Neutral Gallery Wall | A Guide To Color and Collections

Posted by Julie Groleau on March 15, 2019

neutral gallery wall

Who doesn't love gallery walls, right? Gallery walls are such a great way to lift up your space and add a little bit of personality to your home. Creating a gallery wall is one of the best ways to easily decorate an empty wall and to finally showcase all those family photos, art prints, paintings, inspirational quotes that you have, but didn't know where to put them. A gallery wall is definitely a trend that will probably never go out of style. Do you know which trend will also probably never go out of style? Neutral colors. The thing about neutral colors is that they are, well – neutral. They are versatile and go pretty well with any style.

Go Neutral

You want your art to be the focal point of the wall, so it's best to avoid trendy colors like Pantone's Color of the Year selection (this year it's a vibrant Living Coral). Paint your walls a soft neutral instead--try Benjamin Moore's Color of the Year; a soothing warm taupe called Metropolitan. Any neutral will do for your gallery wall, and today's neutrals extend far beyond gray, white, and beige.

Traditionally, neutrals in interior design were colors without color--the aforementioned gray, white, or beige--or any color that played well with others. Trends towards Mid-Century design boosted those color palettes, but there's been a bit of a backlash against what are now considered bland and boring walls, and designers are using more color overall. Today's neutrals remain colors that recede into the background, but in really saturated tones--navy, graphite, Etruscan red, even aqua and lilac. If you're not sure you're ready for bold colors, test drive your courage by painting a powder room or back hallway in navy and hanging a small collection there.

Curating Your Collection

To create a gallery wall, start by choosing art pieces and frames as well as pick a style. It's a good idea to choose one piece which is going to be your focal point and build the rest of the gallery around it. Before you hang anything on your wall, lay out the chosen pieces on the floor until you get the design you like. When you're satisfied with your design, hang your pieces and enjoy your beautiful new wall!

Keep it minimalist

When it comes to minimalism, there is only one rule you have to follow: less is more. Clean lines, geometric shapes, black and white. You can't go wrong with abstract watercolor, black and white photos, and simple art prints. The best frames to choose for your art pieces are basic black or white frames. If if you want to keep it as minimalist as possible pick art pieces and frames of the same size and arrange them in a line or in a grid. That way you will achieve a formal and sophisticated look typical for the minimalist style.

Eclectic gallery wall

An eclectic gallery wall is a great option for art collectors and boho style lovers. While creating an eclectic gallery wall you're welcome to combine different frame styles and sizes and different pieces of art, oil paintings, art prints, and other collectibles. The best arrangement for an eclectic gallery wall is a salon-style arrangement, a grouping of images and objects. You can choose the overall shape, square, rectangular, oval, and group object following that shape, but allow yourself some freedom and playfulness. Even though your eclectic gallery wall is going to be mostly neutral, you can still pick one or two unconventional pieces that will really make your gallery special.

Farmhouse style gallery wall

The most beautiful characteristic of the farmhouse decor is that homey feeling. To achieve that cozy and warm feeling combine art pieces with fabric, wood, rusty metal, family photos or vintage pieces. If you're a lover of shabby chic style, pick distressed frames and add floral prints to the mix or maybe even real flowers! Farmhouse decor is all about the details so feel free to also use your shelves to add more details and charm.

Gallery wall for travel enthusiasts

If you're a travel enthusiast, creating a gallery wall could be a perfect way to display all your souvenirs. To keep your travel inspired gallery wall neutral, try to find art pieces that naturally have earthy tones, such as old maps, old letters, old postcards, papyrus, or parchment scrolls. Try to find such artwork in your local thrift store or antique shop, and if you don't find them there, try searching online shops. Combine old with new, add some things from your recent travels, your travel photos or landscape pictures. Pictures of sandy beaches or creamy clouds will fit well in your neutral travel inspired gallery wall.

Inspirational gallery wall

We all know how important it is to have a clean and organized working space, and we also know how hard it is to motivate ourselves to work sometimes, especially if we work from home. No matter how big or small, your working space should be clutter-free and it should motivate you and inspire you. That's why the best place for inspirational gallery wall is above your working desk. Eliminate all possible distractions and keep your working space decor simple. Hang a few inspirational quotes above your desk, add a clock or a calendar, or whatever motivates you, just keep it light and airy.

Styling Your Wall

When you see a gallery wall that looks so organic in the space that you can't imagine it being any other way, rest assured somebody spent hours on their hands and knees getting the layout just right. You'll need to know some (very) basic rules of design and how to build proportion to create your wall, a tapemeasure, and a notebook.

Grid or Salon Styling?

How to place your collection is the next question--in a formal grid, or more casual salon style?

If you have pieces that are the same size and have similar frames, a grid works well. Get on the floor and place them, figuring out of they're better in a horizontal row, two over three, four over two, or whatever the most pleasing layout happens to be. You'll need a tape measure and painter's tape to get the spacing right since these need to be hung with precision. Leave two inches between edges.

A gallery wall with an assortment of sizes, materials, and media is a salon wall. For the salon look, eclectic balance is the goal. You want a focal piece in the middle--a large painting, a wonderfully framed mirror (beveled is better), a large platter--again, it's your house and your wall, so use anything you like. Then, two large pieces, two medium, and three small pieces, starting with the biggest one in the middle, and working your way out. Two inches between edges is the standard, but with a salon wall you don't have to be so precise.

If you've worn out your knees trying to get your layout just right, you might be in need a little inspiration. Here are our neutral gallery walls from around the web:

neutral gallery wall