Picture This

Create a museum-quality gallery of framed fine art or family photos.

BY LAURA FURR MERICAS

Sleek and chic or friendly and eclectic, a gallery wall can transform a blank space into a cherished focal point. Katie Schroder, owner of Denver’s Atelier Interior Design, and Seattle designer Kat Lawton curated these collections for clients and like the look so much that they’ve featured them in their own homes. They’ll be the first to debunk any precise master formula for a home’s gallery wall—but they agree that time, an artful eye, and tips like these will help.

PUT IT ON REPEAT. Any good gallery wall needs a cohesive thread. “I look for repetition in the actual art itself,” Lawton says. “If we can’t get that, I look for repetition in the frames.” But there’s a spectrum. For a museum-like look, create uniformity in the frames, medium, and color. The more variety, the homier the impression. Schroder mixes photos with artwork of all dimensions and genres to add an edge. Still, she uses a maximum of two frame colors to control the chaos. “Putting all of those together can really look good,” she says. “But you have to be intentional.”

GO LOW BEFORE YOU GO HIGH. Arranging your selections in an artful way can be daunting. But Schroder and Lawton have found success at the same starting point: the floor. Laying out the artwork on a flat, horizontal surface allows them to map out the dimensions and play with the flow before drills and hammers get involved.

CREATE BALANCE. Separate like pieces from each other, especially when going for a collaged style. “You shouldn’t have all yellows close together or all black-and-whites close together. You need to have a balance,” Schroder says. Hang a large vertical print next to a series of Polaroids, or a posed portrait above your favorite candid.

ESTABLISH PERSONAL SPACE. The jury’s still out on how far apart to hang each element in a gallery wall. In many ways, it depends on the room and your preference. A rule of thumb, Schroder says, is that more pieces equals less breathing room. Lawton is more precise: “It looks more pulled together and it reads more like one unit when the pieces are two inches apart.”

FIND YOUR NICHE. The artwork itself can help determine its location. If using an assemblage of meaningful snapshots, a more private place—like a stairwell, a hallway, or a hidden nook— might be best. “People feel more secure with it tucked away a bit. It’s very personal,” Schroder says. Other times the wall does the calling. Lawton often uses these displays to offset a large painting or mirror on an opposing wall, and has even wrapped corners of a room that felt bare.