One of the key features in my Henley bedroom makeover at Sharps’ flagship showroom was a gallery wall by the bed, and this was super easy to create. Why a gallery wall? I wanted to draw even more attention to that wallpapered feature wall and make sure the bed was a stand-out focal point in the room. Rather than squeeze it in above the impressive headboard, I decided to hang the pictures above the bedside table, helping to frame the bed and to lead the eye around the room towards the fitted wardrobes on the adjacent wall. For my simple tips for a successful gallery wall, head over to my YouTube channel now to watch my latest video – how to create a gallery wall in no time.
You will see how I planned the layout first – an essential step that you don’t want to skip unless you fancy ending up with a wall full of holes! I use an old stylist’s trick to do this which involves cutting templates out of newspaper and arranging these on the wall using washi tape until you get your perfect layout. As I was working in Sharps‘ flagship showroom on Baker Street, I couldn’t drill into the walls so I’ve used command strips and hooks to hang the frames, another secret trick used on interiors photo shoots all the time to avoid damaging the walls when adding artwork.
There are so many approaches you can take to putting a gallery wall together (check out my ‘for display’ Pinterest board for lots of display inspiration), from grid arrangements of matching frames to something much more informal, like the one I’ve created here. I’ve mix and matched my frames for a more relaxed look. A golden rule when styling up a group of objects, whether it’s on a shelf or frames on the wall, is to use odd numbers. So I picked five frames, but with common elements to tie the arrangement together – two pairs and one accent piece (the black frame).
It can be so hard to choose what to display in your frames. As well as some vintage photographs, all the artwork in this bedroom was created using printable image files sourced on Etsy. This is a great way to source artwork on a budget – I searched for ‘printable artwork’ or ‘printable art prints’ (or something more specific) and a fantastic range of images will come up. Once you’ve completed your purchase the files are emailed to you and then you can either print them at home or take them to a local print shop.
Do you have any tips for creating the perfect gallery wall? Or are you stuck and need some advice? Leave a comment below and I’ll try to help!
Disclosure: This post was written in collaboration with Sharps, but all content and opinions are very much my own.
Leave a Reply