I’ve always loved a good gallery wall and I will put one anywhere as evidenced in the picture above. This is a small space next to the refrigerator and I wanted to create a vignette with the display shelf that I’ve had for what seems like a million years.

As much as I love to do them, it seems like it’s still a mystery to so many people as to how to put one together. I’m here to tell you it doesn’t require you cutting up pieces of brown paper and taping it to the wall first or hanging them a certain number of inches apart. Not unless you want to. The frames don’t have to be all the same; in fact it looks better to me if they don’t. Although you can lay your artwork on the ground and play around with the placement, you don’t even have to do that.

There’s one caveat though; the way I make my gallery walls is asymmetrical and I don’t try to line anything up. That way you can build one organically. You can even just start with a few pieces and add to it over time. It’s your house and if you love the art, it will go together.

I’ve found some examples of gallery walls that are fantastic and are the kind of gallery walls that anyone can do. There are no rules.

Neutral

This is in the family of blacks, creams, browns and beiges, etc. and goes best when your furnishings are in similar tones. As you can see below, all the furnishings are neutral and blend in well with the art. This is the most calming gallery wall that doesn’t necessarily call attention to itself, but it’s still striking.

Colorful

Colorful artwork lets you be creative and go crazy. It also doesn’t limit you to the tones in the furnishings. You can have neutral furniture and let the artwork and accessories be your pops of color, you can have black and white furnishings with colorful art or you can have colorful furnishings with colorful art. The sky’s the limit.

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Black/Charcoal Walls

I’m also a fan of art on black or charcoal walls. You don’t always have to put art on white walls. Galleries use white walls so the art is the only focus but black/charcoal walls lend a certain sophistication to the art. It can really pop off the dark walls especially if you use colorful art.

Colorful Walls

The next idea is to hang art on a colored wall the next time you’re making a gallery wall. Like I said before, art doesn’t always have to be on white walls. You could use black and white prints to contrast with the colored wall or go all out and use color on color.

Unique Ideas

Another idea is to hang art on a wooden or brick wall like below. The wood wall would look good in a mid-century style home and the brick wall gives it a New York loft type of feel.

An even easier way to make a gallery wall is to hang picture ledges and lean your art against the wall. That way you can change up the art whenever you feel like it without putting any holes in the wall.

Mixed Materials

Another favorite of mine is to mix in other items along with your artwork. Think mirrors, masks, wall hangings, plates, hats, clocks etc. Anything can be displayed as art and will give your gallery walls a lot of visual interest.

My living room has the start of a gallery wall that I plan on adding to little by little.

I also have gallery walls going up the stairs to the attic. It’s a tight space, but I’ve used a mixture of photography, prints and masks to make it interesting.

So what do you guys think? Will you try one or if you have gallery walls, let me know in the comments and send me your pictures.