How to Create the Perfect Gallery Wall – Even in a Rented Home
A gallery wall is one of the easiest ways to make a house feel like your own. Whether you fill a wall with colourful screen prints, vintage maps, family photographs, postcards or a mixture of all of them, a well-curated gallery wall can instantly add personality, colour and character to a room.
And the best thing about gallery walls? They don't have to be expensive or overly formal. In fact, some of the best ones look as though they have grown organically over time.
But where did the gallery wall come from, what makes a space suitable for one, and how can you create one if you're renting and don't want to cover your walls in holes?
Where did gallery walls come from?
The gallery wall might feel like a relatively modern interior design trend, but the idea actually dates back hundreds of years.
The origins can be traced to the French Salon exhibitions of the late 17th century. In 1670, the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in Paris began exhibiting the work of artists, with paintings displayed closely together and often hung from floor to ceiling.
The reason was partly practical: there was a lot of art to display and only a limited amount of wall space. Rather than giving every painting its own enormous expanse of wall, works were arranged together in a dense, eclectic display.
Over time, this "salon hang" moved from public exhibitions into private homes. By the 20th century, gallery walls had become a popular way for collectors to display paintings, photographs and objects. The 1960s saw a particularly DIY version of the salon wall emerge, while the 1980s and 1990s often meant collections of family photographs.
So although Pinterest and Instagram may have given the gallery wall a new lease of life, the basic idea is more than 350 years old.
Why are gallery walls still so popular?
Perhaps because they solve a very modern decorating problem: how do you make a home feel personal when you don't necessarily have a huge budget?
A gallery wall lets you combine different things that you love rather than committing to one enormous piece of artwork. You can mix contemporary art with vintage finds, photographs with illustrations, and large statement prints with smaller pieces.
It's also a great way of adding colour without repainting a room.
For example, a collection of London map prints can work particularly well together because the maps share a visual language while still being different enough to create interest. Planet Patrol's collection of London map prints includes hand screen-printed maps of neighbourhoods including Shoreditch, Columbia Road, Clapham, Angel and Victoria Park.
What kind of space works best for a gallery wall?
The good news is that you don't need a huge room or a massive empty wall.
In fact, gallery walls can work particularly well in smaller homes because they turn an otherwise unused wall into a feature.
1. Above a sofa
The wall behind a sofa is a classic choice. It gives you a natural horizontal area to work with and helps anchor the artwork to the furniture below it.
A useful rule is to make the overall arrangement approximately two-thirds the width of the sofa. This generally looks more balanced than having a tiny collection floating in the middle of a large wall.
2. Along a staircase
Staircases are brilliant for gallery walls because the architecture naturally encourages a more informal arrangement. You can follow the angle of the stairs or create a more organic cluster that rises with them.
3. In a hallway
Hallways are often overlooked when decorating, but they're ideal for art. A collection of smaller framed prints can turn a narrow passage into a miniature gallery.
This is also a good place to experiment because you don't necessarily need one enormous statement piece.
4. Above a desk or sideboard
A smaller gallery wall above a desk, console table or sideboard can create a defined focal point without taking over the room.
Try leaving a little breathing space between the furniture and the lowest artwork so the two don't feel disconnected.
5. Around a TV
If you don't love having a large black television dominating your living room, surrounding it with artwork can help it feel less visually isolated.
This works particularly well with an eclectic collection where the TV becomes just one element within a larger composition.
How to choose the artwork
This is where you can have some fun.
You don't necessarily need every piece to match. In fact, a gallery wall can look more interesting when it doesn't.
Try combining:
- Large and small prints
- Portrait and landscape formats
- Photography and illustration
- Maps and graphic prints
- Vintage and contemporary artwork
- Different frame styles
- Different colours within a consistent palette
- Personal photographs and artwork you've bought
The trick is to find something that connects the pieces together.
That could be colour, subject matter, frame colour, location or simply the fact that you love everything on the wall.
For a London-themed gallery wall, for example, you could combine a Columbia Road vintage map print with a Small London Pink & Gold print, a photograph from your favourite part of the city and a smaller vintage map. The Columbia Road print is a four-colour hand-pulled screen print inspired by 19th-century maps, while the Small London print is an A3 five-colour screen print based on London circa 1910.
You could even create a neighbourhood gallery wall using places that have personal significance.
You don't always have to make everything the same size
One of the easiest ways to make a gallery wall look too formal is to use lots of identical frames in an identical grid.
That can work — particularly in a minimalist interior — but if you want something more relaxed and collected, introduce different sizes.
For example:
One large print + two medium prints + three or four smaller pieces
The larger artwork becomes an anchor while the smaller pieces fill in the gaps.
Planet Patrol's maps are particularly useful for this because many designs are available in different sizes. The [maps collection] includes larger 50 × 70cm prints as well as A3 and smaller formats.
The secret is spacing
You don't want your artwork touching, but you also don't want enormous gaps between every frame.
As a starting point, try leaving around 5–8cm between frames. The exact spacing can change depending on the size of your wall and the number of pieces, but keeping the gaps reasonably consistent helps the whole arrangement feel intentional.
The original salon walls were famously dense, with artworks hung very close together. You don't have to recreate the Louvre in your living room, but a slightly tighter arrangement generally looks more cohesive than lots of isolated pictures.
How to plan your gallery wall before making holes
This is particularly important if you're renting.
Don't start hammering nails into the wall and hope for the best.
Instead, lay all your artwork out on the floor.
Step 1: Start with your biggest piece
Place your largest print roughly in the middle or slightly off-centre.
This becomes your anchor piece.
For example, a large London, Victoria Park or Columbia Road map could provide the starting point for the whole arrangement.
Step 2: Add the next largest pieces
Place your medium-sized artwork around the anchor.
Try not to create a perfect square or rectangle unless that's the look you're after.
Step 3: Fill the gaps
Now introduce your smaller pieces.
Think of these as the punctuation marks of the gallery wall — they fill awkward spaces and stop the arrangement from feeling too symmetrical.
Step 4: Step back
This is possibly the most important step.
Look at the arrangement from several metres away.
Your gallery wall should work as a whole, not just as a collection of individual pictures.
If one area feels too heavy, move something.
If one corner feels empty, add a smaller piece.
And don't be afraid to leave a little space. A gallery wall doesn't have to cover every centimetre of the wall.
How to create a gallery wall in a rented house
If you're renting, the biggest issue is usually the landlord rather than your interior design skills.
Fortunately, there are several ways to create a gallery wall while keeping permanent damage to a minimum.
Use removable picture hanging strips
Adhesive picture hanging strips can be useful for lightweight framed prints. They're particularly handy if you know you'll want to rearrange your gallery wall later.
Always check the weight limit and the manufacturer's instructions, and make sure the wall surface is suitable before using them.
Use existing picture hooks
If your rental already has picture hooks or nails, work around them rather than creating new holes.
You can often make an arrangement look completely different simply by changing the size and positioning of the artwork around the existing hanging points.
Look for picture rails
Older houses and flats sometimes have picture rails, which are practically made for gallery walls.
Rather than fixing artwork directly to the wall, you can hang frames from the rail using picture hooks and cord or wire.
It's also a lovely way to create a more traditional salon-style look.
Lean your artwork instead
You don't even have to hang everything.
Larger framed prints can be leaned against a wall on a shelf, sideboard or piece of furniture. Smaller prints can be layered in front.
This creates a relaxed, collected look and means absolutely no drilling.
Create a picture ledge
A narrow picture ledge is another renter-friendly option. Once the ledge is securely installed, you can change the artwork whenever you like without putting additional holes in the wall.
If you're renting, check your tenancy agreement before making any permanent alterations.
Should a gallery wall be symmetrical?
Not necessarily.
There are two main approaches.
The grid gallery wall
This is neat, organised and symmetrical.
Frames are usually the same size and aligned in rows and columns.
It's particularly effective if you have a collection of similar prints, such as several vintage maps or botanical illustrations.
The eclectic gallery wall
This is much more relaxed.
Different sizes, frames and artwork are combined in a deliberately irregular arrangement.
This is probably the easiest style to create because you don't have to worry about everything lining up perfectly.
The important thing is that it should still feel curated rather than random.
A gallery wall doesn't have to be finished
One of the nicest things about a gallery wall is that it can evolve.
You might start with three prints and gradually add to them. A photograph from a holiday, a vintage poster found in a market or a print bought from an independent artist can all find their place later.
This is particularly appropriate for the original salon-wall tradition: it was essentially a way of bringing lots of individual artworks together into one larger visual collection.
So don't feel that you have to buy 12 prints in one afternoon.
Start with the pieces you really love and let the wall grow.
Try a London gallery wall
If you're looking for artwork with a strong sense of place, Planet Patrol's London map prints make a natural starting point for a gallery wall.
The collection includes contemporary interpretations of historic London maps, with locations including Shoreditch, Columbia Road, Clapham, and more. The maps are hand screen-printed in Planet Patrol's South London studio, combining historical cartography with modern typography.
For a more colourful arrangement, combine different London map colours rather than choosing a matching set. A pink and gold London map could sit alongside teal, green or lilac artwork, while smaller prints can be used to balance the larger 50 × 70cm pieces.
You could even create a gallery wall based entirely around your London — choosing the neighbourhood where you live, where you grew up, where you met your partner, your favourite park or simply the places you love most.
That's ultimately what makes a great gallery wall.
It shouldn't just look good.
It should tell a story.
Final tips for the perfect gallery wall
Before you pick up the hammer, remember:
Start with one great piece. Let everything else build around it.
Mix sizes. A combination of large, medium and small artwork is usually more interesting.
Choose a connection. It could be colour, subject, location or simply your personal taste.
Keep the spacing consistent. Around 5–8cm is a useful starting point.
Lay everything out first. Your floor is your practice wall.
Step back. Always judge the arrangement from across the room.
Don't worry about perfection. The best gallery walls feel collected rather than manufactured.
And if you're renting, think beyond nails. Removable hanging systems, picture rails, picture ledges and leaning artwork can all give you the gallery-wall look without committing to a wall full of holes.
After all, a home should look like someone actually lives there — and sometimes a slightly wonky, colourful collection of things you love is much more interesting than a perfectly symmetrical row of matching frames.