Gallery walls are a popular way to add personality to a room without completely redecorating.
Start by building your collection of prints over time. Whether it's art, illustrations or photography prints you prefer, collect a mix of prints of different sizes.
While buying art can be expensive one affordable option is to buy prints A5 or smaller, and look for postcards and greeting cards in museum and art gallery gift shops. One of our top tips, you can cut the backing off a great card design and turn the card design into a print. Another place to get prints at an affordable price point is from local artists or Etsy, some Bristol-based artists we love include Naomi Wilkison, Jess Knights Creative and Laurel Molly.
Once you have a selection of prints make a note of the various sizes you have and begin frame shopping. There are no rules to say which frames go with which prints but once you’ve chosen a style be consistent. Typically natural frames like oak or metal are best to let your prints speak for themselves. However, clashing and contrasting frames in bold colours or even patterns can enhance the prints while bringing the gallery wall to life.
Take time to arrange the frames before thinking about hanging them on the wall. If you have a variety of sizes, bring the largest prints to the centre as a point of focus and play around, arranging your smaller prints around the largest. This is the time to have fun with your prints, lay them all out on the floor and try different combinations before the colours and prints fall into place.
Once you are happy with your layout it's time to hang them on the wall. But don’t panic you don’t have to commit. Whether you are living in a rented property or not consider using Command strips or hooks instead of nails or even drilling into the wall. Command strips or hooks are sticky or velcro strips to attach frames to the wall but they are easy to remove with little to no damage to the walls. This is ideal for a gallery wall as it allows you to still be creative and move frames around over time or add in new prints.
