Create a stunning design statement in your house by arranging favourite prints or photos onto a gallery wall. I love the selection of artwork that you can place together to compliment or contrast each other. It’s the perfect opportunity for you to select prints that spark happy memories and a little bit of joy, every time you look at them. Follow the steps below to create your own magnificent art collection.
1. Decide on your choice of frame. You can choose eclectic or cohesive or somewhere in-between depending upon your personal tastes, the choice is yours. Matching frames and colours create a more modern look, whilst using different styles and colours creates a more vintage feel.
2. Research frame layouts or design your own. The internet is full of design templates and examples. I would personally choose three to four different sized frames to combine on your gallery wall. Too many different sizes can make it more challenging to arrange your frames.
3. If you are designing your own layout, draw around your picture frames onto large sheets of paper and cut them out. Using blue-tac, play around with different layouts by sticking the paper in different formats onto the wall. Consider patterns and symmetry and play around with the shapes you are creating. If you want a more uniform look, keep the same distance between each frame regardless of the frame size. Stand back and look at each layout from a distance. Looking at the wall as one big piece can help you to see if the frames work together in that pattern. Once you have got a layout you like, take a photo of it.
4. Now you’re are going to put your frames up one at a time. Measure up carefully, I would suggest that you measure twice to make sure your measurements are accurate, measure once, cut twice as the saying goes!
5. Take down one of your bits of paper and replace it with a frame, it’s time to either drill, hammer or stick your frame to the wall. There are different ways of attaching your frame to the wall depending upon the type of frame and the type of wall.
6. For our gallery wall I measured the distance from the top of the wall to the edge of the frame and then I measured from the top of the frame to the top of the metal hanger and added them together. I marked the wall with a pencil and then checked my measurements again. Once I was happy I used a drill, a rawl plug and a screw to hang the frame from. If you have wonky ceilings, measure from the floor up to find where you need to place the frame.
7. Repeat for all of your picture frames and hang your beautiful artwork onto the wall.
8. Stand back and admire your creation. The beauty of the humble picture frame is that you can change the prints or photos as you wish to create a whole new large scale art form in your house. It can evolve with you and your life and keep giving you enjoyment every time you look at it.