How to create a gallery wall at home

By Eugenia Wilson

You only need to do a quick trawl through Instagram and Pinterest to see that the gallery wall has taken off. And for good reason. Hanging a cluster of artworks together creates a visual feast that can immediately elevate a space.

Objects by Walter Knoll. Photo credit: Lumas — Objects by Walter Knoll. Photo credit: LUMAS

Gallery walls are one of my favourite ways to display art. It allows you to showcase your favourite art in an interesting way and really make a statement. So where to start and how to master an impactful gallery wall? Here is our step by step guide.

Choose your wall

Gallery walls can work almost anywhere in your home. But if you want to maximise the impact of a wall collage, put it in a powerful spot where it’ll be the focal point of the room. Galleries along the hallway of a house also work very well.

Choose the art

The most important thing to begin with is art that you love and that represents your taste, your style and your history. Depending on your personal taste, you may want to combine a variety of frame styles or stick to one consistent style. If you’re looking for a way to make sure your art works together, choose pieces that have a common thread – a certain colour for example. However you needn’t be limited by this – some of the best gallery walls combine an entirely eclectic range of art.

Choose your layout

The simplest way to arrange a gallery wall is to start with a horizontal line and place art either above or below it. We also recommend choosing an anchor piece – one that is a little larger and bolder than your other artworks. You may also wish to cascade pieces outwards in term of size – from largest to smallest.

Lay it out

We recommend measuring the amount of wall space you want to fill and then taping off that section on a clean floor. This allows you to space everything out the way you want in advance of securing it on the wall. Once you finalise your favorite arrangement, take some photos for reference when you’re hanging.

Hang it

It’s best to do this part with a friend so that you can make sure everything looks even and in the right place. Start with your anchor piece and work from there. We recommend hanging pieces at 165cm mark – as it is considered to be the eye-sight level of most people. This means that the centre of the picture should be at the 165cm mark on your wall.

— Eugenia is the Australian director of LUMAS, a worldwide gallery dedicated to making quality art more accessible for everyone. With a strong focus on photographic prints, LUMAS has a wide range of limited edition pieces to suit any taste, style and budget.