Gallery walls are a growing trend amongst homeowners! They’re a great way for you to display all of your favourite prints and artwork in one place – no more buying pieces only to store them away and forget about them until years later. With a variety of art hanging systems now available to buy online and instant online access to purchasing from emerging creators and artists, now is a better time than ever to start your own collection and begin to install a gallery wall.
Social media and interior design magazines are full of inspiration for at-home picture galleries, but if you want to branch out in your own creative direction read on for some tips and inspiration!
Mix and Match Colours, Sizes and Themes
Traditional art galleries display paintings, prints and portraits in matching frames of appropriate size per piece, which are often constructed from brass or other metal and molded into ornate framing shapes. These are often heavy and are certainly time-honored but your own gallery doesn’t need to reflect anything quite so classic and grand. Gallery walls at home can be more contemporary. Mix and match frame styles (both plain and intricate), sizes, colors and themes to design gallery walls that are entirely unique to your home and your own art collection. Mapping out what will go where before hanging anything is key to the curation of a coherent design and can help you ensure that colors, textures and tones are well-balanced throughout your design – drawing the eye across the gallery wall as a whole and not just to any one part. Why not try adding in some ceramics and decorative plates alongside crafts and embroidered materials to incorporate differing textures?
Try Out Different Patterns
The majority of gallery walls are made up of prints and pieces hung up alongside each other in a geometric pattern, often with the same amount of wall space around them to form a pattern. This certainly provides a striking aesthetic but it’s not the only way to make a gallery wall that wows. If you’d like to take a more minimalist approach to your picture gallery, or simply don’t have lots of pieces to hang, getting creative with the hanging patterns can be effective. For prints or pieces of the same shape and size, hanging them along a wall in a horizontal or vertical line presents an eye-catching feature. For smaller pieces, hanging them along otherwise unused space (such as above doors or windows) adds a new dimension to a room. Again, mapping out a design before hanging anything is wise: try out a star, a heart, or a lightning bolt and works out what works best for you, your collection and your space.
String Up Prints
Gallery walls traditionally hang pieces directly from the wall, using either specialist hanging equipment, hooks or picture rails. However, pieces that don’t weigh too much can be displayed in a gallery style using more creative and contemporary methods. Stringing up prints or pieces from material, ribbon or even strings of fairy lights is an impressive way to exhibit your art collection in a modern way. Combine different colored lights with different pieces to illuminate them effectively as desired. Prints can be hung from strings using paperclips, pegs or specialist clips – shop around to find what looks best and suits your theme.
Layer On Shelves
Don’t have lots of spare wall space but don’t want to miss out on showing off your favorite art? Fear not: you still can! Shelves (existing ones if you already have them, or newly installed minimalist shelves if you don’t) can be used to display your prints and other art pieces without the need to stick to or drill through any of your walls. Layer pieces slightly over one another to give a maximalist look and to reveal as many pieces as possible all at once. Your shelves can remain functional for other ornaments or storage purposes alongside displaying your collection. Ideally the shelves themselves should be plain and either a neutral or complementary color to the art being shown to best suit the interior theme. Your shelves don’t necessarily need to be installed one above the other but can be staggered or hung in a creative pattern. Again, hanging shelves for gallery displays of this type above windows and doors can help to optimize free space and draw the eyes of those visiting to areas they may not normally look at.
Gallery walls are a fantastic way to transform your home’s interior aesthetics without having to invest too much time, money or effort into curating and creating a unique design. You can use your gallery wall to showcase everything and anything; from embroidery hoops to paintings, prints to portraits, ceramics to tapestries – and these can be created by anyone. Whether you’re showcasing Picasso or an art student, something you’ve made yourself or scribbles from a toddler, a gallery wall is the perfect place to present it. The best thing? Absolutely no one in the world will have the same gallery wall as you. Museum curators, be gone: now is the time for clever, creative homeowners to manage their own collections and bring joy to their walls as they do so!
