I
Victor Hugo
Chaque homme dans sa nuit, Demain, dès l'aube and Il fait froid: one lilac and two cream pages, for a gentle literary wall.
3 prints, 50x70 cm (20x28 in)
See the triptychDecor guide · Hanging
Gallery wall ideas how to arrange several posters on one wall
How many prints, what spacing, what height: the few rules that turn a wall of frames into a real gallery, and the electric blue of Burning Blue, an exclusive studio creation, to hold it together.
Read the rules
Heure d'été edition · Triptych
The first core of a gallery wall
Marigold, Daisy and Willow: three William Morris patterns, three greens and a blue that answer one another, composed to hang together. It is the safest way to start a wall: a set already in harmony, around which the next pieces will settle.
Three 50x70 cm prints on thick matte eco-friendly paper, ordered at once.
- Triptych, 3 × 50x70 cm3 × 20x28 in
Printed and shipped from a studio near you: most orders arrive in 5 business days.
How many prints, what spacing, at what height?
A successful gallery wall is not a pile of favorites. It rests on a few simple measurements, set before buying the first print and kept until the last nail.
5 to 9
The number of prints
Below five, the arrangement lacks presence; beyond nine, it becomes hard to balance without experience. Above a desk or a console, four to six small sizes are enough.
2-3 in
The gap between two frames
The same gap everywhere, 2 to 3 in (5 to 8 cm), horizontally and vertically. Tighter, the wall looks cluttered; wider, the prints no longer speak to each other.
57 in
The height of the center of the set
Treat the wall as one large image: its center sits 57 to 59 in (145 to 150 cm) from the floor, at eye level, as in museums.
6-8 in
Above a sofa or a console
The bottom of the frames sits 6 to 8 in (15 to 20 cm) above the back of the sofa or the top of the console. Any higher, the wall detaches from the furniture and the arrangement floats.
First of all, measure the available width and height, furniture included. That measurement decides the number of prints and their sizes, not the other way around.
How do you keep it cohesive without making it monotonous?
A gallery wall does not mix everything at random, but it does not repeat the same thing either. It needs a single common thread, held from the first frame to the last.
A shared palette: very different subjects, a poem, a pattern, a landscape, hold together as soon as they share the same family of colors. The same frame: a single wood or a single color is the simplest way to unify varied sizes. The same world: plates from the same book or patterns by the same artist, like the three plates by Owen Jones shown here, taken from his Grammar of Ornament (1856), are designed from the start to go together.
One of these three levers is enough. All three at once, and the wall becomes uniform.
A successful gallery wall is recognized by a single detail shared by all the prints, never by three or four at once.On the cohesion of a gallery wall
Which sizes go together on a gallery wall?
Two or three sizes are enough to create rhythm. Prints that are all identical give a more static, almost administrative look; too many sizes, a messy wall.
The simplest approach: a triptych in 50x70 cm (20x28 in) to anchor the arrangement, then 40x50 cm and 30x40 cm prints (16x20 and 12x16 in) around it. Three Baudelaire poems lined up in the center, L'Albatros, Correspondances and L'Invitation au voyage, give the wall its backbone; the smaller sizes then breathe around them.
Before drilling, cut each size out of kraft paper and tape it to the wall: you will see at once whether the whole thing breathes.
Where should you put a gallery wall?
The entryway and the hallway are the most natural places: we walk through them rather than live in them, and a sequence of several prints unfolds step by step. The stairwell allows a diagonal arrangement that follows the line of the steps; it is more technical, but very striking once done right.
Above a desk or a console, a more compact wall, four to six small sizes, adds character without crowding the storage space. It is the ideal place for quotes you reread in passing: Victor Hugo, Axel Munthe and Demain, dès l'aube brought together in the triptych shown here.
Grid or free-form: how should you arrange the frames?
The regular grid, aligned on horizontal and vertical lines, is the easiest to get right: same sizes, same gaps, and the wall takes on the look of a museum room, with Van Gogh, Hokusai and Klimt lined up at equal distance. The free-form arrangement, salon style, is more organic, but it takes a step back to balance the empty spaces.
Either way, lay everything out on the floor first, take a photo, adjust. The most common mistakes: frames too close together, too many common threads at once, a wall too small for the number of prints planned, and a hole drilled before the layout was settled.
Which prints should you use to build your gallery wall?
The safest way is to start from three prints already in harmony. Four triptychs, from poetry to painting, each designed to hang as one, then to be added to over time.
II
Apollinaire's calligrams
Three poems that draw: a heart, a dove, the rain. The word becomes an image, and the wall reads from afar as well as up close.
3 prints, 50x70 cm (20x28 in)
See the triptych
III
Japanese woodblock prints
Mount Fuji twice, then the moon in the cherry trees: three prints in blues and grays that bring calm to a room.
3 prints, 50x70 cm (20x28 in)
See the triptych
IV
Klimt, landscapes
The Klimt of gardens rather than gold: three green landscapes that bring nature into a living room.
3 prints, 50x70 cm (20x28 in)
See the triptychWhat if a single large print were enough?
A gallery wall is not the only answer to a large wall. Above a sofa or a headboard, a single 50x70 cm (20x28 in) print, with plenty of air around it, often has more authority than a dozen frames.
A sonnet like Le Dormeur du val then reads at a single glance. The two approaches complement each other: the gallery for the walls you walk past, the large print for those you look at sitting down.
Heure d'été edition
Food for eyes & soul.
See the triptychsFrequently asked questions
How many prints do you need for a gallery wall?
Between 5 and 9 prints for a balanced gallery wall. Fewer, and the arrangement lacks presence; more, and it becomes hard to balance. Above a desk or a console, 4 to 6 small sizes are enough.
How much space should you leave between frames?
2 to 3 in (5 to 8 cm), and the same gap everywhere, horizontally and vertically. That regularity is what makes a group of frames read as one arrangement.
How high should a gallery wall be hung?
The center of the set sits 57 to 59 in (145 to 150 cm) from the floor, at eye level. Above a sofa or a console, the bottom of the frames sits 6 to 8 in (15 to 20 cm) above the back of the sofa or the top of the console.
How do you keep a gallery wall visually cohesive?
By choosing a single common thread: a shared color palette, the same type of frame, or the same artist. One of these three levers is enough to unify prints that are otherwise different.
Should all the prints have the same frame?
It is not required, but keeping the same color or the same wood makes cohesion much easier, even when sizes and subjects vary.
Where do you start a gallery wall?
With a statement piece or a set already in harmony, such as a triptych, around which you add the next prints. Lay everything out on the floor before drilling the first hole.
A gallery wall rests on a single choice, held to the end: a color, a frame or a world. The rest is a matter of spacing and patience.
See the triptych
