Gallery walls are having a moment. Whatever your budget or wall space, they’re an easy way to add colour and personality to a room without the faff of sticky wallpaper or messy paint.
You can fill up a wall with quirky prints and statement frames, or use it as an opportunity to finally hang up those photos you printed ages ago.
Creating the perfect gallery wall needn’t be a struggle and certainly isn’t limited to just those with a keen interior eye.
First Things First, Pick A Theme
Interior designer Katharine Pooley explains how to get started with a few simple steps. “Think about a theme, for example do you want a graphic linear effect or something more detailed? Always lay your art out on the floor before starting to hang and group the pictures together, then you’ll be able to assess whether they compliment each other or clash, and you can move them around according to your style.”
Interior stylist and author of My Bedroom Is An Office & Other Interior Design Dilemmas, Joanna Thornhill says making a feature wall a success is honing in on one element and sticking with it, such as a focal colour in the artwork, to unite everything together.
When choosing between whether to display art or photographs, Pooley recommends to keep them separate. “They both suit different spaces and moods. I love photography in studies, whereas impactful art is best in bedrooms, living rooms and entrance halls.”
Spacing Is Everything
Spacing is key when it comes to perfecting a gallery wall. “A lot of people put things too high on the wall so they look unrelated to the furniture in the room. The key is keep the central piece of your gallery wall hung at your eye-line, then everything else should by hung above, down and around that point, rather than starting your gallery wall two metres above your sofa,” Thornhill tells HuffPost.
However if you want to create your gallery wall going upstairs, Pooley suggests hanging larger pieces first, staggered to match every third stair, and then working smaller pieces around them.
To Frame Or Not To Frame
When it comes to picking your frames, if you want a uniform look, pick up a pack of the same ones like these from Ikea, but mixing and matching different frame style adds character. “Gilt and mirror with limed wood go well together or ebonised timber mixed with silvered gesso finishes look smart,” says Pooley.
Renting? No Problem
If you’re renting and don’t want to lose your deposit, it’s probably best not to drill holes in the wall. But this doesn’t mean you gallery wall is out of bounds. There are plenty of adhesive products out there, which are both durable and removable – meaning you can stick your prints on the wall without making any marks on the walls. Command strips are one such option and the larger strips can hold up to 7.2kg in weight.
Thornhill also recommends using Washi tape, a Japanese masking tape which is strong enough to stay stuck to your walls and comes in an assortment of colours, so you can customise your own frames for a fraction of the price.
These options are also great if you haven’t quite committed to the where your gallery wall may be, and can be removed easily and moved around.
How To Find Prints On A Budget
If navigating buying art is proving tricky, worry not because we’ve got you covered. We’ve already picked the best prints celebrating you, love and women all for under £50. Affordable art can be found in abundance online at places such Etsy, Trouva, King McGaw and Juniqe, with lots of options for customisation for the perfect finishing touch to your humble abode.
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