collage DIY portrait wall hanging tipsIn today’s post, I’m going to be sharing with you my favorite method for how to plan and hang a portrait gallery wall.  If you’re like me, too much math makes your head hurt.  It’s not that I can’t do math.  It’s just that the idea of having to do math takes me right back to 4th grade story problems.  Hello, nausea and sweaty hands!  Or was that just me?

Well, this isn’t as hard as it might seem at first.  And there isn’t a whole lot of math with this method after you take your first measurements.

Let me give you the back-story of this project really quick:

One of my goals for 2018 was to re-do my office. I talked about this recently on a Facebook Live video while I was unboxing some samples (jump to the 37 second mark to skip the part where I readjust my tripod). I got a little ahead of myself I guess because I ordered the samples before the walls were ready, so I had to set that box aside for a bit. First, I had to remove the old books and decor that had made this room feel like a man cave. Next, I removed the safari-themed wallpaper. I contacted a few companies to get estimates for painting the room. And then after those estimates came back, I realized that painting all the woodwork wasn’t in the budget. oops. Probably should have thought to get the estimates first. So I painted the walls a soft light gray myself. And I hope that hiring someone to paint all the panels and built-ins a creamy white will be in my budget next year.

Without further ado, here is the way I planned for and installed my portrait gallery wall.

1. Measure the space you want to cover.

 

I knew I wanted to showcase some larger portraits to have a bigger Wow factor with this wall.  So knowing how much vertical space I needed was important, too.  You might not have wainscoting like my office did, but you might have furniture to take into account.

For this wall, I measured from the bookcase over to the door casing to determine my overall available space.  I wanted to be sure there was some space at the sides, so I subtracted about 12 inches from that for a total horizontal measurement of 8 ft.

2. Choose your portrait sizes.

I was fortunate to have a blank canvas to start with on this project since I was ordering all new samples.  You might be using some artwork that you already have in addition to ordering some new pieces.  The key here is to have an idea of what you want the overall wall to look like before you start ordering the new pieces.  This is the fun part because you get to decide if you want your wall to be more of a mix of portraits and other decor or if you want a very precise and symmetrical design.  If you’re more traditional, then go for all framed pieces.  If your style is more eclectic, then you can go with a mix of products and a more relaxed design.

 

3. Don’t forget to plan for spacing.

It helps if you can lay out a template.  I do this on a computer for my clients, but you can cut out shapes from paper bags or tissue paper.  Arrange them on the floor first and see what spacing you like best.

4. Trace the pieces on craft or tissue paper.

Once my artwork arrives, I trace around the pieces so I can do a test run before I actually hang them.  I usually use tissue paper, but I ended up just using the foam that the blocks were wrapped in for this.  I traced carefully and marked the position of the hanger.

5.  Test your arrangement on the floor first.

Because there was several weeks in between the time I planned this and when I was actually ready to install the gallery, I laid the blocks out on the floor again.  I wanted to confirm that I liked the arrangement before making any holes in the wall.

gallery wall arrangement test

 

6. Tape your paper templates to the wall.

This was super helpful for me so that I could adjust the space between the portraits to my liking.  I also ended up moving the whole grouping up about an inch and then decided that looked good.

7. Start hanging.

For me, I wanted to be able to show clients some of the different sizes available, so mixing big and smaller portraits was the goal.  For my wall, I wanted to showcase these gorgeous handcrafted Original Photoblocks.  They look beautiful framed or not, so I chose to feature both.  The big bonus here is that they offer ready-designed clusters so I just needed to know how much wall space I needed to cover.  I went with their Biggest Perfect Wall Mix which includes 2 24×16, another 24×16 framed (add 5 inches all around), 1 24-inch round, 1 12×12 square, an 8 x 16, 2 8×12 and 1 8×12 framed (add 5 inches all around).

For the heavier pieces, I did hammer nails into the marks on the template.  Remove the template, place the portrait, and repeat until you’re done.  Oh, one more tip–be sure to check each piece with a level before hanging the next one.

level resting on top edge of picture frame

Because the unframed ones are fairly lightweight, I opted to use Command Strips picture hangers for those.  I love them because if I decide to change up this gallery wall later, I won’t have so many holes to patch up.  They are super easy to use, just follow the instructions for placement on the back of the package.

 

8. Stand back and admire your portrait gallery!

portrait gallery wall in office

Really, figuring out which portraits to print is going to take you longer than it does to actually hang them up.  And when it’s done, you can stand back and enjoy it.

Are you planning a portrait gallery wall in your home?  I’d love to see!  Post a photo of your completed wall on Instagram and tag me @adrienne_zwart_photography so I can congratulate you! And if you found these tips helpful, please let me know in the comments below.

You might also like

For more DIY gallery wall tips, check out this post: Quick Tips Gallery Wall Tips for Your Nursery.