How to Create a Gallery Wall

A gallery wall is a wonderful way to bring personality, color, and meaningful images into your home. It doesn’t have to be perfectly symmetrical or carefully planned – in fact, some of the most interesting gallery walls are created by mixing different artworks, sizes, and frames.

Your gallery wall can include art prints, photography, original artwork, and personal photographs.

But where do you start when all you have is an empty wall?

1. Choose the Right Place for Your Gallery Wall

Start by thinking about where your gallery wall will have the most impact.

Popular places include the wall above a sofa, a dining area, bedroom, hallway, or staircase. A gallery wall can also work beautifully around a desk or transform an otherwise empty wall into something much more interesting.

Consider the space as a whole. On a large wall, you can create an impressive arrangement with several artworks, while a smaller wall may only need two or three pieces.

2. Choose Art You Actually Love

Your gallery wall doesn’t need to look as though every piece came from the same collection.

Quite the opposite.

A personal gallery wall can be created by combining different pieces that say something about you and the things you love.

You might pair a colorful art print created from a painting with a peaceful nature photograph, an abstract piece, or a photograph that holds a special memory.

The connection between the pieces might come from their colors, nature-inspired subjects, overall mood, or the style of the frames.

Most importantly, choose pieces that feel like you.

3. Start with One Focal Piece

If combining several artworks feels overwhelming, start with one favorite piece.

This could be the largest or most colorful artwork in your gallery wall.

Then choose other pieces to place around it, looking for connections through color, subject, or mood.

The artworks don’t need to contain exactly the same colors. For example, a small blue detail in one piece could be echoed by a larger area of blue in another.

These subtle connections can make the arrangement feel cohesive without looking overly coordinated.

4. Mix Different Sizes

Combining different sizes is a simple way to make a gallery wall more interesting.

For example, you could mix 30 × 40 cm and 50 × 70 cm art prints. On a larger wall, a 70 × 100 cm artwork can become the focal point, with smaller pieces arranged around it.

If you prefer a calmer and more symmetrical look, choose several artworks of the same size and arrange them in an even grid.

Both approaches can work beautifully – it simply depends on the style you prefer.

5. Think About the Space Between Your Frames

One of the most common gallery wall mistakes is placing the artworks too far apart.

When the pieces are relatively close together, your eye sees them as one complete arrangement rather than a collection of separate pictures.

A good starting point is to leave approximately 5–10 cm (2–4 inches) between frames. The spacing doesn’t need to be perfectly identical everywhere, but keeping it reasonably consistent will make the overall arrangement feel calmer and more intentional.

6. Plan the Layout Before Hanging

Before you start putting nails in the wall, experiment with your layout.

One of the easiest ways to plan a gallery wall is to arrange all your framed pieces on the floor first.

Start with the largest artwork and experiment with different combinations around it. Take a photo with your phone and look at it again later with fresh eyes.

Another useful trick is to cut pieces of paper to match the dimensions of your frames and attach them to the wall using painter’s tape.

This allows you to see the overall size and layout of your gallery wall before making a single hole.

7. Your Frames Don’t Have to Match

Not every frame needs to be identical.

Matching frames create a calm, modern, and cohesive look. For example, using all black frames or light wooden frames is an easy way to bring different artworks together.

If you prefer a more relaxed and layered style, try mixing different frames.

Wood, black, white, vintage, modern – a thoughtfully chosen mix can give your gallery wall plenty of personality.

On the other hand, if your artworks are very different from one another, using similar frames can help tie the entire collection together.

8. Don’t Forget About Empty Space

You don’t need to fill every part of the wall.

Leaving some empty space around your artwork gives each piece room to breathe and allows your eye to focus on the art itself.

Your gallery wall doesn’t need to stretch across the entire width of the wall either. A slightly more compact arrangement often looks more intentional than individual pieces spread too far apart.

9. Hang Your Gallery Wall at the Right Height

Try not to hang your gallery wall too high.

A useful approach is to think of the entire arrangement as one large artwork. The center of the overall gallery wall should sit approximately at eye level.

If the gallery wall is above a sofa, dresser, sideboard, or another piece of furniture, leave enough space between them while keeping the artwork visually connected to the furniture below.

The most important thing is to avoid making the gallery wall look as though it is floating too high above the rest of the room.

10. Let Your Gallery Wall Grow Over Time

Your gallery wall doesn’t have to be finished in one day.

You can start with two or three pieces and add new artwork over time.

Perhaps you’ll discover a new piece of art while traveling. Maybe you’ll want to add a photograph from an important moment. Or perhaps you’ll come across an art print that you simply fall in love with.

When your gallery wall grows gradually, it can become a collection of memories, colors, and things that are meaningful to you.

Three Easy Gallery Wall Layout Ideas

If you’re not sure what kind of arrangement to choose, try one of these:

The Grid

Choose artworks of the same size and use matching frames. Hang them at equal distances in two or more rows. The result is clean, modern, and calm.

The Eclectic Gallery Wall

Mix artworks of different sizes and allow the arrangement to be slightly asymmetrical. Choose one element to connect the pieces, such as a shared color palette, theme, or frame style.

One Large Piece + Smaller Artworks

Choose one large artwork, such as 50 × 70 cm or 70 × 100 cm, and arrange smaller 30 × 40 cm pieces around it. The larger artwork creates a natural focal point and gives the rest of the arrangement something to build around.

The Most Important Gallery Wall Rule?

Choose things you genuinely want to look at.

Interior trends come and go, but your home doesn’t need to look like a page from an interior design magazine. The best gallery walls tell you something about the people who live there.

Don’t be afraid to mix colors, nature photography, personal photographs, paintings, and different moods.

Think of your gallery wall as your own little gallery – a collection of things that make you pause, remember, feel something, or simply smile.