Creating a gallery wall allows you to showcase your personality, personal trinkets, and collection of artwork, memories, and artistic variety. Whether you’re a painter looking to display your artwork or reflect on your past with vintage film photos or modern prints, creating a gallery wall gives you optimal creative leeway. Instead of investing in a single piece of art, a gallery wall allows you to collect smaller, more affordable pieces and display them together. The eclectic mix of art will make your home pop and act as a focal point for your home.
Black & White Photography
Black-and-white photos bring a timeless, minimalist look to your home. Curate a collection of these striking noir photos by printing out your photos in black-and-white or collecting black-and-white paintings from a local thrift shop. This will add a chic style to your space. Surround the gallery wall with colorful furniture or plants to make your room pop. The gallery wall will be a base and focal point without overwhelming the room.
Family Photos
Everyone loves looking at a collection of family portraits! You’ll have complete creative leeway here. Mix the portraits with funny, goofy, serious, and sleek photos. This gives your space a heartwarming and nostalgic vibe that’ll surely pave the way for story-sharing time. It’s also a great way to share your kid’s photos as they grow up. You can even display the photos in age order, starting with baby pictures on the left and ending with adult photos on the right.
Botanical Prints
If your living room has a bohemian, nature-inspired vibe, take it further and frame plant and flower illustrations for your gallery wall. Use neutral frame colors like white and gray to let the prints pop. The botanical prints will also add texture and a visually appealing focal point to your room. Besides, you’ll love bringing in the outdoors when winter hits.
Geometric Art
Create an abstract, eclectic gallery wall by mixing framed geometric designs or abstract shapes. This fun, edgy look will make your living room pop. Because it’s artsy, this will be a fun focal point for your room. Decorate the space with retro-futuristic furniture or vintage chairs to tie it all together. Mix geometric shapes like triangles, rectangles, circles, and squares. There’s no limit to shape here; you can even incorporate shapes like giant lips, hands, mandalas, and flags!
Vintage Posters
There’s nothing wrong with a bit of retro, which is why it works so well on a gallery wall. Retro movie or travel posters add a nostalgic, vintage flair that complements vintage furniture, eccentric pieces, colorful cushions, and antique rugs. This is where you can break out those old movie and band posters from the 1950s through the 1970s.
Mirrored Art
A gallery wall with mirrors and artwork reflects light and makes the space look bigger. The artwork acts as a focal point, while the mirrors expand the space. This is also a great alternative if you want to decorate your gallery wall on a budget. Mirrors are typically cheaper than art, making it a fun way to decorate your space without breaking the bank.
Framed Quotes
Display motivational, inspirational, and funny quotes in varying sizes and fonts for an eccentric gallery wall. Starting your day with quotes like “Live, Laugh, Love” and “You Are Worthy” will improve your day. Use a variety of different quotes to make the space pop. Doing this on a budget is easy since most of these quotes can be found online and printed at your local shop.
Gallery of Maps
There’s no better way to showcase your wanderlust than by displaying maps of cities, regions, or countries with a special place in your heart. You can use pins to mark which cities and countries you’ve been to and others to mark which places you hope to visit. Mix it up by adding framed photographs from your travels. You can also display many vintage maps to give it a retro aesthetic.
Gallery of Album Covers
Music lovers will love this one! Frame your favorite album covers for a personalized touch. To go full-on vintage, display records, CDs, and cassette players. The more colorful and dynamic the album cover, the better. You can also use albums from varying eras to blend modern and vintage.
Travel Photography
If you’ve traveled the world and taken photos, you can use your gallery wall to display vibrant photos to give your space a worldly feel. This is a fun way to tell travel stories through photographs and display your personality. Mix it up by using eccentric, cultural, adventurous photos to capture your personality and tell a story.
Minimalist Art
Use a few simple, understated art pieces with plenty of space around each piece for a minimalist feel. This is an excellent option if your living room or bedroom already has eccentric furniture, patterned wallpaper, or bold, colorful statement pieces. You don’t want the gallery wall to take away from your space; sometimes, less is more. Minimalist art will act as a base in the background without overwhelming the space.
Art from Local Artists
If you live in a small community, you can support local artists by displaying their work for a unique, personal community touch. Usually, local art is some of the most abstract, eccentric art out there and is a fun way to spice up your space. You’ll find art from local artists in various cafes or art galleries in your neighborhood. While these pieces are usually more expensive than other options, it’s a unique way to make your space pop.
Vintage Frames
Head to your local thrift store and start digging for frames! Adding mismatched antique frames to your space will give it a rustic, eclectic style that feels exciting. To make your gallery wall pop, use a variety of different-styled photographs, colors, black-and-white prints, and sizes. Using a variety of different-shaped frames also creates dynamic texture.
Color-Themed Wall
If your living room has neutral colors, stick to a monochromatic palette for your gallery wall. Use shades of one color for a cohesive look. If you have gray or white neutral colors in your living room, you can use various colors for your gallery wall. Anything from lavender, cobalt blue, or sea green works well. Colors like honey-gold and tangerine will give your space a warm vibe.
DIY Art
Watercolors, sketches, and acrylic paintings look great on a gallery wall. These personalized pieces add a unique touch to your home. Best of all, they don’t break the bank! You have complete creative leeway to decide what drawings and paintings you want to use for your space. You can frame each piece or loosely hang it on your wall for a diverse look.
Eclectic Collection
If you’ve collected postcards, handwritten letters, photos, textiles, prints, and abstract art throughout the years, now is the time to display them on your gallery wall! This is a playful, lively design that brings together years of collections. You might find these lying around in boxes in your attic. You can also add old journal entries and school notes to your wall.
Black Frames Only
Simple black frames will provide a consistent and sophisticated look, regardless of your artwork. You can use colorful artwork or simple black-and-white art. Art with thick black lines or swirls and varying patterns look great inside sleek black frames. Black frames will tie the space together if your home has a minimalist aesthetic with bold furniture.
Framed Fabric
Frame interesting scarves, fabrics, and textiles on your gallery wall for an unexpected, colorful effect. This is a playful and dynamic way to spruce up your space. If you’ve traveled to different countries, this is an ideal way to display your souvenirs and trinkets, especially if you’ve collected textiles.
Architectural Photography
For an urban aesthetic, showcase photos of buildings, cityscapes, or architectural wonders. This creates a chic aesthetic with sleek, clean-lined furniture, neutral colors, and modern, minimalist coffee tables. Use photographs with different angles of buildings, aerial views of cities, and structural photos showcasing intricate details.
Neutral & Warm Tones
Use soft, muted colors to create a zen-like atmosphere in your home. This creates a calm space, especially when using bonsai trees, plush cushions, soft lighting, and many plants. Your gallery wall encapsulates this atmosphere as a focal point that blends into the background with other, softer elements.
Animal Prints
Nature is calling! Frame animal illustrations, sketches, or photographs for a nature-inspired gallery. Photographs of animals like birds, tigers, elephants, and various plants look great on this gallery wall. For a more textured aesthetic across your gallery, you can also use other prints like leopard spots or zebra stripes.
Silhouettes
Frame silhouette images of animals, people, or nature for a striking, playful contrast. When shrouded in a silhouette, maple leaves, towering buildings, pedestrians, and mountains all look great. This creates an ethereal, noir, moody aesthetic. To complete the moody aesthetic, use clean-lined furniture in neutral colors. An eccentric chandelier hanging near the gallery wall can be a focal point.
Cultural Art
Use artwork or textiles from different cultures and countries to celebrate global diversity. Textiles from Morocco, art from Thailand, scarves from India, postcards from Peru, and trinkets from Argentina all look incredible hanging on a gallery wall. This is the best way to showcase your travels and honor different cultures worldwide.