Gallery walls are a stylish way to update the look of your home and create interest and personality. However, the prospect of creating one from scratch can seem daunting. You want to find unique pieces of wall art that you love or will be a conversation starter, but collecting and presenting them to the best advantage takes a little time and effort.
Here are some top tips to help you put together a gallery wall that can act as the focal point for the room, or simply spark joy every time you look at it. If you would like some help in selecting custom frames for your gallery wall art, please drop into our framing shop in north London and we will be happy to help.
Choose a theme or a colour palette
It’s not necessary to have a theme or colour palette: maybe you prefer to take an eclectic approach, and this can work just fine—it’s your home after all! But if you do want to create a cohesive effect, you could stick to a particular theme, such as family photographs, memories from travel and holidays, or work by a particular artist or form a specific genre of art.
Alternatively, you could choose a colour palette such as monochrome prints, muted neutrals, cool blues and greens, warm colours, and so on. Think about how the colours will work with the rest of your interior decor scheme: do you want to create a deliberate contrast, or stick to similar tones and hues?
Plan the layout
It’s important to plan rather than just start knocking holes in the wall, or you could end up with a messy result or even damage your walls. Take measurements of the space on the wall that you want to place the gallery within, and use tape or paper to mark out the same size space on the floor.
This will help you create accurate placements and find the most aesthetically pleasing arrangements. If you already have frames for your selected pieces, you could lay these out on the floor and experiment with different arrangements. Otherwise you can use paper templates.
If all your pieces are a similar size, you may prefer a simple grid or linear arrangement. If your frames are of varying sizes and styles, then a salon style arrangement would work better. However, it’s really just a matter of personal preference; some people prefer a more organic and free layout, whereas others prefer symmetrical layouts.
A larger piece that anchors the whole collection is another good layout tip. You can then build the rest of the gallery around it. However, place the larger piece to one side or slightly off centre, so it doesn’t dominate the gallery and the viewers’ eye will naturally travel over all of the artworks.
Plan the hanging process carefully
To pull off the gallery wall with style, the pictures need to be properly spaced with at least two to three inches of space around each frame. The largest piece should be at around eye level. If you have very low ceilings, you may want to place it slightly higher than this to create the illusion of more height.
Choose a method of hanging the pictures that is sufficient to support the size and weight, such as picture pins or nails or adhesives.
Keep it flexible
Your gallery wall doesn’t have to remain fixed in time. It’s fun to keep it as a flexible feature that you can move around, update, or add to with new photographs or other artworks that you acquire.
You don’t even need to hang conventional prints or photographs: some people hang maps, holiday mementos, a menu from your favourite hangout, or whatever means something to you. If you have artistic flair yourself, you may even be tempted to show off a few of your own pieces.