How To DIY A Gallery Wall

Whether I’m designing a set on a photoshoot to feel like a well-designed room or just styling my own home, I try to plan out as much beforehand as I can with sketches or even laying out items on a table or floor prior to the final look. It’s kind of like how you may pick out an outfit and throw it all on your bed to see how it looks together. It always help to visualize your ideas.

I’ve only been in my new apartment for a week now, but I’m one of those kind of people that needs to get it all done as soon as possible. This weekend, one of my priorities was hanging up pictures to make it feel more like home.

Now that I own instead of renting my place, every hole needs to be precise and it feels more permanent than before. That’s why when I designed this gallery wall of picture frames, I took my time planning and measuring.

You can try this easy trick too:

What you will need:
-picture frames (works best in the same family ie. color/shape/style)
-tape measure
-pencil
-paper (newsprint is cheap and large enough to measure your bigger frames)
-xacto knife (for more accurate cuts) or scissors
-ruler and board (if using blade)
-painter’s or artist’s tape
-picture hanging nails
-hammer

Trace each frame on the paper and cut out to the size of the frame.

Label each piece of paper with the corresponding image in the frame (ie, my image of Brooklyn was labeled “Brooklyn” so I could remember what it was).

Put up each piece of paper in a formation that you like with either painter’s tape or artist’s tape (both will not damage the paint on your walls). I left 2″ in height and 3″ wide of spacing between each frame, but you can do it by eye as well. This helps visualize what your wall will look like before you put holes all over your wall and you can keep changing your mind. I left this up overnight to see if I still liked the formation—which clearly I changed my mind.

Finally, you can put up your frames on the wall. I measured the length of the wall and then marked the center, which is where I put the middle frame. Then, I measured the rest of the frames against that one. Be sure to measure for where the hook is on the frame, which may be up to a couple of inches below the top of the frame.

Now you can enjoy your gallery of pictures that you’ve curated and get ready for your friends to enlist you to curate their walls.