Gallery walls are a fun and trendy way to showcase photos, art, and decor and are a great way to add a personalized touch to a living room, entryway, hallway, bedroom, or just about any other area of your home.

When done well, gallery walls create a focal point and can really pull a room together. But when they’re not done quite right, they can have the opposite effect, making the room look cluttered and messy.

But all it takes to pull off the gallery wall of your dreams is a little bit of work and a little bit of know-how. Here are 5 tips for the perfect gallery wall guaranteed to add a little extra “oomph” to any room in your home:

1. Create the space

The first thing you need to do when creating a gallery wall is create the space. Choose a spot in your home that you think could benefit from a gallery wall; popular choices include behind the television in your living room, above the dresser in a bedroom, and the wall next to the stairs.

Once you’ve chosen your spot, measure out exactly how large of a space you have for your gallery wall. Your gallery should have clearly defined edges and shouldn’t take up an entire wall. Once you’ve measured out the space, mark it with a pencil so you know where to hang your pieces.

2. Mix it up…

One of the best things about gallery walls is that you can use it to showcase a wide variety of items. Virtually nothing is off the table. You can display photos, paintings, posters, art installations, plates, block letters… if you can dream it, you can likely find a way to fit it into a gallery wall.

When choosing items to showcase on your wall, mix it up! The most interesting gallery walls feature different types of objects and, within those objects, different sizes and textures. So keep things interesting and look for a variety of items to add to your gallery wall for visual interest.

3. … But create a cohesive concept

 

That being said, you don’t want to be completely haphazard in the items you choose and how you create them. You want to create a cohesive concept. Use separate items that, when viewed together, create a whole. You can choose a theme (like family inspiration or travel) or a color scheme to tie things together, but whichever way you go, just make sure that your concept makes sense.

You also want to be strategic in where you place things on the wall. While gallery walls may look random, if you want them to be aesthetically pleasing, you need to place items in a way that’s nice to look at. When laying out your placement, be sure to balance out larger and smaller objects. Group like objects together. Align the edges of your pieces and make sure they’re evenly spaced.

4. Test your layout

Before you start hanging your pieces, you want to make sure that your pieces will look as good on the wall as they look in your mind. Trace each piece on a piece of butcher paper (you should also mark the hanging areas of each piece) and then cut them out. Hang them on the wall so you can visualize how each piece will look in the arrangement.

Not only will this give you an idea of what your wall will look like before you hang pieces, it also gives you a chance to rearrange your layout if certain pieces aren’t working.

5. Hang it right the first time

Once you know where everything is going, hang everything in the right place the first time! Leave your butcher paper up on the wall and use it as a guide to hang everything perfectly the first time around!

Use the tracings you took of each piece’s hanging area and use it to hammer nails and install hangers into the wall. Hang your art to make sure it’s aligned and then simply rip the butcher paper off the wall.

With these 5 tips, you’ll be able to perfectly showcase your family photos, art, knick-knacks, and other collectibles perfectly on your brand new gallery wall.