Featured image source Atelier Fernando

A beautifully curated wall gallery in your home is the key to elevate your decor in an instant, so why is it so complicated to choose and arrange the right art in all the right places?

Follow these few tips and you will give a facelift to your room quicker than you can think about it.

Decide on your gallery style

Before you begin it is important to establish the style of your gallery and what will go up on your wall so carefully consider the following:

• The room’s surroundings, the style, the colours. How do you want to feel when you walk into the room?
• Do you already have existing art work that you want to reuse? Maybe a centerpiece that will shine above the others? Maybe one that will inspire the colour scheme?
• Don’t be afraid to mix media. For example add to the mix a beautiful plate, a custom neon sign, wall sculptures, etc. Anything goes.

Start collecting your art

Now that you have a good idea of what you need to start building your gallery you can go and find it. As much as you might feel like you want to rush the process, it is important to take your time to curate everything with intention.

Look in places like thrift stores, art galleries, mix personal prints and objects. Bring special pieces from travels and whenever possible try to purchase some originals.

Think about creating a balance when mixing sizes, colours and textures.

The Layout

Before of even getting the hammer and a few pins you need to think carefully of how you are going to layout and organise your art on the wall and visualise how everything will fit together.

When it comes to the layout, there are a few different ways you can decide to go about it:

• The grid layout which works perfectly with same-sized frames.
• Starting with a focal point and building around it which works well for varied frame sizes.
• Free flowing, for a mix of objects and art.

Once you are happy with the layout, take a photo to use as reference. Once you start picking frames from the floor it can become hard to remember as it was once arranged.

You can use craft paper to create a template for each frame and on each mark where the hook or nail needs to be hammered in. Use masking tape to put it on the wall and once you are confident it all looks good, mark the holes.

Hang your art

Start with the largest piece and build it up.

To make sure that everything is straight use a level or laser. These days you can even get one as a lever app on your phone.

Finally take a step back and make sure you are happy with the result. If not tweak as necessary and enjoy!