DIY Art Placement Tips: Creating a Gallery Wall

Imagine having a corner of your home decorated with a collection of memories. Sounds enticing? Why not create a gallery wall? A blank wall is a canvas where you can arrange art while playing around with colours and lighting.

However, with the DIY approach, people don’t know where to start. Should they buy paintings or make one themselves? What frames to use and what layouts to choose? Get ready to be inspired as we explore the art of creating gallery walls that stand out.

• Make the Perfect Art Choices
• Take the Decision: What Size and How Much
• Choose a Fusion of Colours and Textures
• Celebrate Memories: Add Family Photographs
• Compliment Art with Lighting and Decor
• Experiment, Experiment, Experiment!
• Buy Frames: Complete the Look
• Start Creating the Dreamy Gallery Wall
• Show Off Your Hard Work
• FAQs

Insights into Gallery Wall

A gallery wall is decorated with portraits, sculptures, photographs and art pieces. This is a personal space where every stroke of paint and art placement tells a story. A well-designed gallery wall is a house’s centre of attraction – one where visitors get awestruck.

Whether it’s a kitchen, living room or bedroom, you can create a gallery wall anywhere. Moreover, wall arts are one of the top tips for ground-floor interiors.

If you collect art and want to get creative, designing a gallery wall is the perfect option for you.

A Stylist’s Tips and Process to Create a Gallery Wall

Creating a gallery wall follows a series of steps to get that picture-perfect look. Let’s look at the steps and expert tips to follow:

1. Make the Perfect Art Choices

When creating a gallery wall, the first step is to choose what you will be placing. Don’t just stick to portraits but combine different art pieces to create an elegant look. Here is what you can collect depending on your budget:

• First things first! You can use the polaroids or family photographs. 
• If you are an artist or have some self-drawn paintings, this is the perfect place to showcase them.
• Have a budget to spend on buying art pieces? You can purchase paintings, sketches, photographs, sculptures and other forms of art.

Expert’s Tip 1: Personalise Your Gallery

• Don’t be shy to put a random photograph on a gallery wall. Whether it’s a photo of your engagement ring or your first sonography, remember every piece with a story is art.
• Since a gallery wall is a personal space, it needs to be a reflection of your life. You can also celebrate special moments of your life by putting them on this wall such as your kid’s footprint.

2. Take the Decision: What Size and How Much

It is important to decide what sizes would go perfectly. There are two options: to create symmetrical walls or non-symmetrical ones. If you want to incorporate various art forms, it is best to go with a non-symmetrical gallery wall.

Now, decide how many art pieces you need. An example can be 2 portraits, 1 sculpture, 3 polaroids, 3 hand-drawn sketches and 1 photograph.

Expert’s Tip 2: Play with Shapes

Combine horizontal and vertical shapes art to give a more curated look. You can also buy art in different shapes such as round, square, oval and more.

3. Choose a Fusion of Colours and Textures

Matching colours and textures give a more uniform look to a gallery wall. However, beauty also lies in imperfection. So, you can play along with a variety of colours and textures. Our tip is to balance contrasting colours.

Moreover, it is best to pair up the colour frames with a background wall to tie everything together.

Expert’s Tip 3: Bring Life to an Imaginary Look

Choosing colours depends on the look you are trying to create.

• If you want to evoke memories, you can play with some favourite colours.
• For elegance, you can go with black and white.
• For kids room decor, you can use bright multi colours.

4. Celebrate Memories: Add Family Photographs

When collecting family photographs, most people face the dilemma of what to choose and what not. Go for photographs that match the colour intensity and tone. You can always mix and match; there is no rule to be perfect.

To match the ideal size, you can combine multiple photographs and polaroids.

Expert’s  Tip 4: Variety is the Key

Avoid photographs clicked in the same location. Diversity is key, so incorporate different stories in an art gallery.

5. Compliment Art with Lighting and Decor

A gallery wall is incomplete without the right lighting. If you have a big portrait as a focal point, perfect lighting can enhance its look. Adding to this are the mini decor items to fill up the odd spaces between art pieces. The best part is they give a 3D look to your gallery wall.

Expert’s Tip 5: Give an Eclectic Look

• To enhance the look, buy lights such as track lights, wall sconces or focal lights.
• Using dimmers is also a good way to adjust lighting.
• You can also buy hanging plants to fill up the odd spaces.
• Adding mirrors can elevate the look of a gallery wall.
• Another decoration item is small baskets and placeholders where you can keep some extra special stuff.

6. Experiment, Experiment, Experiment!

Before you start to arrange art on a wall by using nails or hanging them, wait! It is best to experiment first to see the overall look. Here is how you can do this:

Plan a Layout Using Software

If you know technicalities, the best way to arrange art on a wall is by using software. The best part is you can also do this before purchasing any art piece to save your costs. Some software to use are:

• Adobe Illustrator
• PowerPoint
• Google Slides

Change image placements and sizes to see what works best for the size of the wall you have.

Create a Layout on the Floor

Don’t know technicalities? Here we have another cost-friendly solution. Create a layout on the floor and adjust the art before placing it on the wall. For accuracy, measure the space of your wall and mark that on the floor. Ensure to mark any obstructions such as a mirror or a TV.

Now start placing the art and experiment with placements. See how you want to arrange art on a wall, whether you want packed spaces or gaps. Place the decor items and lights to complete the look.

This arrangement also helps you decide the sizes of photo frames you need for the art pieces.

Expert’s  Tip 6: Creating Layouts that Work

• Start with the statement piece (biggest focal point) and then move forward according to size.
• Arrange different art types, colours and sizes on walls evenly.
• Add spaces between art pieces to let your eyes move freely.

7. Buy Frames: Complete the Look

Next comes completing the art by framing it. As per the sizes decided in the previous step, purchase photo frames. Colours and styles should complement the overall look. You can buy photo frames of different colours to create a more fun space. Or executive colours for an elegant interior.

Expert’s Tip 7: Lay Out the Art Again

It is best to again create a layout on the floor to see how photo frames complete the look. Here is where you should click a photograph as a reference to easily arrange art on a wall.

8. Start Creating the Dreamy Gallery Wall

After carefully picking every single detail, it is time to showcase the collection on a wall. Here is how to create a gallery wall:

• The most common and widely used way is to hang art pieces using nails.
• Mark proper areas to make holes in a wall.
• Start placing art as per the demo layout.
• Place it on an eye level.

9. Show Off Your Hard Work

Bravo, you did it! Now, it’s time to show off your gallery wall. Invite your guests and let them appreciate your creation.

FAQs

Follow the art placement tips and create a gallery wall that stands out. Personalise a blank space and let your creativity flow in!

With Property Finder’s blogs, you can find hundreds of home decor ideas. For example, if you want tips for small balcony design, check out our blog!

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