How to Create a Gallery Wall

A gallery wall is an excellent way to update your home and transform those empty spaces. You can adapt your photo wall layouts to fit different room configurations — even that tricky area above your staircase. But importantly, a photo gallery wall is a fantastic way to bring character and personality into your home. It really allows you to express who you are, showcase treasured memories, and give your home a unique bit of flair.

You might be wondering how to make a gallery wall — where do you begin? Understandably, getting started with a project like this can be a little daunting at first. That's why we’ve created a guide with a few simple steps to lead you through the process. We hope after reading this you gain the confidence to create your own.

So read on for hints, tips, and a bit of inspiration to help you come up with a gallery wall layout you’ll adore.

 

Step One - Choose Your Photos

Getting the photo selection right for your gallery wall is essential. Whether you’ve got a theme in mind or you’re just choosing your favourite images, you want your photo wall to showcase your personality and to bring character into your home.

Do you want to display an array of family photos? Perhaps you want to highlight a special occasion, such as your wedding day or a memorable holiday. 

It can be helpful to use a selection of different sizes and ratios. This will prevent your gallery wall from feeling too formulaic and uniform. Why not try a mix of portrait and landscape photo prints?

With myFUJIFILM, you can order premium photo prints in a range of sizes. Keep it classic with 6”x4” or 5”x7” pictures or go all-out with high-quality enlargements.

Top tip: Bring some colour into the room by choosing images that feature a complementing colour palette, or keep it understated and classy by sticking to black and white photos.

 

Step Two - Frame Your Photos

The photo frames you choose can really change the aesthetic of your gallery wall, so feel free to get creative. 

Designing eye-catching photo wall layouts is all about the details. Do you want minimal, matching photo frames for a contemporary look or mismatched rustic frames for an eclectic vibe? For the best of both worlds, try using frames that follow a theme — you could, for instance, select a particular colour scheme but opt for frames of different shapes and sizes. 

If you’re unsure about the best way to frame your photos accurately, take a look at our guide. You could also consider our own Framed Photos — we’ll add your top-quality prints to our frames to ensure the perfect fit.

 

Step Three - Decide on Your Composition

Now for the gallery wall layout itself. It can be difficult to decide where you want each image to go. To help visualise your composition before you hang everything on the wall, lay each frame out on the floor and play around with the layout.

Always start with one focal point; this is usually your largest image. Then build all the smaller images around that, this helps bring everything together and creates the idea of one overall piece.

If you’re designing a photo wall to go above your staircase, take a look at our guide for inspiration on creating a layout on a sloping wall.

Top tip: To help remember your chosen layout, take a quick photo on your phone to refer back to.

Step Four - Create and Cut out Templates of Each Frame.

You can also use paper silhouettes that match your frame sizes to see how your layout will look on the wall. Leftover wrapping paper can work well for this. 

You can use these templates to help you decide where to hang your gallery. Mocking up your gallery wall layout with templates can be ever so useful for catching any mistakes before you start making holes!

Plus, you can always reuse the paper templates once you’re done with them.

Step Five - Tape Your Templates to the Wall

Once you’ve decided where you’d like to hang your gallery, you can go ahead and tape your templates to the wall. By doing so, you can make sure you’re happy with your gallery wall layout before fixing the photos officially. It’s best to use masking tape for this, as it won’t mark the paintwork.

After tacking your templates, make sure you take a step back to visualise the composition and make any changes before you start hanging your frames

Once you're happy with the position check you’ve got the spacing right. We recommend leaving around 2-3 cm of space between each frame. This will ensure you create a nice central focal point without having your frames seem too cramped and close together. After all, you want to be able to appreciate each image individually, as well as seeing it as part of a bigger creation.

 

Step Six - Add Your Frames to the Wall

Now it’s time to see your planning come together. It’s helpful to take down your templates and add your frames one at a time. That way you can make sure to get the position of each just right. 

To get each frame in the right place you can refer back to the image you took on your phone earlier.

Top Tip: Use temporary hooks to hang your frames up. They hold light frames well and are so easy to remove.

 

Start creating your gallery wall with prints from myFUJIFILM

So, now you know how to make a gallery wall, and the final thing you need to do is to stand back and appreciate your hard work and creativity! Whether you’re designing a gallery wall layout for your living room, hallway, or even your staircase, it’s always best to start with high-quality prints. 

No matter the size of your framed photos, myFUJIFILM can make sure you get the most vibrant results. We use premium ink and paper for depth of colour, and you can choose between matte and gloss. 

Take a look at our photo print options and start planning your gallery wall layouts today. 

Written by Harriet Langsbury (@harrietlangsburystylist)