Creating a gallery wall

Good evening everyone! I just wanted to pop on here and speak to you lovely lot about how I created my gallery wall. In this house we are very lucky to have a Double- L shaped staircase. This creates drama and volume to the hallway and is such a lovely feature that made us fall in love with the house when we came to view it. Although it can be quite a tricky space to dress. Here are some before photos from the estate agents website. 

I wanted to create something showstopping and at the same time a place that would showcase our family and passions. I didnt want it to be too controlled and impersonal. I drew inspiration from many places, Pinterest was a firm favourite and I scoured the internet pinning all the photos that I loved and thought would work in the space. I also drew from a fellow blogger Lisa Dawson who created this fabulous gallery wall pictured below. 

The difference between this space above and my space is that Lisa had one big long wall that you can see as soon as you enter her gorgeous house. Mine is a little different with mainly three walls at 90 degrees to each other going up the staircase with windows punctuating the external walls. ​Here is a cheeky up shot going through the staircase giving a sense of the geometry.

The evolution of the space that I created was very organic, we had en-massed a lot of prints and photos from holidays and trips abroad. I also bough some prints of my favourite artworks and had some bespoke framing made for oddly sized pieces. The lay out I took was to decide on a main piece for each wall, and then build around it. Selecting other images that work well next to and around it. I went for a very eclectic frame collection, from brand new to vintage. I also liked using different depths of frames to create volume to the wall so that not all the pictures were at the same depth. I also wanted to hang a beautiful vintage obi (the traditional belt worn around a kimono) which I bought in Kyoto, Japan. This is around 3.5 long so I had to find a specific site for it to be shown off in all its drama, which was to be on the top staircase. The thing about putting pictures all the way down just above the skirting boards is that on a standard wall it might not look well and you wont really every appreciate the art there, but on a staircase as you are constantly on a different level with each step you eye is on level with another piece of art or picture  and therefore even at skirting board height, its visible from the landing just below, so why not put some art there?

As a backdrop for this artwork I was torn between gorgeously dark and mysterious or light and airy. I decided to op for the latter as the hall is North East Facing and despite it being quite tall doesn't always seem so airy and bright, and with a very busy gallery wall I opted for a warm white, Great White by Farrow and Ball. It has a very delicate pink/lilac tint to it making it a warm white to use. Perfect for my hall/staircase.

So with art all framed and scattered all over the house it came down to one day to collect all the pieces together and with a lot of nails and a hammer, the gallery wall was created. So a picture says a thousand words, so Ill just shut up now and let you have a look for yourself. Here are some shots over time as it has evolved, including some with a cheeky bit of Christmas garland!

As you can tell there is a lot of wall still to fill espescially in the upper floors, but that is what the beauty of having such an eclectic wall gallery. It evolves over time and I keep adding to it every time I get something new. 

If you wanted a video walk through you can go to my story highlights on Instagram.

I hope you enjoyed this and please let me know what you think and if you have any questions do not hesitate to ask.