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October/November 2025| maconmagazine.com 93 Know when to get help. If you've tried the basics but still find yourself redoing your gallery wall and feeling stuck, you don't have to go it alone! A professional installer or designer can help you achieve a beautiful result. Whether you're hanging heavy pieces, fragile heirlooms, plates, or fine art, or if you're aiming for perfect symmetry and navigating tricky layouts. Many designers can even create digital mock-ups of your wall and plan the sizing of your art and frames in advance. This is especially worth noting if you want your gallery wall to be more permanent and don't plan on changing it often–because getting it right the first time around will save you time and money! Gather your pieces in one place. Lay out your collection so you know exactly which pieces you'll hang. This is the ideal time to play around with different arrangements on your floor and see what works best for your space. Once you've pinned down your final arrangement, snap a photo — it'll serve as a paper or digital guide when it comes time to hang. Brush up on some design basics. Knowing a few simple measurements can make your gallery wall look polished and intentional. And depending on your space, you can always tweak these rules, but general guidelines will be a reliable starting point. Spacing: Keep your pieces about 3–6" apart to avoid a scattered look. Height: Hang your collection so that its center line falls around 57–60" from the floor (which equals average eye level). Above a sofa: Leave 8–10" of space above its back. Scale: If you're hanging a gallery wall above your sofa, aim for your collection to stretch about two-thirds of your sofa's width. Pin down your vision. Gallery walls can span every style — from eclectic mixes of art and objects, to matching frame sets with family photos and grids of coordinated landscapes. So before you start planning your wall revamp, take time to get a sense of the overall look you want. Browse Pinterest, magazines, or design books to spark inspiration and discover the style that feels most you! Prep your layout and start hanging. To finalize your arrangement before committing to any nails, you can rely on paper cutouts. Some frames come with these pre-cut guides, but you can always make your own from kraft paper, especially useful if you're not comfortable hanging as you go. Next, place the cutouts on your wall (use some type of no damage tape or mounting putty) to test your layout before you hang. If paper cutouts feel too time consuming, you can also lightly trace your pieces directly on your wall in pencil. Command strips also offer an easy alternative to nails when it comes time to hang — just be sure to choose ones rated for your piece's weight (the limit will be printed on the box). 1 2 3 4 5 Reader Heidi Clinite's gallery wall (featuring some of her own art!).