How to Create a Gallery Wall

I cannot stress enough on how much I love gallery walls. There is no easier way of displaying your memories, your life journey, your interests, your passion than a gallery wall. Seriously! When done well, it is a beautiful reminder of things that you appreciate, admire & are thankful of.

If you follow me on Instagram, you already know that I have 3 gallery walls around my house & working on adding one more! Each of my gallery is themed, the one in my master bedroom which is also the biggest, is a collection of our personal pictures. There is a gallery of old black & white pictures from both our families on a narrow wall in my living room. The third, a Madras themed gallery wall in my dining nook.

From all this, what you see is, a gallery wall will work anywhere – be it a narrow wall or broad wall, be it your bedroom or your dining room, I guarantee that it will elevate your home vibe and it is probably the easiest & cheapest way to add your personality to any space. Also, best conversation starter when you have new guests over!

So, how to get started?

Choose a theme: The first thing would be to decide on a theme based on where you want to hang your gallery. Why do you need a theme? You absolutely do not need to have a theme and could do an eclectic collection of pictures, paintings, mirrors, masks etc. But having a theme will give your gallery a cohesive look – a story to talk about. Think of broad themes like personal pictures, travel pictures, street photography, your artwork, kid’s artwork etc. Why based on area? I, personally do not like having my pictures in general living area. So, I have the personal gallery wall in my bedroom. The Madras gallery is in my dining nook, which is the perfect place, for I can see this from my kitchen and it is a beautiful reminder of my hometown and in a weird way I feel it keeps me connected every time I look at it. The B&W pictures gallery is on a narrow wall in living room (off of the entryway), which is a good transition from the entryway and it balances out the colors my daughter’s artwork on its adjacent side.

Choosing pictures: Once you land on a theme & ready to select pictures, make sure you choose a wide array of pictures. For example, if you are doing a gallery of personal pictures, make sure it is from different time points, different events, different people. Essentially, your wall should tell a story when you look at it. There is no point in having 15 different pictures of yourself from your wedding (no matter how amazing you look in all of them!)

Frames & prints: When you have the pictures that are going up, print them out in different sizes and choose frames in different sizes as well. The guideline I follow is – minimum of 1 big frame per 5 pictures, 2-3 medium size. If you are going for an eclectic look, have a couple of frames in different shapes, colors, patterns & texture as well. In case you are buying art prints or postcards that are all the same size, fret not, put them in bigger frames with different mat sizes around them.                                 

Also, do not feel compelled to wait till you have all the pictures & frames collected. If you have a handful of them, you are good to get started. As time goes, you collect more & let it grow organically. As you can see, the white antique frame above the chair, has a mismatched picture in it. I want to keep the frame there but do not know what picture to put in it yet. So it sits there till I find it’s picture. There is no need to rush the process. The aim is not perfection here! We put so much emphasis in the final product that we forget to enjoy the process sometimes!

Add Plants & non-photo elements: It also fun to add non photo elements to break the monotony. I will add plants to any place possible! You see the bamboo fans, white round frame & plants softens up the otherwise all rectangular frames look. In the B&W gallery I have included 2 smaller brown frames with block prints which breaks the monotony of B&W pictures in B&W frames.

Layout: Decide on the layout – You can go symmetrical or asymmetrical. Doing it symmetrical is easy but I prefer asymmetry. It is much more casual for a home setting & gives you the freedom to add more as you collect. Lay out your frames on the ground & move them around till you figure out the best configuration. Start with the bigger frames. (It is not necessary to place the biggest in the center.) Once you have a tentative layout, you could trace the frames on the wall with a pencil to get a sense of spacing between the frames & also will be visual guide while hanging them.

 Hang them all up! There are a myriad selection of picture hanging hooks/nails available now based on the size & weight of the frames. If you are in a rented apartment & do not want to punch holes, try 3M stickers. Choose based on your needs & hang them all up (make sure they are all straight – use a leveler)

Ground it! Technically, a gallery wall is complete here. But if you want to take it to the next level, you would have to ground them. I have a side table with a table lamp under the B&W gallery wall & DIY book ledge with plants & a table lamp under the personal gallery wall. I call this “grounding” – instead of just letting your frames hanging on the wall, having an elevated base that connects to the gallery will make it more pronounced & complete. A lamp under the gallery wall because…

Creating a good gallery wall is not difficult. But it definitely needs patience & attention to detail. Hope you found some inspiration to dress up your walls! If you did enjoy reading let me know your thoughts & please do subscribe for regular updates!