The key to gallery walls is to stick to a certain color pallet with not only the pictures, but the frames and 3D elements as well. Below you'll notice a very specific color pallet. Pastel colors including orange, blue, pink, and green and every piece has white. The three darker prints are spread out in a way that keeps the eye moving. Top right, center, and bottom left. Spread out like pieces to keep the eye moving all around the gallery wall. You wouldn't want three purple prints all clustered together when the rest of the wall has pink and green. You would want to spread the purple, pink and green pieces out to keep your mind interested and you eyes moving.
This next wall is one of my favorites on the internet. It's so structured yet so simple. All of the prints are cohesive, the same color and the same size. I don't have the patience for something like this though! I mean look at the spaces between the prints. PERFECTLY EVEN! SIGH......
This next one is the COMPLETE opposite of the one above. Very colorful and looks a little messy (messy in a VERY good way). Again notice the color scheme. Every print makes you move on to the next because they all incorporate like colors. The pinks, blues, greens and gold are all spread out. Your eye took you through the whole wall amirite????
Next is a different take on a gallery wall. I love these picture shelves. Super easy to switch up if you get tired of the lay out. Again, completely cohesive. The first print my eye goes to is the large one up top, then it goes into the gray ones, then the black frame which takes me over to the dark area at the far right middle picture and then I go down to the smaller prints at the bottom with dark shades.
Same here. Looks thrown together but the colors are all spread out and keep your eye moving. I love the eclectic style of this one. All the frames are different, which is hard to pull off. But this one is perfect.
I also love seeing different elements used for gallery walls like plates shown below. I have a plate wall in my house and I love it. It's small, but it's interesting and different. I love how this one frames the dresser so the dresser doesn't have to be completely center on the wall.
Corner gallery walls have my whole heart. They are so unique and not easy to pull off but this one just seems to be perfect. The color scheme really made this one come together so beautifully. Gold and black is a combo I'll never get over!
These next three are small but make a big impact. Imagine hanging one single picture in both of these spaces instead of the gallery wall. Sure it would be pretty and simple, but the gallery adds interest and drama, both of which I love. These are all off center as well and I'm loving that look right now. The two below look even to the eye because they added a large picture on one side and a smaller picture with it. On the other side they added two medium size pictures to compete with the large one on the other side and a small one to even out the smaller one on the opposite side. Notice the two small pictures are complete opposite of the other. This keeps the eye bouncing around so the whole gallery wall looks even and very well put together. At first glance, it looks like pictures randomly placed on the wall, but study it a bit and you'll see there is a reason for every placement of every picture.
Left: ApartmentTherapy.com
Right: PattyPracticalHome.com
Here is my own small gallery wall in my living room. I've done larger ones, but the way our house is set up now, there's really no large wall space for one that I don't already have something else going on. I incorporated 3D elements with the faux taxidermy and small flower vases hanging at the bottom. I started with the large frame and deer head and moved it all the way over to the left. I added weight to the other side with the two frames and hanging vases and added some interest by putting the small picture at the bottom over to the left. I wanted it to look like I just put a bunch of pictures up, but still be cohesive and make sense. I took into consideration the light switch too. It looks like it goes with the gallery wall so it camouflages it a bit and adds enough weight on that side to compete with the larger scale frame and length on the left side.
I hope you enjoyed this little lesson on gallery walls. These are just the rules I go by when creating one. I'm not saying I'm right, but when I'm putting one together, I like to use these tips. Have a wonderful weekend friends and thanks for stopping by!!
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