Thank you to Minted for sponsoring this post! As always opinions are my own.
Creating a gallery wall seems fairly easy. You buy a few pieces of artwork you like, maybe put a few photos in frames, then hang them on the wall and your Pinterest-worthy gallery wall is done. So easy, right? Yeah, not so much…
I am embarrassed to admit it took me a while to put this gallery wall together. I avoided researching any real directions and tried to wing it on my own. The frames may or may not have sat on the floor for a few weeks while I sporadically repositioned them trying to determine what would look best. Once I finally decided it might be a good idea to do some research and plan this out, it ended up being pretty easy to create!
Here are my steps on how to make a gallery wall…
1. Search Inspiration
Before you actually make a gallery wall you need to have an idea of what you want it to look like and what photos and artwork you want in it. Pinterest is always my best friend in these situations and full of great gallery wall ideas. I went back and forth on whether to do all the same size frames perfectly in line with one another or different sizes and staggered. Clearly I went with different sizes and love how it turned out. I found all of the artwork on Minted with the exception of the large palm print which I found at Homegoods. There is such a great selection of artwork and fun prints on Minted’s website and several frames to choose from. I love all of the pieces I picked out but this Island Time one and these waves are my favorite.
2. Buy your supplies
In order to make a gallery wall you will need:
-painters tape
-craft paper
-tape measure
-nails
-hammer
-pencil
-scissors
-patience
3. Get Measurements
You will want to measure the area you want the artwork to be in so you know how and where to position your frames. Make sure your tape measure is level (you can use a level) and not at an angle (you don’t want your artwork to be slanted!). You could cut out a very large piece of craft paper but I decided it would be easier to measure the space then mark that space on the floor and organize my wall that way. And by mark I mean I placed a flip flop or baby toy in each corner of my “wall” so I knew what area I was working with (very official directions here).
4. Lay out the artwork
Position the artwork how you want it and take a picture. It’s amazing how quickly you will forget what you had where!
5. Trace each piece of artwork on craft paper (I used a pencil).
Write on the piece of paper which piece of artwork it is I.e. “pineapple print”. You don’t want to get confused and have a bunch of random pieces of paper everywhere!
6. Tape cut craft paper to wall
This is where you can truly visualize how your gallery wall will look and move things around to make sure it looks right.
7. Mark your Nails
Don’t start hammering until you know where the hook is on the back of your artwork. You will want to measure the distance between the top of the print and where the wire will hang or where the hook is so it fits just right. Use your pencil to make a mark on the craft paper taped to the wall so you know exactly where to hammer the nail!
8. Hammer and Hang!
Once everything is marked and leaving the craft paper taped to the wall, hammer your nails and hang your artwork one at a time (remove the paper after you hammer the nail). After the last piece is hung, take a deep breath and pray everything looks straight before taking a few steps back to look at your new gallery wall!
That’s it! It’s a few steps but once you have everything laid out it will come together pretty quickly. As you can tell I went with a beachy, bohemian, travel feel for our living room gallery wall. I am usually happiest when at the beach and my husband and I have so many great memories at the beach so why not be reminded of that feeling every day?
I hope this step by step tutorial on how to make a gallery wall was helpful! Leave me a comment if you have any questions at all and please share this post with anyone you know trying to make a gallery wall!
Shop all of the artwork on Minted! and shop my home decor and outfit below!
Thanks for reading!
