The other day I was chit-chatting with my friend and she mentioned that she wanted to do a gallery wall in her entryway. She made it very clear that she didn’t want it to be anything like her grandmother’s gallery wall, remember those?

Of course she should have known better than to bring up a decorating dilemma with this lady. I was on a mission to convince her that it was possible to create a gallery wall that was unique to her style (not grandma like- no offense to you stylish grandmas out there.)

I planned and installed a gallery wall in my entryway about a year ago and have since helped my mom with one over at her house. I’m a big fan of gallery walls because they are a great way to fill a big empty wall, and they are the perfect excuse to showcase many different photos of your family, your travels, or even your favorite things.

But my friend didn’t even know where to start. All she knew was that she didn’t want it to feel too cluttered and she was unsure that she could pull it off.

I was determined to help her pull it off, so I quickly came up with some questions to get her headed in the right direction. Then in dawned on me that some of you may be having the same issues so I thought I’d get you started too!

How to Plan a Gallery Wall

There are so many different styles when it comes to creating a gallery wall and it can be overwhelming to take the idea and execute it to get the look you want.

There are a few things to consider before you get started on your gallery wall. They are pure preference and will give you a very different end result.

So here are some questions and photos to get you headed in the right direction.

• Do you want all of the photos to be lined up in a perfect grid?

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• Or do you want them to be staggered?

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• Do you like all of the frames to match? Same color? Different colors?

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• Same or different thicknesses? Same or different sizes?

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• Matting or no matting? Or matting on some, but not others?

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• Do you want your gallery wall to be a focal wall or more of a vignette?

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Clearly there are a lot of different combinations of how to plan a gallery wall, but hopefully after answering these simple questions you will be on your way to a gallery wall that fits your style.

Remember you can also vary what you put in your frames to give a certain feel to your space. I am partial to family photos, but vacation photos or art are awesome too. Whatever makes you feel great should go in your frames!

When I first set out to create a gallery wall, I answered these same questions and this is what I ended up with.

You can see that I went with all one color frame, but used different thicknesses, in a non grid pattern. I also included some with matting and some without to give it even more interest.

When you are ready to hang the photos be sure to check out my post on how to install a gallery wall without poking too many holes in the walls.