How to create a gallery wall - with 7 tips on how to create the perfect gallery wall So how do you start to create a cool Gallery Wall that has personality? A picture wall is one of those features that will transform any room and add personality to your home. The first thing to understand is that there are no rules and anything goes! It should be all about what you love and feel to be personal to you. Tip 1 – Collect some art that speaks to you – Photos, Graphics, Posters, even mirrors or old portraits. My friend even framed an old dress and it looks great! Gather them all together and see how they work next to each other. Placing them on the floor really helps to visualise them as a whole and you can move them around easily. Select one or two as the main features that you can work around. This could be a favourite colour or a larger sized picture that you can then use the other colours/textures to compliment. Tip 2 – Style - Decide what kind of gallery wall are you creating. Is it going to be eclectic or a more uniformed picture wall? Do you want it to be all same sized modern prints and art or will it be a mix of photos with art and modern prints? I love creating a mix of things and for my office gallery wall I have all my prints mixed with some other odd bits like a Pegboard, a plant hanger, a metal heart from a Mexican artist along with a few unframed pics. I think this gives it a bit of depth with some interesting elements to compliment the pictures. Tip 3 – Spacing – Consider what kind of space you want between each frame? For example do you want it to be uniformed spacing? If you are going for this then try to keep all the spaces similar on each side including the top and bottom. Even if you will have them close I feel they look more balanced if you have similar spacing. Someone asked me about frames and I personally like playing with different colour frames, different thicknesses and styles. Metal black and silver work for more modern prints and wood in black or white for something a bit more traditional such as life forms like plants or figurative pictures. But as I said before its your home and gallery wall so anything goes. Here’s a good example of two gallery walls in the same home but in different rooms. The stairs picture wall is a lot bigger and varied and much more saturated and I think it works really well. The sitting room one is more uniformed and the spacing between the pictures is pretty similar and seems to work perfectly in that environment. I also love how Emma is not scared of using bold colours. Emma from Flawsomehome says: “First up, I always choose lightweight frames, especially for stair gallery walls. I need them to be safe for the children flying by but I also need them not to move, therefore I use velcro strips instead of picture hooks. I think it's the same as command strips but I get a big roll of velcro online and cut strips off. I like to use different coloured and different styles of frames to keep it looking eclectic and interesting. I use a mixture of typography, photography, art and family pictures for the same reason. I usually keep my frames close together as in the stair gallery as I think it then has a bigger impact, although it also means you need a LOT of art. I have another gallery in my lounge that is a bit more uniform but I try not to over think it and just go for it when I'm starting out, the velcro then allows me to switch art around if I change my mind. (which I do...... often!)” Tip 4 - Textures – Playing with different textures as well as prints and art can add so much personality to your wall! What I love about this one is the different elements that Sarah has used. I love the juxtaposition of mirrors, pictures, wall hangings, lamp, plates, unframed and framed pics and even an animal head! If you have things around the house that you don’t know where to put, try and see how they might look on the wall. Don’t be afraid to add as you go along. I totally love this wall at NudeandtheNovice (instagram account) with our 'Rain Me Happy' cloud print. The gallery wall here has three main colours that pop at you and one central image. They all work well together and are really balanced as well as complimenting the sofa and wall colours. In this second picture wall Sarah plays with the wallpaper with the reds and pinks. All pictures have slightly different spacing and are not consistently aligned however they make a nice shape and the cupboard balances it all out with its solid colour against the busy wall. Tip 5 – Context - It is important to consider the things that are around your gallery wall, such as radiators, sofa, chair, a plant, chest of drawers and think about how you might incorporate them into the look or colour scheme. I love how Soozi has made her wall into a feature here with the half painted wall with the lines which then is picked up by a print and the floor colours in contrast with all the plants and greenery around this beautiful office space. Tip 6 – How to hang – This all depends on your preference, I personally prefer nails but it depends on the type of wall you are hanging on. If it’s a hard wall you might need to use rawl plugs and screws so they keep for longer and better for heavy frames with glass. Command strips are a good option if you are renting or want to have something a bit less permanent, we have used these on my boy’s bedroom and so far has been fine, but we made sure the pictures have perspex instead of glass ensuring they are a lot lighter. I find command strips are also more expensive so it does depend on your budget and convenience. Tip 7 – Where to find frames – I buy a lot of frames from Ikea as I need to frame a lot of my prints. I find their metal varieties to be much better quality than the wooden ones, specially for big pictures. The wooden frames from Ikea tend to expand and warp after a certain size so I prefer to use them for smaller pictures up to 40x50cms. Habitat also has nice frames; E frames will take your picture and frame it for you, or they will send the frame with mount that you need. Made.com also do frames. If you are on a budget Flying tiger and even Wilkos will do for smaller ones. I hope this article was useful if you are considering making a gallery wall and if you have any questions leave a comment below and I will try to answer anything for you. Remember to have fun and if you follow my Instagram page there are lots of examples of where people have made fun gallery walls. You can find our art prints on our Art Prints section and you can follow us @doodle_moo. We also have a Pinterest board totally dedicated to gallery walls here