How to Hang a Gallery Wall Without Guessing
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A gallery wall fails in one of two ways: the spacing drifts, or the group has no shape. Both are decided before you pick up a drill.
1. Decide the outer shape first
A gallery wall is read as a single object. Give that object a clear outline — a rectangle is the safest, and it is what makes an arrangement look intentional rather than scattered.
Apply the two-thirds rule to the whole group: the outline should span about two thirds of the furniture below it. Mark that rectangle on the wall with masking tape before anything else.
2. Lay it out on the floor
Put the prints on the floor inside a taped rectangle of the same size and move them around. This takes ten minutes and saves an afternoon.
Two things to watch:
- Balance the weight. Darker or busier images pull the eye. Spread them out rather than clustering them on one side.
- Keep one line honest. Either the tops align, or the bottoms align, or the horizontal centre line runs through every piece. Pick one and hold to it.
3. Spacing: 5 cm, and the same everywhere
Leave 5 cm (2 in) between frames. Up to 8 cm (3 in) works for larger prints on a big wall. Below about 4 cm the group looks cramped; above about 10 cm it stops reading as one object.
The exact number matters far less than using the same number everywhere. Uneven gaps are what the eye notices.
4. Make paper templates
Cut newsprint or wrapping paper to the size of each framed print. Tape them to the wall with the spacing you chose. Step back, look at it from the doorway, and leave them up overnight.
Mark the hanging point on each template — measure from the top of the frame down to the hook or wire, and mark that same distance on the paper. Now you can drill straight through the paper and the hole will be right the first time.
5. Height
The centre of the whole arrangement sits 145 cm (57 in) from the floor — the same eye-level rule as a single piece. Measure the centre of the group, not the centre of any one print.
Above a sofa or sideboard, leave 20–25 cm (8–10 in) between the furniture and the bottom edge of the group.
6. Hang from the middle out
Start with the centre piece and work outwards. Errors then spread evenly to both sides instead of accumulating at one end. Check each frame with a spirit level as you go — a phone level is accurate enough.
If you would rather not plan it
Our gallery wall sets are five prints chosen to work as one piece: one palette, matching sizes, spacing that lands on a clean rectangle. They cost less than buying five prints separately.