Simply Framed's Gallery Wall Guide

The difference between a house and a home is the collection of items that reflect the lives and personalities of the people who live there: dog-eared books, heirloom furniture, travel souvenirs, closets that showcase each individual’s unique sense of style...

Of course, displaying art and personal photographs is one of the easiest ways to make your home reflect who you are. Follow our advice below to learn how to fashion an eclectic-but-collected gallery wall that will be a show stopping exhibit of your favorite prints, paintings, and photos.

Julia Leach's dining room gallery wall via Lonny, Simply Framed

A gallery wall at the home of Chance founder Julia Leach - via Lonny.

Prep Work:

  1. Gather up your art—original paintings, concert posters, custom prints, personal photographs, keepsakes such as invitations or special letters—anything you have that reflects you and your family that you’d like to have on display.
  2. Click here to custom frame any art or photographs that aren’t already wall ready.

Simply Framed's easy online custom framing process

Space Planning:

3. Once all of your art is framed and in-hand, find a clean, empty floor and try laying out an arrangement that you like. Here are some general guidelines

    • If your art is in differing shapes and sizes, don’t try to group similar pieces together on the wall. Keep it eclectic by mixing all of the different pieces in with one another. When in doubt, it’s usually easiest to put the largest piece in the center and build outward.
    • If your art is all the same shape and size, lay it out like a grid, keeping the spaces between each piece equal from side to side and on top and bottom.

4. Trace each piece with a pencil or pen onto newspaper. Be careful not to mark the frames with your pen. Mark the locations of the hanging brackets on the paper and indicate the orientation of the art with an arrow pointing up. Cut out each shape.

5. With blue painter’s tape (masking tape works, too), attach the cutouts to your wall, starting in the center and building outward.

Simply Framed's tips for a great gallery wall

Hang Time:

  1. Once you are happy with the placement of your cutouts, hammer your nails in over the bracket markers. Pull the newspaper off the wall.
  2. Hang art and check with a level. Got an iPhone? Then you have a level.

We’ve included a few of our favorite gallery walls for you to peruse for inspiration, below.

A gallery wall at the home of Gray Malin via Simply Framed

The home office of Gray Malin.

A gallery wall at Boerum House & Home via Simply Framed

Boerum House & Home’s expansive gallery wall courtesy of Partners and Spade.

Modern gallery wall via Dans le Lakehouse, Simply Framed

via Dans le Lakehouse

Eclectic gallery wall via Remodelista, Simply Framed

via Remodelista.

Gallery wall via Inspiring Decor, Simply Framed

via Inspiring Decor

Alana Range's gallery wall via Simply Framed

Alana Range’s gallery wall, including work by Tyson Anthony Roberts.

This blog was developed in partnership with our friends Shay Mitchell and Michaela Blaney at Amore & Vita.

Back to blog