HOW TO STYLE AN ENTRYWAY GALLERY WALL

Your entryway is the perfect spot for a curated gallery wall of all the things you love. But figuring out how to select and hang your art may feel more like an unsolvable geometry equation than a free-spirited art project. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading for tips to style your own entryway gallery wall. 

Choose Your Art

The fun part about creating your gallery wall is choosing what will go on it. The more unique the items are, the better. The makings of an interesting gallery wall include a collection of:

• Framed art and photos
• Canvases
• Woven pieces
• Shelves with accents and special treasures
• Wall sculptures
• Personal mementos such as maps of cherished places, framed memorabilia like movie tickets, kids’ art, and photo booth strips, and meaningful never-thought-to-hang-that-on-a-wall kinds of things like ballet slippers, cameras, vintage tools or cookware, or a bicycle.

To summarize, assemble the items that a.) make your heart go pitter-patter, b.) have sentimental value, and c.) you want to see hanging on your wall (pretty important).

Keep Colors in Mind

When choosing your items, color should be a consideration but doesn’t have to rule your decisions. Your gallery wall will look more cohesive with a couple of consistent colors running throughout your collection. 

Pick Your Frames

If your look is modern and clean, choose no more than three frame styles to keep your gallery wall from looking too disorganized. Sticking with black, white, and a wood tone is a great place to start. If your style is boho, go for it and mix an eclectic collection of frame styles and colors.

How to Hang Your Gallery Wall

Do not, we repeat, do not just start hanging things. Even if you’re a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type person. Make a game plan first. Trust us, you’ll be glad you did. 

Plan Your Attack

Tape out an area on your floor that is the exact measurement of your gallery wall. Use that space to play around with the placement of your pieces without making a bunch of holes in your wall.

When deciding how much of your wall to dedicate to your gallery, go ahead and use as much of it as you want. Don’t be afraid of going too high or too low. Fill ‘er up. 

Position Your Pieces

Start with your largest piece and position it off-center. Wait. What? The reason for this is you want the eyes to travel around your wall and not shoot right to the center, largest thing. Take the heat off of your focal point by not making it the star of the wall. 

Next, find a spot for your second largest piece. You may be tempted to cozy it up next to your first piece, but resist. Space them out, preferably not straight across from each other -- remember, give the eyes reasons to wander. Leave space for something else to go between items #1 and #2.

Then, start filling in the gaps. 

• Space your pieces 2-4 inches apart. You can use a tape measure or pieces of painter’s tape to measure out your spacing. 
• Vary the orientation of items between horizontal and vertical. 
• Create mini groupings -- like three small framed photos lined up horizontally -- within your gallery. 
• Space colors evenly throughout your wall, so they’re not all clustered to one side or the other.

Nail It

You’ll end up moving things around a lot. Once you’ve created your masterpiece on the floor, take a picture of it with your phone and use the pic for reference. When you start hanging your art on the wall, use a level to keep your lines straight and prevent the wall from getting wonky (technical term).

Have Fun

Don’t forget to stand back and admire your work every once in a while. Check your lines and relish in the fact that these cherished pieces will now greet everyone who walks through your door.