Do you have a long hallway or an awkward wall that just “needs” something? Well, a tried and true design trick is using a gallery wall to fill your space.
If you’ve ever tried to hang multiple pictures on the wall at one time, you know that without careful planning you could end up with lots of holes and scuff marks on your walls. I’m here to give you a couple tips on where and how to create a gallery wall in your own home. And hopefully provide some good inspiration to get the design waves going.
First things first…
What does your wall look like?
Is it a long skinny hallway that doesn’t leave any room for furniture?
Is is a large wall behind a sofa that is so big it’s overwhelming?
Is it an angled wall that won’t fit any of your larger art but it definitely needs some love?
Well, what is great about a gallery wall, is that you can mold it to fit the needs of your space.
Hallways:
By adding a gallery wall to your hallway in can take an awkward long space and make it an interesting journey through your home. You could go with a modern look that is very sleek and minimalistic. Or choosing brighter more whimsical prints or photos will add a pop of color to an otherwise bland space.
If possible, incorporating lighting to highlight and accentuate a gallery wall (especially in a hallways) is always a good choice. It adds another layer of design in a space that many people forget or even worse, ignore!
Living Rooms:
If you have been blessed to have a home with high ceilings or extensive walls, you know this can pose a problem when it comes to decorating. Sometimes, these spaces can be daunting when pulling the room together. Art work large enough to be proportionate can be way out of your price range or they’re simply too large to actually get into your home. Hence… a gallery wall is needed!
Dining Rooms:
Depending on how your home is laid out, you could have one of two problems. 1) You have a big space and not enough furniture or 2) you have a small space and your furniture doesn’t fit.
Let’s start with #1 … Let’s say you have a large formal dining room that is has room for not only a 10 person table but a full china hutch and sideboard buffet. Well, if you are looking for a way to tone down the formality of the space or you just don’t care for that much furniture, you can pull in a gallery wall to fill your space.
If #2 is your struggle, the reality is… only your table fits. But, by adding a collage of photos or artwork to your wall you can put that designer touch on your space, even when you’re limited.
Bedrooms:
Let’s not forget about the bedroom. One of my favorite places for a gallery wall is in the bedroom. It’s such a great place to hang personal family photos that are near and dear to you. By choosing frames and matting that coordinates with your decor it can eliminate the need for any formal artwork. Plus, what’s better than waking up to some of your all time favorite images every day!
Stairs:
One of the hardest spots in any home to decorate is the stairs. With angles, half walls, and odd turns it makes finding the right artwork challenging. The reason I love a good stairway gallery wall, is because you can tailor it to the home exactly the way you need to. By incorporating different sizes you can fill the angled areas and make it look like the house was designed around the gallery wall, instead of the other way around.
Now that we know what we want… How to do it?
Well, like I said earlier… if you try to wing it without planning, go ahead and plan on some major touch up work. By taking the time to layout your gallery design properly, you can save yourself some major headaches and get it right on the first try. So grab your craft paper, tape measure, and level … here we go!
Here are some great tutorials on how to layout your gallery spaces:
https://www.southernliving.com/how-to/home/how-to-hang-pictures-for-gallery-walls
https://www.command.com/3M/en_US/command/projects/all-projects/diy-gallery-wall/
Don’t underestimate the power of a shelf!
If the idea of measuring and hanging all these pictures is too much to tackle. See if you can track down a couple great shelves that you can utilize for your leaning your photos and artwork. This will allow you to stand back and visualize exactly what you want (without a single nail hole)! And what is even better, you can change it every week if you wish without any regrets or paint touch ups!
Now it’s your turn!
I bet if you look hard enough, there is a space in your home that is crying out for a gorgeous gallery wall. Now that you have all these great inspiration photos on your brain, it’s just a matter of getting it done!
Happy decorating!