gallery wall inspiration & tips

ok – I did it! I gave our dull, black-framed photo gallery wall a facelift. And it was one of the quickest projects I’ve ever done! We had my in-laws visiting this weekend and I always think visitors make the best excuse for finishing a home project. Our kitchen table was covered with artwork so I had to get it up on the wall if we wanted a place to eat! I pulled together a quick, use-what-you-got gallery wall. Click here to check out my post from last week on diy artwork and the start of this gallery wall.

Here are some of my inspiration photos. I love collecting ideas and this helps me so much when I’m starting a project. If you need additional inspiration, click here to see more gallery wall beauties on my Pinterest page.

inspiration:

 

Pottery Barn / houseofroseblog.com / classyclutter.net / lovegrowswild.com

Here’s what our hallway gallery wall looked like for 10 years:

It was nice. We had mostly pictures of our kids when they were very young or our wedding photos – which were fun to look at but the wall needed an update. I was going for a more organic, collected look. I also wanted it to be brighter and more colorful – with more variety and interest.

Here’s how our hallway looks now:

Definitely brighter with a collected and organic feel. Remember how I said this was the quickest project I’ve done? Check out the blank piece of white wood at the top of the wall – that was intended to be my arrow DIY project {see my arrow trend post here}. I just ran out of time. But now that it’s hanging on my wall, unfinished, I have to get it done. It just keeps staring at me as I go by. Stay tuned! Also note the mixed metals {gold/brass starburst mirror, brass deerhead hook, silver frames and banner lettering}. I kept these touches minimal and spread them out so the metallic finishes were more subtle yet connected.

Hanging a gallery wall can be a daunting task. Lots of measuring, nail holes in your walls, making mistakes, having to cover up those nail holes, and spending a lot of time and money finding the right pieces to include. I’ve hung several gallery walls so I came up with a few tips that I’ve learned and hope they might inspire you to create your own gallery wall. But I think the best rule to follow in design is if you like it, then it works.

Here are my {hopefully} helpful tips on how to hang a gallery wall:

1. Gather your hanging tools: tape measure, hammer, nails, pencil, level. I also recommend Scotch Adhesive Putty. Use a small bit of this on the back of each piece. It will help your artwork stay in place and can be removed easily when needed.

2. Start collecting. Almost anything can have visual impact when framed and hung in a grouping. Pick what you like and what means something to you. Use stuff you have around your home already – children’s artwork, a beautiful postcard, a ticket stub, stamps, inspirational quotes, metal hooks, letters/numbers, chalkboards and of course, artwork and photos. Also when selecting items, think of similar elements they share – shapes, colors, subject matter – these are all things that can make your collection feel cohesive. For example on my wall, the orange in the chevron material picks up the orange in the Warhol Campbell Soup print. And the circle chalkboard mimics the circle shape of the photo and the circle starburst mirror.

3. Pick your focal piece. I like to have one larger dominant element. For this it was my DIY project from last week – the ornate white frame with the colorful fabric and trim. This was a good place to start and I knew I wanted all of the other pieces to build off of that.

4. Measuring – a.k.a. organized chaos. Nothing needs to be exact or symmetrical {unless you want it to!}. You just need to experiment with what looks best to you. I find it’s best to lay out all the pieces on a nearby table or floor to get a rough idea of what should go where and how much space you have to work with. I used my table layout as a guide and then I tweeked things as I started hanging. And it wasn’t perfect – I needed to fill in areas that looked empty or unbalanced and I moved a few things around that were too crowded, trying to cover the nail holes as I went. Vary the space between the pieces as you hang them too, but keep them within a few inches of each other. And pieces can overlap {see my banner}. I think this helps the elements relate – but I would only do this in a few places. Too much overlapping and not enough space just makes the wall look overcrowded. This is what my table looked like:

You can also use paper templates. Cut paper to the size of each piece then hang with painter’s tape. Once you have a layout you like, put the nails in the wall, tear away the templates, and you’re ready to hang. I find this step takes a little longer but it might work for you. I just don’t have the patience! See this example from 320 Sycamore. 

5. Reassess. Take a step back and look at your wall from different angles. Pay attention to how the color and size of the pieces balance each other out. Make changes as needed. And don’t stress if it’s not perfect – a little spackle, sandpaper and paint can fix any of those unwanted nail holes! Or cover them up with a small postcard or memorable ticket stub.

6. Now add the good stuff. Use your fun collections {those postcards, hooks, letters, etc.} to break up the look of the framed pieces and fill in any empty spaces. 

7. Think out of the box – or the rectangle frames. Find alternatives to your traditional frames. Things like washi tape, large binder clips, clip boards, ribbon, material wrapped canvases, funky thumbtacks or a fun banner are all different ways you can hang artwork and can break up the boxy look of the frames. And feel free to add or take away pieces as you go on, keeping the artwork relevant to your life.