Drew and Jonathan’s Great Gallery Wall Tips
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With more time at home these days, you might be thinking: now’s the time to get all those family photos and souvenir prints framed and finally hung on the wall. We agree! (No offense to your walls.)
We couldn’t resist doing a little show-and-tell on Instagram Live. Here, we show you two different examples of gallery walls and how we pulled them off.
Jonathan: The Classic Gallery Wall
Jonathan: I went with a clean, classic look—just like me—using four B&W prints with black frames. The key here is centering the wall with furniture: you don’t want heads and arms bumping into the bottom frames, so we used painters tape to mark our furniture lines.
With heavy frames like these, you’ll want some reinforcements, like Velcro hanging strips. You might want to check the width of the frame against the width of the strip, to make sure they line up. If you can, go at least one level higher on the supported frame weight listed on the packaging, just to be safe.
The other major factor is consistent spacing, which is even more critical in a simpler layout like mine. A tape measure is your best friend here, along with a good level. (You might even want two, a small and large one, if you have them.) Once you’re in good shape, step back and use the best tool available: your sharp eye. If it looks right, it probably is.
Drew: The Eclectic Gallery Wall
Drew: Because I’m a little more playful and creative than Jonathan (everyone says this about me), I decided to use some mixed media in my gallery wall to really show off my eclectic tastes.
Even with this variety of sizes and frames, though, I did stick to a few rules of thumb: namely, symmetry. You’ll notice the gallery wall is balanced in form and color, without straying too far beyond the edges of the furniture space.
I also didn’t use anything that protruded too far from the wall, like a shadow box (nothing like hearing a crash and seeing one of your guests frantically picking up old mementos from the floor).
I enjoyed making this gallery wall because I was able to repurpose some old frames without them looking out of place—in fact, I’d say they add to the look with a good balance of old and new. With all this talk about balance, you can tell I’ve had Feng Shui on my mind lately.
Jonathan: The great thing about gallery walls is how much personalization you can get out of them, for not a lot of money. It’s a great day project that can help commemorate your favorite people and moments.
Drew: Wait, then why wasn’t your gallery wall just pictures of me?
Jonathan: I think you know why.
Must-have tools
- tape measure
- level
- stud finder
- hammer
- nails, hardware, or picture-hanging strips
- cordless drill with drill bits
- nail filler (mistakes happen!)
- brush with touch-up paint
- painter’s tape
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