured an inch between each frame for a tight grouping, added up the total length of the group (including spaces), and divided the difference of the total wall length minus the group length. So…go math! I sketched it all out on paper first so that it made sense. These frames require one nail in the center to hang, so it was easy to level them after hanging.
I think I have plenty of room on each side to add one more column, plus I could eventually put another row underneath if needed. We may eventually move the treadmill or do something else altogether with this room and there are a few more spots where I need artwork or something, but for now I think the photo gallery gives it a little more personality in there! What do you think? Do you have any blank walls in your house, and if so, do you have any plans for them?
