How to Build a Gallery Wall: Layouts, Spacing and Templates

A gallery wall is the most forgiving way to decorate a large, empty wall. Instead of hunting for one perfect oversized piece, you combine several prints into a single composition that tells a story about who lives in the house. Done well, it looks effortless. In reality, the good ones are planned on the floor first, taped to the wall second and hung last.

This guide walks through the three classic layouts, the spacing that makes a group read as one piece, the paper-template trick that saves your wall from stray nail holes, and how to mix sizes and frames without the result looking cluttered.

Choose a layout before you choose the art

Most gallery walls fall into one of three families. Picking one early makes every other decision simpler, because the layout tells you how many pieces you need and which sizes will fit.

The grid

Identical sizes, identical frames, equal gaps. A grid of four, six or nine pieces feels calm and architectural, which is why it suits minimalist rooms, hallways and home offices. It is the easiest layout to measure and the least forgiving of sloppy spacing, so the paper templates below matter most here. Six 30×45 cm (12"×18") prints in black floating frames, arranged two rows by three, is a reliable starting point above a sofa.

The salon hang

Named after the crowded exhibition walls of nineteenth-century Paris, the salon style mixes sizes, orientations and frames in a loose cluster. It is warm, personal and works beautifully with a collection built up over time. The trick is to keep one anchor piece, usually the largest, slightly off-centre and let smaller pieces radiate from it. Keep the outer edge of the cluster roughly rectangular so the group still reads as a single shape.

The linear row

Two to five pieces in a single horizontal line, aligned along their centres or along a shared top or bottom edge. Linear rows suit long walls, corridors, above a sideboard or along a staircase. They look especially sharp when the pieces share a theme, for example three coastal scenes from our coastal collection in matching oak frames.

Spacing: the 5 to 8 cm rule

The gap between frames decides whether your wall looks like a composition or a scattering. For most homes, keep every gap between 5 and 8 cm (roughly 2 to 3 inches). Smaller pieces can sit at the tighter end; large pieces can breathe at the wider end. Whatever you choose, keep it consistent across the whole wall. Consistency is what makes a grid feel precise and a salon hang feel intentional rather than accidental.

Two more measurements help. The centre of the overall group should sit at about 145 cm (57 inches) from the floor, which is average eye level. If the wall is above a sofa, console or headboard, leave 15 to 25 cm between the furniture and the lowest frame so the two feel connected.

Plan on the floor, then use paper templates

Before anything touches the wall, lay the pieces out on the floor in roughly the footprint of the wall. Move them around until the balance of dark and light, large and small, feels right. Photograph the arrangement so you can refer back to it.

Then make a paper template for each piece:

1. Trace each frame onto kraft paper or old wrapping paper and cut it out.
2. Mark on the template where the hanging point sits, measured from the top edge of the frame. Our pieces ship with hanging hardware already installed, so you can measure directly from the back.
3. Tape the templates to the wall with low-tack painter's tape, following your floor plan and your chosen gap.
4. Live with it for a day. Adjust until it looks right from the doorway and from the sofa.
5. Drive the nail or screw straight through the mark on the template, then tear the paper away.

This single step is the difference between a gallery wall that goes up in an hour and one that leaves a constellation of filled holes.

Mixing sizes and frames without chaos

Variety is what makes a salon hang interesting, but there is a limit. A few rules keep it readable:

• Limit frame colours to two. Oak and black, or white and walnut, or black with one gold accent piece. Three or more colours start to compete with the art.
• Repeat sizes. Use two or three of the same size rather than nine different ones. Our 20×30 cm, 30×45 cm and 40×60 cm sizes share the same 2:3 proportion, so they nest together neatly.
• Mix presentation styles deliberately. A gallery wrap with no frame next to a floating frame adds depth, but keep framed pieces in the majority so the wall has structure.
• Unify by palette or subject. If frames vary, let colour do the work: all black and white, all botanicals, all warm earth tones. Our black and white collection is a natural source for this.
• Balance visual weight, not just size. A small dark print carries as much weight as a large pale one. Spread the dark pieces around the cluster rather than stacking them on one side.

Starting small and growing over time

You do not need the whole wall finished on day one. A linear row of three can become a salon hang of eight over a couple of years as you add pieces that mean something. Plan the final footprint with templates, hang the first few in positions that will still make sense later, and leave the gaps for future additions. Because every piece we make is produced to order in the same workshop, a frame you add two years from now will match the one you hung today.

A quick checklist before you hang

• Layout chosen: grid, salon or linear
• Gaps set between 5 and 8 cm and kept consistent
• Group centre at roughly 145 cm from the floor
• Paper templates taped up and approved from across the room
• Frame colours limited to two, sizes repeated

With those five points covered, the hanging itself is the easy part. If you are still deciding what to put in the frames, browse our best sellers for pieces that work well together, and our multi-piece discount applies automatically at checkout when you order two or more.