Decorating
7 Ways Designers Have Worked a Gallery Wall
The gallery wall is an interiors classic, but what’s the best way to create one? See these arrangements for inspiration
A good gallery wall can be a beautiful thing, a way to turn disparate artworks into a grouping that enhances each piece while also creating a new, collective artwork that brings joy to an empty wall. But there are so many ways to go with the idea, from symmetrical grids to pleasingly contained sprawls, sets of family photos and edgy art displays.
Take a look at how these designers on Houzz have created galleries and get some ideas for your own bare wall.
Take a look at how these designers on Houzz have created galleries and get some ideas for your own bare wall.
2. Mark your ascent
A staircase wall is the perfect space for a gallery display: you have height and width, as well as somewhere inhabitants and guests alike are free to pause and look closely at what’s hanging there. Being such a large space, though, it can also be more difficult to get right – especially as it can be somewhere that connects to many other areas visually.
Here,HCC Interiors have carefully balanced the colours in each artwork and deftly pulled them into the broader space – a black frame links to the black woodwork, while oak frames connect to the stair treads and banister, and pink tones in artworks tie into the copper lamp details.
A staircase wall is the perfect space for a gallery display: you have height and width, as well as somewhere inhabitants and guests alike are free to pause and look closely at what’s hanging there. Being such a large space, though, it can also be more difficult to get right – especially as it can be somewhere that connects to many other areas visually.
Here,HCC Interiors have carefully balanced the colours in each artwork and deftly pulled them into the broader space – a black frame links to the black woodwork, while oak frames connect to the stair treads and banister, and pink tones in artworks tie into the copper lamp details.
3. Channel an actual gallery
A high ceiling and white walls, plus maybe a bit of industrial brickwork, are the foundations of the modern art gallery space. Here, bold, colourful, contemporary artworks have been arranged just as they would be seen in such a gallery: they don’t crowd one another, nor are they diluted by surrounding clutter.
All that’s missing is that gallery staple, a track light system with moveable spots to illuminate what’s on show. Could be a nice idea.
Find a local interior designer whose style you love in the Houzz Professionals Directory.
A high ceiling and white walls, plus maybe a bit of industrial brickwork, are the foundations of the modern art gallery space. Here, bold, colourful, contemporary artworks have been arranged just as they would be seen in such a gallery: they don’t crowd one another, nor are they diluted by surrounding clutter.
All that’s missing is that gallery staple, a track light system with moveable spots to illuminate what’s on show. Could be a nice idea.
Find a local interior designer whose style you love in the Houzz Professionals Directory.
4. Back with black
Here, Urbanology Designs has gone the other way by painting the panelled background wall a rich, deep black. The collection has a lot of white, which stands out crisply against the dark wall. Some warm colour and texture adds interest and cosiness.
Here, Urbanology Designs has gone the other way by painting the panelled background wall a rich, deep black. The collection has a lot of white, which stands out crisply against the dark wall. Some warm colour and texture adds interest and cosiness.
5. Streamline family snaps
Got too many pictures? Be ruthless about which deserve space on your walls and try to find a theme you can work with – then accentuate that by giving them all the same framing treatment and hanging them in a grid.
That’s how it was for the owners of this home, who sought the help of Angela Colley of GeorgieRose Interior Design to help them edit their possessions and create a calmer, less cluttered home. One result of this process is this lovely display of treasured black and white family photographs, all in slim black frames with wide white mounts.
”The family had hundreds of photos in the hallway when I arrived and it was all quite a mishmash,” Angela says. “They wanted to simplify it, so we chose six prints and made that [living room] wall the family bit.”
Check out the rest of this well-ordered home.
Got too many pictures? Be ruthless about which deserve space on your walls and try to find a theme you can work with – then accentuate that by giving them all the same framing treatment and hanging them in a grid.
That’s how it was for the owners of this home, who sought the help of Angela Colley of GeorgieRose Interior Design to help them edit their possessions and create a calmer, less cluttered home. One result of this process is this lovely display of treasured black and white family photographs, all in slim black frames with wide white mounts.
”The family had hundreds of photos in the hallway when I arrived and it was all quite a mishmash,” Angela says. “They wanted to simplify it, so we chose six prints and made that [living room] wall the family bit.”
Check out the rest of this well-ordered home.
6. Strive for balance
An eclectic gallery wall may appear to be a random collection of random artworks, but this couldn’t be further from the truth, as demonstrated by the designers at Meet West Studio, who created this beauty.
Imagine you have a pile of treasured artworks, all different sizes, in different frames and different styles. Where on earth do you begin? Pick pieces you can pair with a partner and balance will reign.
For example, here, the blue of the walls was always going to sit comfortably with paintings containing other blues, while the red floral painting is almost making eyes at the red and white chequerboard piece on the adjoining wall.
A few monochrome pieces are rubbing along nicely, with one strongly echoing the chair design below. Two suns are clearly friends and each antique gold frame has a pal.
An eclectic gallery wall may appear to be a random collection of random artworks, but this couldn’t be further from the truth, as demonstrated by the designers at Meet West Studio, who created this beauty.
Imagine you have a pile of treasured artworks, all different sizes, in different frames and different styles. Where on earth do you begin? Pick pieces you can pair with a partner and balance will reign.
For example, here, the blue of the walls was always going to sit comfortably with paintings containing other blues, while the red floral painting is almost making eyes at the red and white chequerboard piece on the adjoining wall.
A few monochrome pieces are rubbing along nicely, with one strongly echoing the chair design below. Two suns are clearly friends and each antique gold frame has a pal.
7. Draw a line
For those with sufficient discipline (or a professional picture hanger on the job) this idea, from Philippa Rae Interiors, could work well.
Rather than being connected by colour, the very varied artworks are contained within an invisible band, which mirrors the shape and dimensions of the bench below, reinforcing the whole idea. The neatly coordinating black frames add an extra layer of tidyness, especially as they match the dining chair wood and bench seat.
Tell us…
Which idea do you like the best? Let us know in the Comments.
For those with sufficient discipline (or a professional picture hanger on the job) this idea, from Philippa Rae Interiors, could work well.
Rather than being connected by colour, the very varied artworks are contained within an invisible band, which mirrors the shape and dimensions of the bench below, reinforcing the whole idea. The neatly coordinating black frames add an extra layer of tidyness, especially as they match the dining chair wood and bench seat.
Tell us…
Which idea do you like the best? Let us know in the Comments.
With such an extensive gallery wall as this one, there’s a risk it could look chaotic.
The trick is to contain them, and there are various approaches. Here in a project by Bertolini Architects, there is a strong monochrome theme among the pictures themselves, despite their varied media – photographs, line drawings, abstract pieces. Colour does feature, but it’s subtle.
The black frames are not only uniform in tone, they are all also uniformly slim and each picture has a white mount or equivalent white space in the art itself. The result is a room full of character but also one that feels light, clean and calm.