You've seen them in magazines, frequently on social media, and maybe you even know a real-life decorator who's managed to create a stunning art gallery wall. Beautiful gallery wall layouts can be so captivating. It’s easy to forget how much forethought and planning goes into displaying that seemingly random mix of photos, paintings, and other artwork successfully.
Needless to say, an amazing gallery wall that reflects your personality, dreams, and tastes is easily attainable. We’ve put together a list of tips to help you successfully create the perfect gallery wall layout in your home.
What is a Gallery Wall and How Can You Style Yours?
A gallery wall is just as it sounds, a display of photos, art, prints, or other wall decor elements like mirrors and signs. It’s selected by you and meant to add flavor to your home with personal touches in whatever way suits you. The best way to style your gallery wall is by deciding on a theme. Do you collect prints, concert posters, photos, or other artwork? If so, pick out some similar pieces you’d like to display until you have enough to fill the wall space. Family photos are another great choice for a gallery wall. You could even go as far as creating a seasonal wall with replaceable images at different times of the year.
We’ll cover more about styling your wall and selecting a color palette just ahead in the post but ultimately, you want the content to reflect what you like. Exploring inspirational galleries (no pun intended) on sites like Pinterest is probably one of the easiest ways to trigger some gallery wall ideas for yourself!
Where to Hang a Gallery Wall
Gallery walls make great use of empty wall space like that in stairways or hallways. Of course, you can always decide to display your wall in a more prominent location like your living or dining room. It’s really up to you and the theme you decide on. Perhaps creating a world cuisine/travel-themed gallery wall would be a great fit for the dining room, whereas family photos would better suit a living room or stairway scenario.
Open Your Mind to Ideas in Your Surroundings
Creating a gallery wall is on your mind. Next time you’re out, observe your surroundings and see if any inspiration comes to mind. A lot of places from restaurants to coffee shops and all sorts of businesses incorporate gallery walls and you should take note of what you like or dislike about their layouts, frames, and content displayed. Of course with fewer places operating these days, you may not be out as frequently. You should still keep this tactic in mind as it has the potential to bring you some great gallery wall inspiration.
Deciding on a Color Palette & Selecting Gallery Wall Frames
The color palette of your artwork should complement the overall color scheme in the room. Select neutral-colored frames and matting to make a wide variety of items more cohesive. Black frames are classic, but any hue that complements the general color scheme of the room will work. White frames are clean and fresh, gray is contemporary and subtle. Natural wood frames are warm and traditional. Staying within a specific color palette allows you to mix up the size, shape, and style of frames without looking too busy.
You’re All Set and Ready to Hang Your Gallery Pieces
Once you have everything set and decided on the art, frames, location, and layout you hope to achieve you’re ready to put this gallery wall together. Follow these steps to effectively hang and create a gallery wall in your home.
1. Prepare your wall. All eyes will be on your beautiful display, so make sure the surface behind it has been repaired and painted if needed. Preparing your wall to enhance and not take away from the gallery is the first important step to this creative process.
2. Use painter's tape to roughly frame the boundaries of your display. First, find the center of your wall and mark it with a vertical strip of tape, then use two more vertical strips to mark the left and right edges, and two horizontal strips of tape on the top and bottom to complete the frame.
3. Allow eight inches between the top of a piece of furniture and the bottom edge of any piece of art hanging on the wall.
5. Perfect your layout by placing the photos and other items on the floor, arrange and rearrange the art until you're happy with the design.
6. Be conscious of the art and photos you’re working with. Consider taking directional notes of the subjects, and position the pieces so they’re bringing eyes to the center of the display.
7. Use your cell phone to take a photo of the layout so you have a reference as you work.
8. Trace each item intended for your gallery onto a piece of paper, and cut it out. Many shapes will be similar, so write a few words on the paper to describe the item. Use tape and cutouts to replicate your layout directly on the wall.
9. Remember that the anchor or focal-point pieces should be hung at eye-level. That means the center of the photo should be approximately 57 inches from the floor.
10. Keep the paper facsimiles taped to the wall as you begin to attach nails and other display hardware. The cutouts will help you stay organized as you begin the process of hanging the art.
Sit Back and Enjoy
Take a moment to step back and take in the display you just created. Remember, it's not about perfection and that’s so important to keep in mind. It's about developing a gallery that's pleasing to your eye and reflects your character. With a little bit of planning, you can create a beautiful gallery wall in your home. Because you have you’re layout set and gallery on full display, you can always swap out photos and add more to create a different vibe.
We hope you found some value in this post. For more home tips visit the Home Channel TV blog!