For many of us, the road to a complete gallery wall is a long and tricky one. It often starts with a blank wall and comes to an abrupt stop with a pile of frameless art and photography.
Finding the perfect frame is often the point where many of us give up on designing a gallery wall. Our recommendation? Stick to something simple (like our Wood Gallery Frames) and let your art shine.
Once you’ve (finally) framed your art, it’s time to move on to the hard part: hanging it. I know, it sounds easy — just hammer a nail into the wall, right? — but prep and planning is key to a successful gallery wall. Once you start hammering away, there’s no turning back.
We’ve pulled together six of our favorite styles to setting up a gallery wall — from the simple grid to the step-by-step staircase style. Take a look at our detailed diagrams of each style, below, along with our favorite Pottery Barn examples.
Spiral: Start with a center frame, and spiral out the rest of your frames from there.
Don’t forget to maintain an even amount of space between each frame for consistency.
Centered: This simple layout requires minimal effort. Just choose one or two frames to center and align the left and right sides with one another.
We think this works particularly well if you’re trying to highlight particular pieces of art.
Outer Align: You’ll want to make sure all of the outer frames are aligned for this layout.
Note that the center frames will meet slightly closer together at the right and left sides.
Reflection: Create order out of chaos with this arrangement!
Don’t worry about arranging by size — when everything’s matched up and aligned at the center, the display makes perfect sense.
Staircase: Staircase gallery walls require a slightly different approach.
Hang your frames following the same upward angle of the staircase.
Nine Square: Don’t dismiss the simple grid.
It’s a basic arrangement, but it makes a big impact!