Creating a Gallery Wall

Happy Friday Friends! The first thing I wanted to get done when we moved into our home was a family gallery wall. 

We have a very open downstairs, I wanted  to create something warm and personal where we all gather for family dinners and spend a lot of our time.  I bought these frames before we even moved into this house and have pretty much picked the rest of our decor around these gold frames. I couldn’t be happier about them! 

There is a large section of wall right behind our dining table, its too small of a space for furniture of any kind so its perfect for a large scale gallery wall! 

P L A N N I N G   A   G A L L E R Y   W A L L 

I’ve looked up lots and lots of beautiful gallery walls on Pinterest. The ones that stood out to me most were the classic grid design with gold frames. 

The first step to creating a beautiful gallery wall is first to find the right space in your home. This could be down a long hallway, up a staircase, above a console table/dresser or in your entryway. Gallery walls create visual interest and are also a great conversation piece. Everyone loves to stop and look at photos, they really create a welcoming and cozy feel. All you need is an open space! 

After you have found your open space start to look at the other finishes in the room. Look at the flooring, furniture, paint color, and fixture finishes. All this will help you choose the right frame color. We have dark flooring, and off white walls, I wanted something with a little pop, a little flare for our living room. So I chose these brushed brass colored frames with white matting to complement the rest of our home. I wanted our gallery wall to be more of a statement, where you could choose a soft wood colored frame for more of a subtle and organic feel. 

I got all of these frames in store from Crate and Barrel, pre-COVID, but you can still get these frames online. They come in 4 different colors and a variety of sizes! For me mapping out our gallery wall was quite simple since I just wanted a square grid, Im actually going to order 3 more frames to make it a little larger. Here are some other great grid ideas for a little more fun! 

G R I D   I D E A S 

Once you’ve picked where and what you want your gallery wall to look like, order your frames! Once they arrive lay them all out as you think you might want them on the floor right below where you’ll be hanging them. This is a crucial step for an easy installation and as to not put 50 different holes in your walls. Once you have an idea of what you want your wall to look like, measure the wall, and put the frame that will be in the middle up on the wall.

I always start from the center. I will tell you its so much easier to hang a gallery wall once you have the focal frame hung. From there the rest is pretty simple. Measure the same distance for all the following frames. Leave 1.5″ to 2″ in between you’re frames. Hang the next frames above and below and work outwards from there. viola! You have a beautiful gallery wall! 

F I N I S H I N G   T O U C H E S

I decided to hang up some of our favorite photos since our wedding. I wanted the first set of photos I hung to be just as they are. Full of color and life. I will be changing all the pictures to classic black and white come spring decorating just to change it up! 

This is the part where you can really get creative. You can use pictures all from the same family shoot, your favorite moments throughout the years, you can do all black and white or all sepia tones. You don’t have to do photos at all! You could frame different fabrics, wallpapers, or art work. My favorite place to find art prints that are amazingly priced is Society6! Your options are endless, you can change up the look at any time, and it makes for an endless project (if you want it to be) to have fun and design with! 

P I C T U R E   F R A M E   L I N K S

||Amazon|| rustic wood / light wood / wood gallery kit with art prints / gold 

||Crate and Barrel|| brushed brass / antique bronze / gunmetal / black gallery set

||Target|| matte black / white 

I hope this helps with your gallery wall in the making! Have a great weekend friends!