Gallery Wall Tutorial

Thanks for the ideas on the box room...you've given me a lot to think about.


But in the meantime I figured I'd share the way I hung the frames. I've wanted a gallery wall for a while now but I been afraid to just go for it. I know it made me very nervous (I have a slight anxiety about putting holes in the plaster) so I thought I'd share how I did it. This is not an original idea - its been done a million times but hopefully the step by step will help someone who is about to take the leap.

Step 1
I started by measuring the area on the wall I wanted to hang all the art within. Then I rolled out a large sheet of paper in that size on my bedroom floor. You could use brown postal or butcher paper - I used the backside of left over Christmas Wrapping paper taped together.
Time spent: 4 minutes to find my measuring tape, 1 minute to measure, 5 minutes to find where I put the wrapping paper & tape, 5 minutes to cut and tape it to size.



Step 2
Pull out all the artwork you want to use and arrange on the paper. I originally thought I was going to use one large frame a bunch of smaller ones..but it didn't look quite right. So I pulled the larger frame out and replaced with the ones you see here. There is no right or wrong here really - its just what looks right to you. If you can, take a digital photo of how you have arranged it.
Time spent: 5 minutes to pull out all the frames in my closet, 40 minutes to get the arrangement I wanted.

Step 3
Outline each frame with a felt tip pen or marker. Remove art and put aside.
Time spent: 1 minute

Step 4
Now comes the hard part. You have to figure out exactly where each nail should be so that the frame hangs exactly where you want it. So take each frame and measure from the top and sides of the frame to where the nail would go when its hung. Using that measurement, make a mark on your paper to note where the nail belongs. Be extra careful with your measurements.
Time spent: 1 frustrating hour



Step 5
Take your giant sheet of paper and affix it to the wall. Make sure its straight.
Time spent: 5 minutes



Step 6
Using the marks you carefully laid out, hammer the nails in.
Time spent: 5 minutes



Step 7
Hang your art. If you are like me, you will need to consult the photo you took in step 2 because you have already completely forgotten where each piece went.
Time spent: 10 minutes



Step 8
Rip off the paper like unwrapping a giant gift.
Time spent: 2 minute

Voila! You've done it! If you are like me you probably notice a problem or two - maybe you measured or put the nail in a few centimeters off. But who cares? The project is done and now you can have go have a cocktail!


This task felt very daunting to me before but now that I see it can be done fairly easily in less than 3 hours, I'm a convert. Obviously a larger wall would require more time but the same technique can be applied to just about any space. If you've been putting off your own gallery wall, I say go for it.