Design and Hang a Gallery Wall

These are a few of my favorite things: floral prints, insulated cups, a new CD (yes, I said CD…don’t judge me 😏 ), and a gallery wall. But seriously, GALLERY WALLS.

There are a lot of really fun styles and trends all over the web and design shows right now – shiplap (shiplap everything, right?!), rustic wood and lace, farmhouse, modern metals, and vintage/junktique. But you know what can go with any decor? A gallery wall. TA-DA…that proves they’re the best.

What’s A Gallery Wall?

Hold please…maybe I should first explain what a gallery wall is for those of you who don’t know. A gallery wall is basically a collection of pictures, artwork, and objects used to decorate a wall. You can group based on color, theme (such as travel or family), similar characteristics…or totally unrelated items…it can be anything you want it to be!

The Original

I’ve actually been on the gallery wall bandwagon for quite some time. About 10 years ago, my roommate in college and I decided to decorate our apartment with pictures of flowers (that she had taken!). I googled a layout for the number of pictures we wanted to display…and we copied it.

Not bad, huh? I actually took this picture so that I would remember what it looked like, and put it back up the exact same way every time I moved for the next few years.

Gallery Wall Love

After my husband and I got married, we moved around quite a bit (5 times in the first 4.5 years). With each move, I got a little bolder with my decorating style and we found what makes our house a home. To be honest, it helps that he has great style and an artistic eye!

When we bought our house in Lakeland, we quickly started painting and decorating. “Quickly” because I was 6 months pregnant with our first daughter. 3 years later, when we sold it and moved to Sebring, you could definitely tell it had been Grimes-ified. Neutral greens/browns, wood, and new lighting fixtures (and yes, 2 main gallery walls) had made our home feel welcoming and cozy.

Now that we’re in Sebring, I have TONS of new wall space and a blank canvas….which is why we already have no less than 5 gallery walls 😎. They’re just so great! It’s a great way to be able to display tons of different pictures and textures.

Key Principles

It occurred to me one day that I didn’t need a googled layout to tell me how to decorate our home. I thought back to my high school yearbook days, and remembered two key layout principles:

1. Balance is everything. Too much content and too much white space are both off-putting…find the sweet spot.
2. Keep at least one straight line that runs through the entire layout. Need an example? The red lines show the 4 main lines I centered my design around. And yes, that bottom line is straight, but evidently my camera angle was not (pretend you see a shrug emoji here, haha)

Dining Room Gallery Wall

So, you’re thoroughly pumped and ready to design your own gallery wall now, right?! Ohhh yes, I thought so. Here we go!

Step One: Pick your wall.

I know this seems kind of obvious, but the wall determines the size of your layout and the types of objects you are going to include. Designing for a bedroom? Probably don’t need kitchen or food related pieces (but hey, no judgment if you do). For this project, I had a large wall in our dining area that I wanted to be a focal point of our living space.

Step Two: Gather your items.

I found this super cute “gather” sign that I wanted to use as my centerpiece. I then collected picture frames and items that I already had from other projects. If you want certain pictures in your design, grab them so that you can work them in. For me, the size and shape of the frame was more important because I could always change out pictures later. Remember to add some variety and contrast – some lights/darks, some wood/metals, pictures/objects. The variety will make your design more visually interesting.

Step Three: Experiment With Your Pieces

This is the hardest part, and usually will take a good amount of time. Once you’ve chosen your focal point(s), start experimenting and placing your pieces around it. This is a trial and error process. I’m a big fan of spreading everything out on the floor.

Remember to keep the two principles from earlier in your mind. Pay attention to colors and textures, but don’t be afraid to make bold statements. All sides of your layout don’t need to match exactly or be perfectly even. You’re going for more of a balanced feel than a perfect shape. You’ll quickly find what you like and what feels complete.

Once I find a combination that “feels good,” I immediately take a picture. I may continue to tweak, but at least I will have a record of what I liked. Plus, you never know when baby or pet feet will create their own designs 🤪.

As you can see in my example, some of the pictures are sideways. Like I said, pictures can be easily swapped. Focus on the shape.

Before you go on to Step Four, measure your design. Make sure that you know exactly how long and tall it is. See how much space it will take up on your wall. Nothing worse than creating an awesome layout that simply will not fit in your space!

Step Four: Hang Your Focal Point

Pretty self-explanatory. The rest of your design hangs on this focal point, so make sure it is nice and well-placed. In my project, I wanted “gather” to be centered on the wall. Width wise, it was pretty easy to center. But remember, you also have to consider the height of your overall design.

Step Five: Hang Complimentary Pieces by Section

I’m guilty of doing the “guess and test” method of picture hanging a lot of the time. I would much rather eyeball and adjust if necessary than take the time to measure. However, you will save yourself a lot of time (and holes in the wall) if you measure.

Pick a small section of your layout to hang first. Usually, I focus on one of the main layout lines and work from the center to the outside.

Here, you can see how I started with the right-side vertical line and the upper horizontal. I started with the pictures that touched “gather” and worked my way out.

Next, I started on the bottom horizontal line on the left side…

..and worked my way up, remembering the left-side vertical line.

Lastly, I added the last 3 pieces on the upper left corner to give my layout a more balanced feel.

Voila! See, now that wasn’t so scary, was it? Congratulations – you’ve designed your first gallery wall!

Inspiration

In case you need a few ideas for inspiration, here are the 5 gallery walls we currently have hanging in our home. Some are more complicated than others and they all feature different things. As the girls grow, I can continue to update the pictures and even expand the layouts.

Give It A Try!

Gallery walls vary with each designer, and are a shining example of their personality. Have you designed your own gallery wall? I would love to see the ideas you’ve come up with!