Gallery Wall Ideas: How to Make a Gallery Wall That Looks Curated

1. Learn from the original gallery walls

Shown: Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in his Gallery, David Teniers the Younger, 1650s

The gallery wall is not a modern invention. In the seventeenth century, the great collectors of Europe hung their paintings frame to frame, from the floor to the ceiling, and had artists paint the result. David Teniers the Younger was court painter to Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, governor of the Spanish Netherlands, and the keeper of his famous collection, and he painted the Archduke's gallery in Brussels several times.

Look at how the walls work. The biggest pictures sit at eye level and in the centre; smaller ones fill the gaps above and below; the edges of the whole arrangement form clean straight lines. It is the same principle as a good gallery wall today: many pictures, one shape.

See Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in his Gallery as a hand-painted reproduction

2. Choose a grid for a calm, modern look

Shown: four paintings by Vincent van Gogh in matching frames

The simplest gallery wall is a grid: paintings of the same size, in the same frames, hung in straight rows and columns with exactly the same gap between them. It is calm, architectural and almost impossible to get wrong, which makes it ideal for modern living rooms, dining rooms and offices.

A grid works best when the pictures share something, such as one artist, one subject or one palette, because the identical frames already do the work of holding them together. Four, six or nine works are the classic numbers.

Paintings shown: The Starry Night, Starry Night Over the Rhône, Almond Blossom, The Bedroom in Arles

3. Go salon style for a collected look

Shown: nine old masters in gold frames on a deep green wall

Salon style takes its name from the Paris Salon, the great annual exhibition where hundreds of paintings were hung frame to frame up to the ceiling. In a home it means mixing sizes, shapes and frames in one dense, generous arrangement, the look of a collector's room rather than a showroom.

The secret is that it is less random than it looks. Start with one large anchor painting near the centre, keep the gaps between frames tight and even, and line up the outside edges so the whole group forms a rectangle. Inside that rectangle, you can mix portraits, landscapes and still lifes freely.

Paintings shown include The Night Watch, Mona Lisa, Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Kiss and The Cardsharps

4. Build symmetry around a centre

Shown: Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria in his Gallery, David Teniers the Younger, 1650s

In this second view of the Archduke's gallery, the paintings are arranged symmetrically around a central doorway, with pairs of similar size on each side. Symmetry is the easiest way to make a gallery wall feel formal and finished.

You can do the same around a door, a window, a fireplace or a mirror. Pick a centre, then hang pictures in matching pairs on each side: same size, same height, same distance from the middle. The paintings themselves can be completely different; it is the frames and spacing that create the order.

See this painting as a hand-painted reproduction

5. Hang a gallery wall above the sofa

Shown: The Cardsharps by Caravaggio with two paintings by Vermeer

The wall above the sofa is the most popular place for a gallery wall in a living room. The rule is to treat the whole group as one picture: together, the paintings should span about two-thirds of the sofa's width, and the bottom edge of the lowest frame should sit about 20 to 25 cm (8 to 10 inches) above the back of the sofa.

A three-piece arrangement, one larger painting flanked by two smaller ones of the same size, is the easiest version and looks good over almost any sofa. For a longer sofa, add a second row of small pictures above or below the side pieces.

Paintings shown: The Cardsharps, Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Milkmaid

6. Pick one thread: a colour, an artist or a period

Shown: five paintings linked by the colour blue

What makes a gallery wall look curated rather than random is a common thread. It can be a colour, like the blues above, running from Hokusai's wave to Vermeer's turban and Monet's harbour. It can be one artist, a single period, or one subject: portraits, landscapes, flowers, the sea.

Once you have a thread, you can be relaxed about everything else. Mixed frames and mixed sizes stop looking chaotic when the pictures clearly belong together.

Paintings shown: The Great Wave off Kanagawa, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Almond Blossom, The Starry Night, Impression, Sunrise

7. Paint the wall a bold colour

Shown: The Tribuna of the Uffizi, Johann Zoffany, 1772 to 1777

Zoffany painted this view of the Tribuna, the most famous room of the Uffizi in Florence, for Queen Charlotte of Britain in the 1770s. Its walls are red, and the gold frames glow against them. Strong wall colours, such as deep red, forest green and navy, are the traditional backdrop for paintings in museums for exactly this reason.

If your gallery wall is full of old masters in gilded frames, a dark or saturated wall will make it look richer and more unified. Paint just the wall behind the arrangement if you do not want to commit the whole room.

See The Tribuna of the Uffizi as a hand-painted reproduction

8. Run it up the staircase

Shown: five paintings by Francisco de Zurbarán

A staircase is one of the best places for a gallery wall, because people pass it every day at a slow walking pace, and it is usually an awkward wall to decorate any other way.

The trick is to follow the angle of the stairs. Imagine a line running parallel to the handrail, about 145 to 150 cm above the steps, and hang each picture with its centre on that line. Keep the gaps between frames equal, and use the same frame finish throughout, so the eye travels smoothly up the stairs.

Paintings shown: Saint Casilda, Agnus Dei, Saint Francis in Meditation, Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose, Saint Serapion

9. Turn a hallway into a gallery

Shown: The Grande Galerie, Hubert Robert

A long corridor is a gallery waiting to happen. Hubert Robert, one of the painters involved in planning the Louvre as a museum in the 1790s, painted its Grande Galerie many times: a long, narrow room with paintings marching along both walls towards a distant point.

At home, hang hallway pictures in a single line at eye level, with the centres at the same height, and keep the spacing regular. Smaller works suit a hallway well, because people see them from close up.

See The Grande Galerie as a hand-painted reproduction

10. Mix paintings with objects and easels

Shown: A Collection of Pictures at the Time of Augustus, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1867

Not every picture has to hang. In Alma-Tadema's imagined Roman gallery, paintings sit on easels and lean against the furniture as well as covering the walls. Doing the same at home adds depth and makes the arrangement easy to change.

Lean a painting on a mantelpiece or a picture ledge, stand a small one on an easel on a side table, or let one large canvas rest on a console in front of a gallery wall. Layering at different depths is what makes a collection look lived with.

See A Collection of Pictures at the Time of Augustus as a hand-painted reproduction

How to make a gallery wall, step by step

1. Choose your pictures and your thread. Decide what holds them together: a colour, an artist, a subject or matching frames. Include at least one larger painting to anchor the group.
2. Measure the wall. Above furniture, the group should be about two-thirds of the furniture's width. On an empty wall, aim for the arrangement to fill roughly 60 to 75 percent of the space you want to use.
3. Plan on the floor. Lay the frames out on the floor in front of the wall and move them around until the outer edges form a clean shape.
4. Make paper templates. Trace each frame on kraft paper, mark where the hook sits on the back, cut it out and tape it to the wall. Live with it for a day before you drill.
5. Keep the gaps equal. Use the same space between all frames, usually 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3 inches). Even gaps make mixed sizes look deliberate.
6. Set the height. The centre of the whole group should sit about 145 to 152 cm (57 to 60 inches) from the floor, or 20 to 25 cm above any furniture below it.
7. Hang the anchor first. Start with the largest or central painting and work outwards, checking each frame with a spirit level.
8. Step back and adjust. Look from across the room and from the sofa or the doorway, and straighten anything that pulls the eye.

Questions people ask

How far apart should pictures be on a gallery wall? About 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3 inches) between frames. Closer than that looks cramped; much wider and the pictures stop reading as one group.

How high should a gallery wall be hung? Treat the group as one picture and put its centre about 145 to 152 cm (57 to 60 inches) from the floor. Above a sofa or sideboard, start the lowest frames 20 to 25 cm above the furniture.

Do the frames on a gallery wall have to match? No. Matching frames give a calm, modern look, as in a grid. Mixed frames look collected, as in salon style, but they need a common thread, such as colour or subject, to hold together.

How many pictures do you need for a gallery wall? As few as three can make a gallery wall above a sofa. Grids usually use four, six or nine, and salon-style walls can grow to fifteen or more.

What are good art gallery wall ideas for a small room? Use smaller frames with plenty of breathing space, keep to one colour or one frame finish, and consider a vertical column of pictures, which draws the eye up and makes the ceiling feel higher.