How to hang a gallery wall the Joanna Gaines way

Joanna Gaines-approved ideas for designing an at-home gallery wall with ease.

gallery walls
Joanna Gaines for Target
(Image credit: Corporate Target)
Brittany Romano
By
published

Our homes tell a story. We hope every last detail will leave a little bit of ourselves in each room, and we're all about adding our personal touch. And, one of the best ways to do that is with a gallery wall. 

It doesn't matter if you're looking to update a current room in your home or you're starting with a blank canvas, a gallery wall is an easy to pull any room —or story — together and make the narrative come alive. 

When choosing a theme, try tapping into your own experiences. Where have you traveled? What are your favorite hobbies? Are you going to show pictures of your family? Since there are no real parameters on what you can and can't add to a gallery wall, it's best to think of what your overall objective is and then select individual pieces.

Once you nail down your style, it's time to pick up the hammer. But this is where things can get a little confusing. So, we turned to the pros to get some help. 

In a recent PEOPLE magazine article, Fixer Upper star Joanna Gaines shared three simple ways to create a gallery wall: 

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1. Start with a roll of wrapping paper or kraft paper to trace the outline of every piece of art, frame, etc. that you're looking to hang. From there, cut out the paper to create paper templates.


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2. With a measuring tape, measure side to side and then top to bottom for the placement of the hanger on the back of the frame. Next, make a mark on the front of the paper template for the hanger location. 

Joanna's Pro Tip: "For an item with a hanging wire, measure with the wire stretched tight toward the top of the item, as if the wire were holding the weight."

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3. Using the floor (or a flat surface), safely lay down your paper templates and arrange them in the best way you see fit. Keep in mind this is creating what your wall will look like so take your time. Take each template (one-by-one) and recreate the same design on your wall using painter's tape. 

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4. Feel free to keep rearranging the templates until you find a cohesive look you're married to. Once you've found that, take your nail and drive it into your previously marked spot. After that's completed, remove your template and begin hanging your picture frames. 

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Joanna’s Pro Tip: "If you are planning to hang your gallery wall in a grid arrangement, it helps to use a ruler, tape measure, or level when placing templates to make sure everything lines up perfectly."

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Brittany Romano
Brittany Romano

Brittany Romano is a Shopping Editor, based in New York City. From her start as a fashion market assistant at Marie Claire to building a highly profitable commerce vertical at Us Weekly and AMI brands, Brittany has produced award-winning content covering everything from celebrity beauty hacks to must-have items from online sales. She is a graduate of New England College. When she isn’t writing, you can find Brittany indulging in yet another DIY project or cheering on her beloved Boston Bruins. 

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