Do you have a home decor bucket list? I sure do, and while it contains some things I will never achieve in our current home (wrap around porch, ocean view), many are things that are achievable with some effort. One of the items on my list is to have a large gallery wall. So, when Poster Store reached out to me about an Instagram collaboration, I was over the moon. If they hadn’t contacted me, I’m sure I would have purchased the artwork eventually. In my post, The Easy Way To Create A Gallery Wall, I’m sharing how I created a gallery wall in our living room. I’m sharing my process and tips to make the installation simple and easy.
*Poster Store provided the artwork in exchange for sharing images of their products on social media. I was so impressed with their products that I decided to write this post. I’m not being compensated for this blog post in any way and all opinions shared here are my own.
Before Photos
For the past five years, the wall above our living room sofa has displayed an oversized farmhouse clock with faux window frames on either side. I enjoyed having the clock as the focal point of the room, but I’ve been ready for a change for about a year now. A gallery wall has been on my mind for some time.
If we go back further than five years ago, you can see what our living room looked like before I gave the space a makeover. The walls were a dingy beige, I hadn’t yet upholstered my grandparent’s antique sofa or applied board and batten to the walls, and I didn’t have a cohesive design for the room. I had some IKEA prints on the wall but they were too diminutive for the cathedral ceilings and large expanse of wall above the sofa.
Poster Store
Poster Store is an online shop that sells prints of art and photography. They also have some word art with unique and meaningful quotes and sayings. Additionally, they sell frames and mattes to fit the artwork they sell. What initially impressed me about Poster Store was the huge selection of prints that suited my style and their photos illustrating ways to display their art in gallery wall arrangements. Their artwork comes in several sizes and you can purchase frames in several finishes. Their images show artwork displayed in different environments and in different arrangements, from two to more than ten pieces.
I have purchased art prints from different stores before and had them all framed at the same time only to discover that they didn’t look good together. The tone of the paper may have been too different or the colouration or styles just didn’t quite work together. It takes a lot of talent to be able to combine an eclectic mix of artwork and I’m not going to talk about that in this post. Rather, this post is about the easy way to create a gallery wall, by purchasing everything from one source and choosing a tested and true layout.
Combing Artwork
The key to combining artwork is to balance repetition and contrast. You want repeated elements to unify your gallery wall and contrasting elements to keep it from getting boring. To create unity, you could use the same frame finish for all your pieces, only varying the sizes. Alternatively, you could use two different frame finishes that compliment each other such as black and a light wood tone, or white and a wood tone. I chose to have all my frames in light oak.
You also want your artwork to tie together through the colour palette and theme. I choose neutrals for my colour palette and a loose theme of nature-inspired photography. My happy place is the outdoors, hiking, canoeing, and camping, so I chose artwork that transports me to nature. I choose not to be too specific about the nature theme (e.g. all beach photos, or all summer images) so that there would be a variety of different things to look at. I also made sure to include images that represented spring, summer, and fall, so that the artwork would look appropriate in every season. Winter was ignored since it’s not my favourite.
Starting Point
A good starting point is to consider the tones in your home and then choose one or two prints that really speak to you. Then you can build the rest of the gallery wall around these special pieces. I immediately fell in love with the beach sunset print and the daisy print and then selected the rest of the pieces to support these. Remember to choose some pieces that are more subtle and allow the more dramatic pieces to stand out. I choose the dandelion print for this very reason.
To Matte Or Not To Matte
Many of the prints from Poster Store have a white trim around them which simulates the look of a matte. However, you can also purchase mattes very affordably from this shop. I ended up only purchasing one matte for a print that didn’t have the white border (can you spot which one?). One further framing note- the frames come with acrylic glass rather than real glass and there aren’t options for purchasing low glare, or UV protectants like many other framing stores offer.
The Easy Way To Create A Gallery Wall
Poster Store has, by far, the best inspiration for creating gallery walls. When you view one of their art pieces, you can see what it looks like in several different settings. You can also gather ideas about which prints look good together. Start with your budget and determine how many pieces you can purchase. Then, look at all the arrangements that contain that number of pieces. I think it would be easy to add on a few pieces in the future if your budget doesn’t permit purchasing everything at once. For a more interesting look, choose some pieces that are in landscape orientation to complement those in portrait orientation.
Make sure to purchase your prints and frames during a sale. These happen quite often, so you likely only have to wait a few days for big savings.
Ordering The Artwork
Once you have selected your artwork, sizes, frames and mattes, placing your order is easy. Not all my first choices were in stock when I initially went to place my order so I waited a few days and did make one substitution. Minimum orders qualify for free shipping. My order arrived within a week which is impressive since I live in Canada and often experience delays in shipping from other companies.
These are the pieces and sizes I ordered:
- Rock Formations Poster, 30 by 40 cm and 30 by 40 cm oak frame
- Sunrise Beach Walk Poster, 30 by 40 cm and passe-partout matte 40 by 50 cm and 40 by 50 cm oak frame
- Grass by the Shore Poster, 50 by 70 cm and 50 by 70 cm oak frame (hung horizontally/landscape)
- Beige Nature Poster, 50 by 70 cm and 50 by 70 cm oak frame
- Summer Flowers Poster, 50 by 70 cm and 50 by 70 cm oak frame
- Dandelion Seeds Poster, 50 by 70 cm and 50 by 70 cm oak frame
Installing the Artwork and Hanging
The artwork arrived and was well protected in its packaging. I was very impressed with the quality of the prints and the frames are also beautiful. The wood on the frames is a very lovely oak and a great value for the price. The frames are lightweight and easy to hang. I simply had to open the backs of the frames and insert the artwork. Previously, I had made a drawing of the layout for the artwork and I used it to mark the placement of the nail holes on the wall.
I decided on the spacing from the board and batten ledge (4″) and the spacing between the prints (4″) and hung everything using a pencil, level, and measuring tape. A couple of holes needed to be repositioned but I found it easier than some of the other picture hanging methods out there. I used nails to hang the artwork and then added a half piece of Command picture hanging strips on two sides of each piece to avoid shifting or crooked artwork. I checked each piece with a level before applying the hanging strips.
Summary
I hope you found this post, The Easy Way To Create A Gallery Wall, useful for planning your next, or maybe your first, gallery wall. If you enjoyed this post, then you may like some of my other posts about ways to decorate your walls:
DIY Chalkboard And Chalkboard Art
IKEA Pinboard Hack For A Home Office
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