Yes, I’m back again and talking about gallery walls! I’ve recently worked on a campaign with Command where they asked me to put together a display using their command strips and hooks and I thought it would be useful to someone to talk through my process of creating one.

I am consistently asked about how I put a gallery wall together so here is a quick and easy step by step guide.

I know a lot of people are putting off creating one as they are nervous it won’t look right or it won’t be “perfect”. I think the beauty of a picture wall is that you are creating something that is completely unique to you, shows off your personality and what you love beautifully and can be the finishing touch to pulling a room together.

1. Decide where the gallery wall is going

First of all, decide where you want to put your artwork. This will determine how much art you will need, how big or little it should be and importantly, the colour scheme! Anything goes really, but if you have a room that centres around say, green and pink, you don’t really want to put up a art that only has blue and yellow tones.

I tried to keep quite neutral with the colours, but my love of pink eventually shone through!  

2. Collect your art

You might already have a lot of art or prints lying around. You might have one piece that you absolutely love and want to create the gallery wall around this. I knew I wanted one that had floral vintage pieces so I started with the large floral vintage artwork in the middle and then collected other prints to compliment it.

3. Think outside the box!

Your artwork doesn’t just have to come from an art shop! I was sent quite a few prints which I love, but other pieces include a greetings card, the front of an A4 notepad, some wrapping paper, a postcard and a page ripped out of a magazine. I love finding random art pieces like this as they really show off your creativity.

4. It doesn’t have to be all pictures!

I really love gallery walls that contain other items that are not made up exclusively of artwork or pictures. I had a rusty & sign which I spray painted rose gold and I love how it breaks up the otherwise very square and rectangular display. I also used a wooden star from Home Sense and again, it adds character and depth to the gallery wall.

I wrote a blog post about gallery wall themes and what works well here!

I also have gallery walls with mirrors, letters and stars displayed but you could use anything from wooden spoons, to old street name plaques.

5. Find your frames

You have your art ready, some of it will already have frames, some of it might not need any. When I put it together, I realised as the artwork was going onto a white wall, some of the frames did not pop and blended into the background. I found a dark green tester pot from Protek and painted the frames. Don’t be afraid to upcycle what you already have to give your gallery your own stamp.

I didn’t like the old brown mahogany frame that the large vintage floral print came with as I felt it made it more dated. I painted this frame pink by covering the picture with paper and frog tape to make sure I didn’t paint over the gold surround. I absolutely love the finishing result and it really has brought alive the painting.

6. Measure out a space so you can arrange your artwork

I always measure up the space where I’m hanging first and then mark out the space on the floor so I can get a feel for how it will look and if I have enough artwork. 9 times out of 10, the gallery wall will not look anything like how I set it out as once you start putting it up, you realise it doesn’t quite work but it’s helpful to have an idea beforehand.

7. Take a photo of your display

I like to take a photo of the finished floor laid display so I can remember what I did when I start to hang it. Inevitably, the pictures will move around but I feel it serves as a good guideline as to what should go where. 

8. What should I use to hang it?

You’re ready to go so what should you use to hang it? As you probably know, I love Command strips, hooks and sticky nails and will always 100% recommend that you hang any gallery wall with these products. The beauty of Command is you do not need any nails to hang your pictures, so no holes in the walls. If you decide you don’t like where a picture is hanging, you can peel the command strip off and start again.

What I also love about Command strips is that sometimes it can be very hard to get the pictures and artwork the right distance from one another when creating your display. As the command strips are Velcro, you can leave the Velcro stuck on the wall in place and move the picture slightly until it is hanging straight and the right distance.

You can either stick the command strips directly onto the back of the frame, or you can measure out where you want your pictures to go and then stick the strips straight onto the wall. 

Personally, I like to stick the strips directly onto the frame and then press the picture into place using a spirit level to make sure they are straight. 

9. The fun part, get hanging!

Some people enjoy going for country walks, some people enjoy water sports or travel. I enjoy putting up gallery walls! I love watching how it develops and seeing whether the art fits well together. By using Command strips, you don’t have to worry too much if you make a mistake!

Stand back and admire your handy work

Make sure you stand back after you’ve put up each picture so that you’re happy it works. With Command it is easy to swap pieces over, or if you like a frame, change the picture. It is also easier to see if the art work are complimenting each other if you stand back and admire your work. 

There’s nothing quite like a gallery to make a real feature of a wall and show off a bit of your personality in your home!

I still have a few more pieces to add until I’m happy. I would like it to extend down to the bottom of the stairs and to the left-hand side of the stairwell. But, for now, I’m pretty pleased with how my new gallery wall has turned out.

Mel x