How to: Create a Staircase Gallery Wall

With the trend for the gallery wall, or salon hang, being more popular than ever; we turned to art lover and interiors addict, Sinead Doyle from Belfast. Sinead shared her top five tips on curating and hanging a statement gallery wall for one of the trickiest areas of the home – the staircase. Pulling from her experience of creating her own impactful display of bright, striking works; read on to learn how to create a stunning staircase gallery wall in your own home.

TOP FIVE TIPS TO CREATE A STAIRCASE GALLERY WALL

Hi, I’m Sinead. I’m passionate about art and decor. I blog about making our first house a home, my love of art and all things interiors. In this guest blog, I’ll explain how we created our staircase gallery wall – a statement feature in the heart of our home.

1. Throw out the Rule Book

The first thing you need to know about creating a gallery wall is, there are no rules. The art you choose will always come down to personal taste.

Like everything in life, tastes vary. Some people are drawn to the simplicity of clean lines and monochrome schemes, whilst others want bold, bright pops of colour. There’s no right or wrong; just what works for you and your home.

You don’t need to have 50 super expensive framed pieces of art to start hanging a gallery wall. Art can absolutely be affordable; you can create a gallery wall on any budget. You can also add to and mix up your collection as your taste evolves, just like a real gallery.

2. Curate your Collection

The art you hang in your home can say a lot about you – it’s like a little window into your personality: your loves, beliefs, interests, where you’ve been, the music you like and the people that inspire you. It tells a story and can spark a conversation when people visit your home.

When creating my gallery wall, I wanted to add a splash of colour to our otherwise quite muted white and grey hallway. Like many homes, the staircase is the first thing you see when you walk through the front door, so from day one, I had my heart set on creating a statement floor to ceiling hang that would become a talking point in our home.

When choosing art, my advice is always to choose pieces that speak to you. Find artworks that resonate or signify something important to you; pieces that remind you of a happy moment and, most importantly, that make you smile.

3. Don’t Be Afraid to Mix it Up

The most impactful gallery walls have lots of variety; pieces of different sizes and shapes, different mediums, styles and colourways. Personally, I’m drawn to bight pops of colour, collage and, in some cases, typography in artwork if the message resonates.

Our gallery wall features screen prints, original artworks and collages alongside a few personal photos, mementos and keepsakes.

One of my favourite pieces is a limited edition Party Like it’s 1999 screen print by the legendary Dave Buonaguidi. The piece features his signature fluorescent neon pink typeface over a dazzling red glitter backdrop and was part of a collaboration with Jealous London last year to celebrate the Affordable Art Fair’s 20th anniversary in 2019.

Some of the more recent pieces we’ve added, including pieces by Michelle Thompson and Adam Bridgland, were purchased during lockdown and will always remind me of this strange time in our lives.

To create a truly wall to ceiling hang, we still have to fill a lot of empty wall space. For me, that’s all part of the fun – knowing that we still have new pieces of art to discover and hang. I hope to get to the next Affordable Art Fair in London to pick up a few shiny new things to add to our home gallery. Looking at their galleries, there are already quite a few pieces on my wish list.

Michelle Thompson’s latest limited edition print, ‘Wish You Were Here’, is definitely an artwork I have my eye on. I have a few of Michelle’s pieces and I love how she uses found materials from old books, newspapers and magazines in her mixed material artworks. There’s a palpable feeling of nostalgia in her work.

Amy Gardner is another artist that I have been fangirling for a while now. I love her bold use of colour and the ‘women supporting women’ ethos that runs through her works, like ‘Behind Every Strong Woman’ and ‘Sister Souls’.

Tim Fowler’s stunning hand finished limited edition prints of his stunning paintings are also on the wish list – I particularly love his colourful depiction of Nina Simone. I’ve also got my eyes on a few works by Jo Hummel, including her ‘Plomb’ collage. I love Anne Storno’s colourful screen prints, including, ‘The Secret Woman.‘

4. In the Frame

The questions I get asked most on Instagram are around how I approach framing art for our gallery walls. If you have a really special piece of art, a huge piece, or it’s a peculiar shape/size, I would definitely advise professional framing.

If you have a lot of art to work with, as will be the case with a gallery wall, that can be pricy. I tend to frame smaller, inexpensive pieces (up to about A3) that fit off the shelf frames myself. Everything else, I tend to get done professionally. However, I would say that art is better framed in any frame and up on your wall, rather than sitting in the tube it came in and not being enjoyed.

The Affordable Art Fair’s How to Frame for Your Budget blog has excellent further framing advice.

5. Plot it Out & Hang It

When it comes to hanging gallery walls, some people just start hammering nails and hoping for the best. I’m slightly more methodical than that, and like to have a plan about where each piece will go. I think investing a little time at this stage is worthwhile and helps create a more polished gallery wall.

Start by laying out all of your frames on the floor, considering the placement and which pieces will complement each other, or conversely, that will provide the contrast you’re looking for. To make sure the pieces work in situ, stick paper templates the approximate size of each frame loosely to the wall. Take a step back and check that you’re happy before you start drilling any holes. For heavy frames, make sure to use proper wall plugs and screw fixings; lighter items will be fine with a small picture hook or nail knocked into the wall.

Once you’re done, stand back, admire and enjoy. Our gallery wall brings a smile to my face every single day. I can’t wait to add more to it.

Such fantastic advice, thank you Sinead! We can’t wait to get started on our own staircases. If you’ve been inspired by her top tips, why not browse with your staircase gallery in mind at your next Affordable Art Fair. Oh, and don’t forget to send us pics on socials to share the love.

Featured art from first to last:
Michelle Thomspon, Life Is Cleaner, 2020, Digital Print, H 50 cm x W 40 cm x D .01 cm, £120, Liberty Gallery

Adam Bridgland, I Need This Wilderness (Empire State Blue), 2019, Signed, H 75 cm x W 55 cm x D 0.1 cm, £300, TAG Fine Arts

Michelle Thomspon, Wish You Were here, 2020, Mixed-Media, H 42 cm x W 29.6 cm x D .01 cm, £175, Liberty Gallery

Michelle Thomspon, Wish You Were here, 2020, Mixed-Media, H 42 cm x W 29.6 cm x D .01 cm, £175, Liberty Gallery

Amy Gardner, Behind Every Strong Woman, 2019, Silkscreen Print, H 50 cm x W 50 cm x D .01 cm, £340, Liberty Gallery

Tim Fowler, Nina Simone (plant), 2018, Giclee, H 90.5 cm x W 73.5 cm x D 0.1 cm, £300, StudionAme

Jo Hummel, Plomb, 2018, Household Paint, H 26 cm x W 18 cm x D .01 cm, £225, Liberty Gallery

Anne Storno, The Secret Woman, 2017, Silkscreen Print, H 40 cm x W 30 cm x D 0.1 cm £160, ContemporArti