Gallery wall tips & questions
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Earlier in the week, I decided that it was time that I created a new gallery wall in our hallway.
I shared this i-Phone snap on my IG stories of me experimenting with some different photo layouts (all of these photo frames are already on display around my house, so I just grabbed them all down and used them here so I could picture what the different layout options would look like. If you don’t already have a bunch of different size frames around your house, you can do this just with paper, like this clever person has done here!)
After I shared this image, I got SO many DMs with questions around where I get frames / how I put together gallery walls etc, I decided to put together this blog post answering all the questions in a bit more detail (full disclosure, I’m no expert on this topic - but I have a hell of a lot of photos up on our walls, so I’m just sharing what has worked for me over the years!)
If you’re interested in having a little sticky beak through our home and how I’ve displayed photos throughout our house, I actually put together a blog post on that last year so it may also be helpful!
HOW TO DISPLAY YOUR FAMILY PHOTOS - INSIDE OUR HOME
Ok, now onto your questions
HOW TO KEEP THE WALL LOOKING COHESIVE WITH DIFFERENT FRAME COLOURS/ STYLES?
If my goal is trying to make my gallery wall look more cohesive, I would tend to opt for the same type of frame and print the photos either all in b&w or all in colour. However, if I’m wanting it to look a little more eclectic, this is when I mix the different frames / styles up. In my home, I had mainly displayed my photos in a more cohesive way like this
Here I’ve gone for a more cohesive look - with the same coloured frames and all the prints are black & white
Cohesive display of frames - All white / square frames with colour images displayed
However when we put up some picture ledges (you can get these from Ikea here), this gave me the opportunity to play around with different frame colours and different coloured images without feeling like I was comitting to the choice FOREVER. Picture ledges are a great way to experiment and trial different options to see what you do and don’t like paired together.
For me, I LOVE this more eclectic mix of frame and photo colours on our picture ledge, which is what has made me decide to do our next gallery wall in a more eclectic style. This all comes back to personal preference - for some people, the eclectic style may feel too busy whereas for others, the cohesive look may feel boring! It’s your home and you need to look at it every day - so go with your gut here!
For our picture ledges, I’ve opted for a more eclectic look - with different size / coloured frames and a mixture of colour & black and white prints
Picture ledges give you way more opportunity to experiment and mix things up!
HOW TO MIX & MATCH/RATIO OF B&W AND COLOUR?
Similar to above, it does come down largely to personal preference – Pinterest is your BEST FRIEND when it comes to getting inspiration and trying to work out what mix of different photo types you like – and more importantly, what you DON’T like!
I’ve got a pinterest board dedicated solely to different gallery wall / photo display ideas (currently it’s got nearly 200 photos in there, with all different types of styles and layouts), you can check that out here
Jess Worrall Photography Pinterest - Display Your Photos
If you can’t find anything that appeals to you in there, just type in “gallery wall ideas” into the pinterest search bar and you’ll find heaps of inspiration!
A little glimpse of what you will find on my “DISPLAY YOUR PHOTOS” pinterest board!
ALL COLOUR OR ALL B&W OR A MIX?
Again I think this really comes down to personal preference - previously I’ve almost always gone with either one or the other, so either all black & white or all colour, and I’ve always been happy with how that looks.
But after we put our picture ledges up, I was a more willing to try other combinations as the ledges give you the ability to let you trial different combinations without committing to sticking/drilling something on the wall! And I’ve gotta say I really love mixing it up – so that’s what I’m planning to do for the next gallery wall we put up in our hallway (stay tuned for that, i’ll definitely share the end result once we finish!)
WHERE DO YOU GET ALL YOUR FRAMES?
Recently I’ve gotten a lot of smaller frames from ikea. What I’ve worked out is that I can comfortably DIY photo framing up to about the 8x10 sizing (so 4x6, 5x7, 6x8 & 8x10 sizes) - after that I find it a bit trickier and think it’s better to outsource to a professional framer.
For professional framing in the past, I have used
Hui Hong International Trade PTY LTD
They are based in Yarraville, but have zero online presence, so probably only going to be helpful for the inner westies reading this! But I have found them to be really high quality at a very reasonable price!
Foreman Art & Framing are on the other side of the city to me (based in Burwood), but do beautiful work too and another great option if you’re looking for a professional framer!
WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR FRAMES FROM? THE OAK ONE?
I have a few different oak frames and get them from Ikea and Big W
Big W - Design House frame Oak
Just a reminder though - you get what you pay for! I’ve got one Big W frame that’s falling apart, and the IKEA frames have a plastic screen (instead of glass) and it is SO easy to crack!! I’ve cracked the front of multiple ikea frames… However, all of the frames I have that are professionally framed have stood the test of time and are of a much higher quality.
I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO PUT THE MAIL LET ALONE A PHOTO! WHERE DO I START?
I think this is a really common feeling when it comes to printing and/or displaying our photos - like it’s all a bit too overwhelming!!
Honestly I really feel like the hardest part is just STARTING! I think first off, you need to decide on what wall you’re going to use, so you can plan for the space you are going to work with. Then, jump on pinterest, work out what gallery layouts you like and go from there.
Choosing photos is personally what I find the most difficult and I think the biggest trap you can fall into here is overthinking it!! You can always swap photos down the track if you don’t like what you choose initially, so just get some photos printed and get started
IMPORTANTLY…
If you only take ONE THING away from this post , let it be this - if you’re printing photos to display and look at every single day, you are going to be SO much happier with the final result if you pay a little bit extra to get them printed at proper lab ! Kmart and Officeworks (shudders) and all the super cheap places, are cheap for a reason…. You want to choose QUALITY over price for this step!!
A couple of options you could try and order online via, are -
Prism Imaging
Presentation Place
Nushots
Digital Works
DO YOU USE 3M PRODUCTS WHEN DOING A GALLERY WALL?
Yes, for the smaller/lighter frames, these are all hung up using 3M strips. However the larger / heavier ones, I get my husband to get his drill out (Wozz’s worst nightmare is hearing me say “Can you hang a photo frame for me”… so when I sent him the photo of all the frames layed out on the floor, I think he probably wanted to curl up into the fetal position 🤣).
If you have any other questions or would like me to cover anything else, please feel free to shoot me through a email or leave a comment below and I’m more than happy to try answer them for you!
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