How to hang a gallery wall collection

I love a good gallery wall. But I'm also not a fan of hanging pictures. Laying it out, getting the nail in, fiddling with that little triangle thing on the back of the frame that always flips down right as you have it in the right spot. Then there's the issue of getting the picture exactly where you want it, and not crooked. Frustrating to say the least. 

At our old house, I took the laid back approach- I'd start with one or two pictures in the middle and expand out from there, just hanging each picture as I went. It turned out ok but it didn't have that curated feel that I love. 

Since we are in our forever house now, I've added pressure to every project we do- it has to be just right. Exactly how we want to look at it for the next 100 years or so. Our time is much more limited now than is used to be when it comes to working on projects, and the hallway took a couple of months. (It would have taken maybe 2 weeks max before Abigail, including working 50 hours a week). 

So I decided to try a method I've seen on Pinterest. I didn't follow any particular post, but I've seen different ways to do this. 

First, I played around with the frames to get them in a layout that I liked. This time I liked how they are in an overall square shape. 

Next, I laid out the frames on a piece of builder's paper. This is actually a lawn bag opened up flat, but you can get rolls of builder's paper at paint stores or home improvement stores. It's a huge roll so it would also be great for wrapping gifts!

After that, I traced around each frame with a sharpie.

I made the next part up on the fly. I knew I wanted a guideline for where to put my nails. I put a strip of painter's tape across the back of the frame, and lined up one edge with the exact spot I'd want the nail, then drew an arrow. I'd put the arrow right at the point where I wanted the picture to hang (from the tip of the triangle thing).

Then the tricky part: flip the tape around so the sticky side is down, line it up again, and press the frame down in it's traced outline.

I set the frames aside in order: 3 stacks from left to right.

Then I decided on the placement of the entire set of frames for the wall and taped it up.

At this point, I've spent maybe 20 minutes on this project. I was really nervous for the next part: I nailed right above or below each arrow (as indicated) to get the nails in the right spot, then carefully pulled the whole paper guide down. The nails really are in some funky positions!

It worked out so well! I hung up all of the pictures and adjusted them until they were straight- hammering the nails in a little farther, and on one of them I used a small command strip to make sure it stays hanging straight. The frame I had planned for the top right corner had no way to be hung on the wall, so I had to swap it out for a different one.

I used the same blue tape method, but just held the frame up to the wall and lined it up top edge and right edge with the rest of the frames.

Then nailed it up and voila!

In case you are wondering, that random-sized gap will be something- maybe the word 'Family'. All of the pictures are vintage family photos- posed, or standing in front of their cars, there's a wedding portrait, some in front of Christmas trees, and some holding babies who are obviously also family. We had them all copied into sepia tone and had them hanging in our guest bedroom at the old house. I like them much better here, in our most-used hallway!