How to Select Art for Your Gallery Wall

The past two months of transforming our hallway have been dedicated to artwork, and frame selection for the hallway.

I knew I wanted large format frames and black and white photos for the hallway. But, I didn’t have the images selected.

From experience, I would suggest having photos or artwork finalized. Do this before beginning a gallery wall or space where the feature will include art/images. It will save time. It will also guide your decisions for color and pattern in the space you are designing.

Three things to keep in mind when choosing art/images for a space are:

1. Size or Scale
2. Theme
3. Color/ Pattern

Although there are other design aspects that can factor into picking artwork, I think the top three are Size, Color, and Theme.

Size:

Choosing the right size image for your space, helps guide the eye around the room. If you want a gallery wall with varying picture sizes, decide which images you want to be large. Also, decide which images you would like small. Finalize how many images you want to display as well.

For the hallway I decided on 24×20 small frames hung in pairs and 29×41 stand-alone large frames. In total I decided on six images, one per frame.

Theme:

An easy way to create an atmosphere or purpose in a space is to pick artwork or images with the same theme. For example, you can choose themes like travel, animals, or pictures of family. Keeping to a theme can make it easier to select images and art. It also keeps the viewer entertained when looking at the images or art.

For the hallway I decided on six images of our family that were small snapshots that capture our family memories together. The paired images I plan to leave untouched. However, the two middle images will take on a different, more textured look. I’ll share more on that in another post.

Color:

Decide on a color that all the art/images have in common. Alternatively, opt to keep all images black and white. This is another way to move the eye around the images and keep the wall interesting.

Once I had the six photos selected for the wall, I used Walmart’s photo center to order all the prints. Walmart offered affordable next day pick up for the six 11×14 images. Shipping for the two larger 24×36 images was 1-2 weeks.

While I waited to pick up the photos, I decided to go frame shopping. I plan to share what I found and tips on choosing frames in my next blog post.