My Take on a Modern Gallery Wall Design
Hanging a gallery wall can be intimidating and a bit tricky. Who’s with me?! But they can also be beautiful and really make a statement. I love my gallery wall and would hang it again in a heartbeat. I want to help you hang your next (or first!) gallery wall! In this post I share a few tips on how I designed and hung my modern gallery wall using my Tape & Template method that will hopefully help you too! You can also watch video of the whole process on my Instagram.
Choose a Wall and a Style
Choosing the wall you want to use for your gallery wall is obviously helpful in designing your wall style. For me I chose this wall in my dining room. As you can see, it has a board and batten wainscoting. So I knew I would only be using the upper half of the wall. Because of that, I decided pictures in landscape orientation would work really well.
I knew ahead of time that the pictures I planned to hang here would be our most recent family photos, which also helped me decide my gallery style. I typcially prefer symmetrical gallery walls over the traditional mismatched gallery wall. Plus I was going for a more modern vibe. So I chose a grid gallery.
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Measure Your Walls & Make a Sample Template
I’m a very visual person, and I like to see how things will look as I plan them. Even if you’re not a visual person, I think having a template helps. I wanted my photos to be on the larger size. Based on my wall measurements, I figured two rows would probably be best. And either four or five pictures on each row. So from there I cut out picture frame templates in two different sizes from some old contact paper I had on hand and hung them up on my wall. I wasn’t going for perfection yet; I just wanted to see if I was going to like the overall look, how far I wanted to space my frames, for sure what size of frames/pictures I wanted, etc.
Decide on Your Modern Gallery Wall Frames
I decided to go with two rows of four frames each, 8 total, size 16 x 20. And I used a 1-inch space between my upper and lower row as well as on the sides between frames.
Once I decided my frame size and the number of frames I wanted to use, I ordered my prints and started looking at frames. I was going for modern, and I wanted it to look clean. I wanted either gold or natural wood frames that were thin and simple. Since I needed eight matching frames, I decided to look at budget-friendly frames and see what I could find.
In my search, I found these thin, gold metal frames. They looked perfect and were very affordable. I ordered them knowing the quality would not be top-notch based on the price. I’m happy with the overall look of them and I don’t feel like they look super cheap.
Tape and Template
Next measure the size of your frames. My frames hold a 16 x 20 print, but the actual frame is slightly larger. From there I mapped out my plans on paper and then used painter’s tape (this is my favorite) to mark the midline of the wall and outline where my frames would be hung. I was hoping this would make knowing where to hang my nails that much easier. I also traced a new template of my frame using grid wrapping paper. You might think some of this is overkill, but I’m a bit of a perfectionist and I wanted this to be as symmetrical and even as possible. 🙂
I marked where the nail would hang on my template, matched it up to the wall, and hammered in my nail. Then I hung my frame…..it was too high. I realized the downside of my cheap frames was that they weren’t going to be easy to hang. They have that flimsy cardboard hanging piece on the back, rather than actual hardware, so it was tricky to get the nail holes in the exact right spot. And the hanging cardboard piece wasn’t in the exact same spot on each frame.
Hang Your Frames
Three frames later and some extra nail holes in the wall, I decided maybe I should try something else. I ran to Target and picked up some command strips (which I have used before and really like). But when I get home, I realized my frames were almost too thin to use the command strips, and now I’d need to take my tape off the wall to hang the command strips. And then I would no longer have my template up on the wall.
I decided to just push through and stick with nails. I got better at figuring out where I needed to put the nail with the flimsy cardboard hanging piece. When that last frame was finally hung, I felt like a champ (seriously, watch my insta stories 😉)!
And seeing my family’s faces up on my wall makes me SO happy. One final touch I added to ensure my frames would remain straight was to use these sticky putty tabs. I saw Mallory Nikolaus recommend them and she’s hung several gallery walls. You just put one of the tabs on the back of the frame and secure it to the wall. Yay for no more crooked pictures!
Overall my tape and template method worked great on my modern gallery wall! I don’t think I would have had any issues had I used frames that had a solid and immovable hanging hardware piece. If I were to hang another gallery wall, I would most likely follow this same method. It takes time to map everything out, make your template, and tape off your wall, but it also helps keep everything pretty precise and where it’s supposed to be.
Hope this was helpful! Be sure to check my other DIY projects and tutorials. Follow me on Instagram; I pretty much share stuff on the daily. And I’m also on Pinterest!
XOXO,
Angie
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