How to Create a Gallery Wall

Posted by Lauren Baldwin on November 11, 2022

Gallery walls are a great way to bring personality into any room, and creating them can be a fun and engaging process. That being said, we understand how intimidating choosing a collection and arranging them in a pleasing way can be. Here are some steps to get you moving in the right direction!

This variety of artwork is visually cohesive because all of them follow a blue, yellow, and pink color pallet.

1. Gather a collection

When gathering both the collection of artwork and the framing, you can either choose to keep a uniform look or to mix it up.

Mix it Up

By mixing different styles and forms of art, you can really portray your personality on your walls. When gathering a collection, you have freedom to use anything from photographs to acrylic paintings to personal mementos. Simultaneously, you should look for opportunities to tie the pieces together. Achieve this by using similar or complimentary colors throughout or through similar looks in framing.

Similarly to the art choices, framing choices can be a great way to mix it up and add personality and visual interest on your walls. To do this, use a variety of molding material, tones, and profiles that contrast each other. You can even leave some pieces unframed! You can also achieve this by matting some pieces while allowing others to fill the frame.

This cohesive collection features a variety of molding styles that add visual interest.

Keep it Uniform

If mixing it up isn't your style, no worries! You can still create a beautiful and eye-catching gallery wall with similar art and framing. Create a cohesive collection of artwork by using a monochromatic color palette and using similar styles and forms of artwork.

To create a cohesive look through framing, use similar tones of frame molding. Also, keep mat color and size the same throughout the collection.

This uniform look is created through the use of a consistent color palette and uniform matting and framing.

2. Arrange on the floor

To arrange your collection in a visually appealing way, start by measuring the wall space you'd like to display on. Use those measurements to tape a border with painter's tape on your floor. This will make it easy to visualize what space you have to work with.

After, you can start arranging your collection within the allotted space. There are many layout styles to choose from. Choose whichever fits your style best, and tweak it until it looks perfect! Here are some of our tips to get the best 'mixed up' arrangement.

The placement of the largest photo moves the viewer's eye throughout the collection.

• Start with a focal point.-Choose your largest piece to be your focal point. Place this one slightly off center so that it moves your eye through the entire collection. Then, place your next biggest ones diagonally from the biggest (this can be far away for a large collection or close for a small collection). After, you can use smaller pieces to fill in the gaps.

• Don't be afraid to work in some pairs.- Working in a small pair of identically sized pieces can be a great addition to a gallery wall!

• Work in both horizontal and vertical pieces.- This adds visual interest, while using only one orientation can become stale in a 'mixed up' arrangement.

• Use uniform spacing.- Especially if you are mixing it up, using the same space between each piece will make the entire collection feel cohesive.

3. Install Your Collection

You've done the hard part! Now, you just need to install your collection. Pro tip; before installing, cut out a pieces of paper that are the size of each piece you have in your collection. Tape these onto your wall in the arrangement you've selected. This will act as a template when you are hanging each piece.

The mixture of matting and no matting creates visual interest in an otherwise uniform collection.

4. Relax and Enjoy Your Space!

After following these steps, you should have a gorgeous addition to your space. Relax and enjoy it!