HOW TO HANG A GALLERY WALL THE EASY WAY

Clever tips on how to hang a gallery wall the easy way from how I plan a gallery wall and then my simple trick for hanging the frames with StickyMark.

Decorating is fun but planning and hanging a gallery wall can be challenging so I am sharing my secret on how to hang a gallery wall. If you have fears of hanging anything on your wall I hope after this post you will be motivated to not only hang a piece of art but dare to plan a whole gallery.

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In our home, we have a large wall in the entryway that could use some extra design pieces for the fall. As a part of my decor plan for the season, I thought it would fun to add a little extra here. And since I am going to create a gallery wall why not bring you all along to see my tips and tricks.

How to Hang a Gallery Wall

Before you begin any project I always recommend getting your tools together. So here is a list of what you will need to hang your gallery of art, baskets, mirrors, clocks or whatever fancies you.

• Hammer
• Measure tape
• StickyMark (update: temporary special of 3.99 until the beginning of October on Amazon)
• Nails or picture hangers
• Level
• Ladder
• Art, baskets, clocks, mirrors, word art, shelves or anything that will look good in your wall gallery.
• Screwdriver

Lay Out Your Design

Start by placing all your items on the floor in front of the wall where you will be creating your gallery wall.

If you have one piece that you want to be center stage place it in the middle. My mirror was already in the middle of the wall so I decided to keep it there.

Simply place the main item on the floor right in the middle of the wall or where you plan for it to be on the wall. Now start placing other pieces of art and such on the sides.

The great part about this step is that you can move things around until you get the design that looks balanced and flows pretty. Once you have it all set take a photo with your phone so you can refer back to it.

Hang the Center Piece

Next place your centerpiece or your main piece on the wall. Since my mirror was already in the middle of the wall I simply put it back on the picture hanging nail.

Now see how I left all the other pieces in their spots on the floor? Simply hang that first piece and not move anything on the floor. This will help you remember where each piece goes.

Hang a Bottom Piece

Next, grab the piece that is lowest from one side. My lowest piece was one of the botanical free printables from my free printable library. I have a whole post on how I framed this if you want one too.

Refer back to your photograph and look at how low you had this piece next to the mirror. Was it a little lower than the mirror, level with the mirror or just above the mirror? Also, note how far from the mirror it was laying. For example, mine was about 3 or 4 inches.

Next, let's dive into the details on how I use StickyMark to hang my gallery wall. In case you are wondering what is StickyMark, it is a device that you stick to the back of your art when you go to hang it. It allows you to mark the wall exactly where you will need to place your nails.

Steps on How to Hang Art with StickyMark

Here is exactly what the StickyMark tool looks like. You can find them on Amazon or at some Ace Hardware stores.

Begin by peeling off the back.

Then place the sticky side over the hole, bracket or whatever is on the back of your piece where it will hang.

Repeat this process on the other side if you need to use two nails to hang your art. Then remove the red cap on the markers.

Next, grab a small level and place it on the top of the art piece and position on the wall but make sure not to touch the wall with the markers yet.

Look at the level and keep positioning until the level bubble is right in the middle. Then gently move the art piece where it touches the wall. The markers are very good at marking so you do not need to push hard or move the piece back and forth. A simple tap works like a charm.

Now remove the art piece from the wall and place the red caps back on the markers. The beauty of StickyMark is that you can reuse them over and over until the sticky backing stops working.

Now remove the StickyMark piece by simply sliding a screwdriver under it and gently lifting it up.

Add the backing film to the sticker so it stays fresh for the next picture. I used this one set for my whole wall and it still seems to be good for more.

Let's get back to all the other pieces. For my next piece, I decided to just work on one side so my basket is next.

Hang the Basket

You can use the StickyMark again by sticking it to the back of a basket and just like the free printable simply tap the wall.

To hang a basket all I do is use a nail and pierce it into the middle of the basket. Then I line up the nail that is showing through the back of the basket onto the mark on the wall and I hammer it in.

If your basket is to small for the hammer to hammer into then use the top of the hammer.

Hang the Word Art

Next, for cut letter word art, you can also use StickyMark. I didn't remove the back but hung the piece on the marker and marked the wall.

Then all I did was hammer a tiny nail right onto the mark and hung my letter art. It is starting to feel like fall in my entryway!!!

Hang Pieces on the Other Side

One side is finished so let's repeat the process on the other side.

Again I started at the bottom and only had to attach the marker to one place on the letter board. I made a mark, returned the cap to my marker, nailed in the nail and hung my letter board.

Next, I hung another one of my botanical free printables. But this time I used a longer level so I could show you another way to use StickyMark.

This time after marking the wall with the StickyMark markers I placed my level over the marks and made sure they were level. They were pretty close but to be exact I leveled my level over the marks and then drew a small line from right to left. Where the points meet that is where I put the nail.

And now I am done with hanging a gallery wall. Let's add a few fall accessories like pillows, pumpkins, baskets and such. And the whole autumn gallery wall is complete.

Conclusion

A project like this goes so much faster when you have StickyMark to help. Probably the one thing that takes me the longest are pieces that require two nails. I used to have serious reservations on hanging those kinds of pieces. I would avoid them and use picture hanging wire just so I wouldn't have to use two nails. LOL!

Here are some more photos of my entryway.

See the cute flowers on the basket? I already had to take them down because our new kitten, Kit, decided they were a toy. LOL! He's a mess!

I didn't mention it during the gallery wall steps but the small letter board saying was inspired by Starbucks pumpkin spice latte.

I hope this post on how to make a gallery wall has encouraged you to create one for yourself. If you have any tips or tricks please feel free to share them in the comments.

Happy Decorating!

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