Creating a gallery wall can totally transform a space, adding personality, color, and visual interest to any room. Not to mention the value of having your memories or photos on the wall instead of sitting in a closet or hidden in your phone database! But whether you’re looking to transform a huge wall or a small space, planning and hanging a gallery wall can feel overwhelming and time-consuming. From choosing the right artwork to figuring out the perfect layout, it’s easy to get stuck in the details and then procrastinate or even give up on the entire process.
The good news? Planning and hanging a gallery wall doesn’t have to be stressful! Whether you’re a meticulous measurer or a laissez-faire designer, we have four simple and effective ways to plan your gallery wall with ease.
Before you start planning and hanging YOUR gallery wall, there are 2 steps you’ll want to start with:
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Look for inspiration and decide what *type* of gallery wall you want: There are so many different types of gallery walls, the first thing to do is determine what style you like! Take some time looking through Pinterest or Google Images to determine which styles you’re drawn to. Do you want something with all black and white photos? The same or different frames? Do you prefer a structured and methodical layout? Or something more whimsical with different sizes and shapes? Do you want only pictures/photos or other items like instruments, clocks, plants as well? Do you like a lot of space between images for an airy feel? Or do you want them close together to really showcase a LOT of pieces? There is no right or wrong here, but it is essential to have a vision of what YOU want before you get started.
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After completing step #1, gather the pieces you want to use: Do you have a plethora of art or photos sitting in a closet that you want to actually get on the wall? Do you have any focal pieces you want to build around? Pull out anything you may want to use and set it all in one space. If you have pieces you'll need to buy, you can either do that now or once you have the design finalized to see any gaps.
Once you’ve decided on a style and have all your pieces pulled out, now it’s time to actually figure out how you want to lay out your gallery wall. Here are three ways I’ve used to hang a gallery wall (hint: number 4 is my favorite!):
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Just eyeball & wing it :) I assume if you’re searching for HOW to plan and hang a gallery wall best, you’re not comfortable with the “eyeball and wing it” approach. However, this IS an option and could be good to try if your space is small, your style is minimal (ie: three photos in a horizontal line), you don’t have a lot of pieces to coordinate, or if you’re simply short on time. All you have to do is pick a starting point, hang that piece, and then build from there. This is also easier if you have a partner to hold up different options so you can stand back and make placement decisions as you go.
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Lay it out on the floor: if you have an empty space on the floor, you can simply measure the wall space, mark that wall space on your floor, and lay out the art in different configurations on the floor until you find one you like. This is just one step above “eyeball and wing it” though, because when it comes to transferring items from the floor to the wall, you’re likely just going to eyeball and wing it ;)
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Use Paper Guides: A lot of creators use paper guides to lay out their designs. To do this, you simply trace your framed images onto paper, cut the paper out, and then tape these papers to the wall in different layouts until you decide what you like. This is a great option if you have big rolls of paper or if your pieces are small enough to trace on a standard A4 sheet.
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Use Canva: When most people think of Canva they think easy graphics, birthday card invitations, etc. But let me tell you– Canva is the best kept secret for design and gallery walls! I use Canva to create to-scale models of my gallery wall (and full room design) options with a few easy steps.
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Measure your wall
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Create a new Canva design to your custom dimensions
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Take a picture of each piece and measure it
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Upload the pictures to Canva and scale them to the proportional size
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Add any other design elements you’re building around (ie: couch, tv, lamp, etc) either with a photo or a Canva graphic
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Create multiple pages with multiple design options until you find one you love and then recreate that same design (with spacing to scale) on your wall!
No matter which method you use to plan your gallery wall… of course, you HAVE to use our Go Hang It! Pro tool to actually hang it! See the video below for how this one tool made my Canva inspiration reality and follow us on TikTok at @inspiredpdg for more organization and DIY transformations! 🤩
Happy Picture Hanging!