Bespoke gallery walls continue to be a popular choice when it comes to displaying art, photos and prints as part of our home decor. Distinctively personal, a gallery wall can serve as a unique focal point for expansive walls or blank areas of the home that require a more aesthetic perspective. The casual hanging style means that you can group an array of mismatched prints in a way that feels cohesive.

If you’d love to hang a gallery wall in your home but don’t know where to start, here are seven suggestions to point you in the right direction.

Plan Ahead

Think about the type of art or pictures that you want to incorporate into your gallery wall and consider the dimensions of the wall where you want to hang them. It’s a good idea to have a mix of picture sizes, plus pictures that are both portrait and landscape in orientation so that the layout looks natural and relaxed (pictures with all the same aspect ratio hung together can look rigid).

If your wall is very tall or wide, make sure you hang a collection of large-scale pictures or have a larger collection of smaller pictures to hang, so that the gallery display doesn't look ‘lost’ within the vast surface area.

Mix & Match

Don’t feel like you have to hang only categories of photographs or art prints together. In fact, the best gallery walls often contain a mix of items: art prints, photos, small vintage mirrors and hanging display plates all look great as part of an assorted display.

Pay Attention to the Frames

While you can mix and match prints, it’s a good idea to consider the colour, shape and style of your picture frames. Large variations in frame colours and styles can hinder the look of your gallery wall, so try to keep your frame colours and sizes cohesive. If you require a new frame for an art print or want to invest in some new prints, framedartdirect.co.uk offers a host of different styles at an affordable price point.

Backdrop

Gallery walls work particularly well on darker backdrops, allowing artworks to pop out against the rich wall colour. Before hanging your gallery wall, consider giving the wall itself a fresh coat of paint in a rich, deep and dark hue.

Test the layout

Use your floor first as a space to arrange each of your pictures and assemble the perfect gallery wall layout. Move each piece of artwork around until you are happy with the layout sequence, then take a photo of it on your phone as a reminder before you transfer it onto your wall.

Distance

Make sure that all of your pictures are of similar distance between one another. A mix of wider or smaller gaps between pictures will throw off the display, so keep a tape measure or small ruler to hand to measure the space between each piece of artwork.

Use removable hanging strips

Temporary, removable adhesive strips are a great way to hang a gallery wall; many brands of hanging strips give you an adjustable leeway time to rearrange your picture if it’s slightly hung at an angle, or too close/far from the last picture. If you decide later on to change up your gallery wall or rearrange it, your artwork can be safely removed without causing any damage to the paintwork.

Gallery walls can be a unique and cost-effective way to add interest and detail to your home and you should never be afraid to experiment. Select pieces to hang that reflect your own personal taste and style, or choose items that reignite happy memories. The key is to simply play around with the layout until you get it just right!