Interior Trends: Gallery Walls

Gallery walls is a subject I've had written in my to do list for (no exaggeration) about seven years. It was on my list of initial blog post ideas when I launched the website actually. At the time, gallery walls were a huge trend. You did a gallery wall for the sake of doing a gallery wall. They looked great on Instagram. There were even a few gallery wall specific hash tags. Gallery walls did indeed rock. But then it looked like that particular interior trend had been and gone. Were gallery walls a thing of the past? A bit uncool? Perhaps even dated? It looked like it was going that way.

But here we are several years later, and still gallery walls are being used. I just helped a client with one actually. Here's the thing though. They're not really a trend any more. No, they've gone the same way as brass fixtures and wall paneling. No longer a huge trend, but just something to quietly be aware of as a useful interior tool.

You see, sometimes it makes sense to put up 3 or 5 or 7 pictures (that's another interior design rule, try group things in odd numbers, it just looks better) in a cluster rather than just one picture. Got a massive wall or blank space? Or even a few small pieces or artwork? Several smaller pieces of wall art can often look better that just one, which may end up looking a bit lost if the space and proportions aren't right.

Take the gallery wall I did at our One Mill House project a few years ago. The wall was huge. And empty. And being the wall behind the dining table, it needed a focal point. So rather than put one large piece in the middle of the wall, which would have been a bit "meh", I opted to fill the wall with art.  Left to right, top to (almost) bottom.

Did it work? Yes. Did it look messy, or too much, or chaotic? No.

Because, there a couple of rules to follow with gallery walls.

You need a theme, or at the very least similarities between the pieces used. At first glace, it looks pretty random, right? But look closely and you'll see a couple of loose themes - the art/photos/plates used are all either faces/portraits, landscapes from the local area, or animals/wildlife. There's also a similarity in the colours of the pieces used, with greens, blues  and pinks being at the forefront.

The second 'rule' as it were, is to include a few things that aren't photos or paintings. Otherwise it can look a bit flat. Decorative plates are a great one to include, adding both a different shape and different texture. Here I also used the black wooden swan hook that we still have a couple left in stock. There's also the round shelf unit and even a framed tablecloth. Items you perhaps don't expect to sit within a wall of square frames, but makes that wall of square frames instantly more interesting.

Creating a gallery wall doesn't have to be expensive either. Look at what you already have? Is there a theme? Can you get away with adding just one or two pieces? The gallery wall I mentioned earlier, at our Mill House project, was the result of deciding where the clients artwork would go and realising that three landscape photos shared a similar colour pallete to a photo of a bird. A quick internet search for a similar hued bird plate, and voila! We had a five piece gallery wall for less than £20.

Postcard and greeting cards are another great cost saver. You don't need a huge, expensive piece or art. You can frame five pretty postcards for a fraction  of the price and fill the same space. It can be just as impactful as a gorgeous work of art from a high end gallery. You just need a little imagination!

Below are a couple of great examples of gallery walls. First up, artist and designer Kitty McCall showing how brilliant a gallery wall can be in the hallway, leading you up the stairs.