Creating a gallery wall is a fun way to fill a large, empty wall but before you go to IKEA or Target
to buy all the supplies, you need to do a bit of homework first. Grab a notebook, a pen, a discerning eye and let's get started.
1. Do you know there are different types of gallery walls?
Two of the most common are on either end of the gallery wall continuum: structured and un-structured.
What are they? And which style do you prefer?
Structured Gallery Walls:
Think rows, columns and even spacing - with all the same frames and matting. Even the photo composition will look similar enough that they appear like they may have been taken at the same photo shoot. Black and white photos, sepia tone photos and photos taken at the same photo shoot all compliment a structured gallery wall.
Unstructured Gallery Walls:
If the Structured Gallery Walls are the buttoned-up, rule following big sister, Unstructured Gallery Walls are the playful, disheveled, sometimes chaotic little sister: fun to be around, but just enough over-the-top energy for the right company to appreciate. The composition of the Unstructured Wall is actually organized chaos, with repeating elements that tie it all together without blaring the repetition on a blow horn like the Structured counterpart. Repeating elements like color, metals, shapes, line or word art appear subtly, while the spacing of each element remains mostly organic.
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2. Measure your wall
Knowing how much space you have to work with, how big your frames are, the art you want to hang, and how much space you want between each piece is helpful information before you pull out your credit card and buy all the things. Creating a mock-up on the wall, a table, even on the floor will help you visualize the amount of space you'll be utilizing and the size each element will take up.
3. Get out your calendar
Setting an attainable goal for when you can create and COMPLETE your gallery wall is as essential as knowing which style of gallery wall you like or which frames you're going to use. Buying the supplies to create a gallery wall, but never putting it up is not only disappointing or a waste of resources, but could lead to future fail-to-launch DIY projects. As DIY projects go, creating and installing a gallery wall is fairly simple and can boost your DIY confidence.
4. Bonus: Share with friends
Sharing your gallery wall with a supportive community so you can get encouragement or a pat on the back is what our fig & farm (at home) community is for. Come share the process, your wins, your frustrations for this project as well as others. Join the community here.
Happy styling!
xo,
Dani