Gallery walls are always a great idea, in general, but most of all, when there is a blank wall waiting for some character, gallery walls can give you that and more. The best part is that gallery walls are timeless and will never go out of style.

So, how to start your own gallery wall?

Most Important Step: Do not start making holes in the wall with-out reading further. Also, layout the gallery wall out on the floor before it goes on your wall.

In order to have your layout, you need to measure the space, the gallery wall will be occupying. Once you have those measurements, tape off the floor and now you know exactly the space you are working with.

We know you know what you are about to read next, which is how we start any of our projects — Colour Palette! Ding, ding, ding. Having said that, if you want to keep it super fun and personal forget the C and P words. We recommend a colour palette to achieve a more cohesive and thought-out look. To do that, you want to keep your pieces in a similar color tone, intensity, and feeling similar to one another. You see this example with the image on the side, the colours are greens, white, and hits of wood.

Now, let’s mix some more — horizontals and verticals. This will add an interesting factor to your gallery wall. Depending on your largest pieces being horizontal or vertical, try placing the opposite next to it. For example, if your bigger pieces are horizontal then have a vertical piece placed next to it.

Let’s get personal, while art is beautiful, your personal things are memorable and bring happiness to our lives so why not add them to your gallery wall and make it part of your everyday life?! An old photograph of you and your family, your first concert ticket, a poem, your children’s drawing — you get the point, pretty much anything can be part of your gallery wall, the world is your oyster. Have fun with it!

The float mount is a great solution for especially the personal things. It instantly elevates the look of the item you are mounting.

After writing this blog we came across a TikTok video that adds an even bigger hack when it comes to hanging your frames. AliyaRinaldi uploaded a TikTok video showing how to hang pictures using toothpaste. She says to first put a dab of toothpaste on the back of the frame (on the hardware that is supposed to meet the nail), then, lightly place the frame on the spot where you want to hang the frame so now you have a toothpaste mark on your wall. Finally, you can hammer the nail into the middle of the toothpaste and wipe away the excess. This extremely helpful hack comes from her mom who’s an interior designer. Thank you AliyaRinaldi’s Mom!

We are aware that creating a gallery wall can be intimidating, using these tips and adding some fun to the task will definitely make the process that much more enjoyable — remember the path is as important as the final result.

Things to keep in mind:

Colour balance by dispersing the colour around

Off-center your biggest piece

Use many different sizes of art

Keep 2-3 inches between all your pieces

Blog Gallery

Unlike most of our blog posts thinking and writing about this one did not ignite a hooray, jump up, and down out of joy kind of feeling. Yes, the rest did, we get super excited when we decide on the topic we are going to blog about. This one, not so much, having said that, we do believe it is an important topic that will provide guidelines that can assist you when selecting your dining table. I mean, it is one of the big pieces in most homes. So, it is important to do it right.

Keep on reading to find out how you can make finding your dining table search both effective and somewhat fun! Did I say fun?!

Step 1: Measure.

Very Important. Make sure to measure the space designated to your dining table. It should fit comfortably in your space leaving enough room surrounding the table to get in and out of seats, as well as, enough room surrounding the table to comfortably walk around the space.

Useful tip/rule: For larger spaces give 30” to 36” of walkway between wall/large furniture pieces. For smaller spaces give at least 18” to 24”.

Step 2: Pick the Style of your Dining Table.

Determine what the dining table will be used for. Is it for hosting dinner parties during the holidays or will your dining table be your everyday setting for most meals, crafts, work, etc.? It is best to have a good idea of what style as well as purpose your dining table has. If not, it could be quite daunting with all the million options there are out there. If you have this step down, you will narrow your search and will only have thousands of options rather than millions.

JK!

Come on, you can do this.

New Zealand Spaces

Design By Consuelo Jorge

SM Ranch House by Studio McGee

Step 3: Select Material.

The material has to suit your dining table needs. If you can handle the higher maintenance options, want a modern style and hopefully fall under the “I only use the dining table to host holiday parties” than materials such as wood, concrete and marble are the materials that best suit your needs. For those using their table on the daily, bamboo, glass and MDF can be amongst the best options. They provide style and are mainly low maintenance.

Useful tip: Having a glass dining table will give more light and transparency which works great
for small spaces.

Step 4: We finally made it, to almost, the finish line!

Hip, hip, hooray.

I guess the joy for this blog happened after instead of before. At least it happened. Ok, ok we have to focus back to the matter at hand. Which was?

Stephen Sills Updates a Historic Building on Manhattan's Upper West Side

Right, step 4. Picking the shape.

Now that you have your measurements, style, and an idea of the material you are looking for, you can narrow down the shape of the dining table that best fits your space and style. Most dining room spaces are rectangular and that is probably why it is the most common shape of a dining table. A great idea for the smaller spaces is a square shape table and adding a bench for more seating than four. However, if you are looking for versatility in your dining table, we have the answer – Round! Similar to the square table, round dining tables work well for small gatherings and look great no matter what the shape of the dining room is. What round tables have that most other shapes don’t is the casual ambiance they provide, not having a head of the table makes it less formal and the set-up provides an easiness of being able to see and converse with everyone sitting at the table.

Finally, if you are looking to create unique visual interest the oval dining table is your shape. While they are similar to rectangular tables, in many ways, their uniqueness of the rounded corners
create the illusion that less space is being occupied. They also
create intimacy and flexibility like a round table. The curves on the oval shape help to counter angular lines on other design elements within the room. We have found that the oval shape dining table is best fitting when you need to seat several people at once in a smaller size room.

The moral of the story is, regardless of having a formal rectangular dining room, or you are carving out space in an open concept home, finding the right dining table is key. It is the focal point and it is used to gather with your family and friends, you want to make sure it is comfortably fitting in the space, it represents your aesthetic, while enhancing the design of your home, it is a manageable piece and it is the shape that best suits your utilization desires.

Have any questions? Use the space in the comments below and we will happily answer your dining table curiosities.