Gallery Walls Planned on the Floor First, Then Hung to the Millimetre

What a gallery wall actually takes

A gallery wall is not one job repeated twelve times; it is one composition. Frames of different sizes have to relate to each other, to the furniture below, and to the way you walk into the room. That is why the most common DIY version — holding frames up one at a time, squinting, drilling, standing back, starting again — ends with extra holes in the plaster and a layout nobody quite loves.

Our approach is to treat the whole wall as a single installation. You get a planned layout agreed before any drilling, even spacing, and every frame level and square in relation to its neighbours.

Planning the layout before a single hole

We start by measuring the wall and the frames, then work out the arrangement with you. Some people know exactly which print goes where; others want us to propose a structure — a central anchor piece with balanced clusters, a clean grid, or an organic salon-style arrangement that grows from the middle outwards.

The most useful trick, and the one we use on site, is paper templates. Each frame is traced onto paper, cut out, and taped to the wall in the proposed positions. You then step back, live with the layout for a few minutes, and adjust by moving paper — not by moving holes. Only when the arrangement is agreed do we translate the paper into pencil marks and fixings.

Spacing is part of the design. As a starting point, frames look cohesive with gaps of roughly five to eight centimetres between them, and the grouping centred at eye level rather than hugging the ceiling. Above a sofa, the bottom row works best about twenty centimetres above the back.

Installation day

Once the layout is marked, the work is methodical: one fixing at a time, in order, with each frame hung and levelled before the next starts, so any drift is caught immediately rather than discovered at the end. Walls made of brick, block or plasterboard all come into it, and the fixing for each point is chosen for what lies behind that exact spot. We route drill positions sensibly around sockets, switches and pipework, and if a planned position turns out to need a fixing we are not satisfied about, we flag it and agree an adjustment with you rather than gamble.

Frames with cord hangers, D-rings, sawtooth fittings or none at all — we check what each one has before the visit, and can agree to fit new hanging fittings to frames that need them, quoted as materials separately from the labour.

What to prepare

Have all the frames in one room, unwrapped, with their hanging fittings attached, and set aside anything you want hung in a particular order. Clear the wall and the floor beneath it, and if there are existing frames or nails in the wall, tell us whether they are coming down or staying. If some pieces are heavy — a large canvas or a mirror in the mix — say so when booking, because that changes the fixings and the time.

Where the limits sit

A gallery wall visit is sized for a reasonable collection — typically up to about a dozen lightweight and medium frames on one or two walls. A salon wall of thirty pieces, very heavy items mixed in, or walls needing ladders on stairs will take longer, and we will agree that at quoting rather than rush the spacing. We also hang to the layout you approve; if you change the design midway on the day, extra time is agreed then, not assumed.

After the last frame goes up

Live with it for a week. If one frame drifts, nudging the hook or re-levelling is a small adjustment. Dust with a dry cloth, keep valuable prints out of direct sun, and resist the urge to add just one more — a gallery wall reads best when the spacing is deliberate.

Booking us

Tell us roughly how many frames there are, their sizes, and what the wall is made of if you know it. We confirm a booking fee at booking, an hourly labour rate that reflects how soon you need us, and the full cost for your approval before work starts. Same-day visits may be available across the West Midlands, and the layout is always agreed with you before the drill comes out.