How to Make a Gallery Wall Layout?

Turning your dull and boring walls into a full gallery wall layout is a big undertaking. But you don’t need to rely on expensive paintings only by known artists. You can always start your wall gallery with works by up and coming artists to showcase their talent, or with a theme that speaks to you personally. Decorating your art wall is totally up to you, especially now that independent tastes have been the trend in decorating.

However, there are still certain rules to organizing a gallery wall layout. If you learn to follow these rules, the artworks you choose can create a more pleasing and unified whole.

The Unspoken Rules of Art

Turning your white wall or dull wall into something artsy requires a lot of forethought and planning. You cannot expect to simply go at it and see what works for you, or you may end up with “a bunch of different pictures on the wall” rather than a gallery wall layout where everything works together.There are a few unspoken rules that you should follow to create the best layout and composition. Let us discuss them one by one.

Make Space Your Best Friend

Experts say that to make a good wall gallery display you should follow the right distancing. This is a common rule in art, that there should be cohesion between the individual works of art. It must tell a story, and that story is not only expressed in the images themselves, but also in the spaces between them. Make space your best friend by ensuring that each piece on an art wall has the right amount of space around it.

• Evenly spaced artworks are great for modern and minimalist designs that you want to pop.A regular pattern creates a baseline where there’s no distracting elements of one artwork or one space being larger than another. Your eyes will instead be drawn to the differences between the artworks themselves.

• If you prefer to space things unevenly, make sure to pay attention to what the different spaces are saying. Artworks with less space between them will create visual groups. Think about which pieces are being grouped together and why.

• Any large enough empty space on the gallery wall needs to be considered as a shape in itself. Take the time to have a proper look at these empty “negative spaces”, to see if they should be filled or if they help the overall look.

• Whatever type of layout you choose for your art wall, make sure the space around each artwork is large enough that it doesn’t look cramped. Smaller images might look fine pushed very close together, but a large artwork with a bulky frame will look odd if there’s only a few centimetres gap.

Plan Ahead

Planning does not just mean that you are planning the theme of the wall gallery. Planning means that you will consider all aspects of the display.

• Spacing: As already discussed above, you should make space your best friend. Always measure the space before doing anything else. This is very important so you will know the limitations of your wall gallery. For some households, their wall gallery shows a story that may be continued on other walls. As long as you know your limitations in terms of space, you should have no problem with this.

• Dimensions: The dimensions of your wall are important. You may want to try out some paper cut-outs to see how the artwork sizes look in real life, or use software that will allow you to mock up the space using the dimensions of your wall. This step will also allow you to prepare the design that you want without giving up halfway into the project.

• Theme: What will you put in the wall gallery? What is your whole vision for your home? Are you a modern contemporary kind of person? Do you want a more Victorian feel for your household? These are important considerations before you start doing anything. It is part of the planning process. But keep your inspirations to a minimum. If you feel inspired by a certain theme, you need not put every single element you can think of on your art wall. Establish a theme without getting too cluttered or confusing, by just putting enough elements of the theme on display.

Your Gallery Wall Layout Should Command Attention and Have A Center Point

A gallery wall layout begs attention and should have a commanding presence in the room. A well-designed art wall will have everyone’s eyes going back to it as the center of conversation. But you should also consider what specific part of the wall commands the most attention. Look across your art wall and see where your eyes tend to linger. That central point should make a statement that sets the tone for your whole wall gallery. Which artwork best defines the theme you are going for? Which piece best expresses the theme or idea you have in mind, or the emotion you want to evoke? Put that defining artwork in a proper place where it can serve as the focal point.

Follow The Cardinal Rule Of Hammering: Measure Twice, Hammer Once.

If you are already in the middle of your work and you are ready to post the works of art in your gallery wall, make sure that you have eyeballed the space more than once. Again, this goes back to the planning stage. Are you sure that you should hammer on that part of your wall? Would it not ruin the integrity of your space? Are there any other options to hang your art? These are very important considerations that you should always keep in mind.

Always Look At The Light Effect: More Natural Light, Better Lighting

Lighting, like space, is your best friend. If you have a lot of natural lighting for your home that bounces off the walls, you should make sure that you take advantage of this lighting. Natural lighting is a great way to achieve that commanding gallery wall layout while requiring less work.

When you make the lighting work for you and not the other way around, you captivate not just the guests that you are trying to impress but yourself as well. Once you see works of art in a more natural light setting, you will be impressed with it. But if you like a darker theme, you can still use pin lights or gallery lights to place the focus exactly where you want on your art wall. This is also part of the planning process.

Invest In Good Paint

Your wall’s paint is just as important as the works of art that you will display. If you invest in good paint that goes well with your gallery wall layout, you should be able to tell the story that you want to tell.

Follow Your Heart