We’d been wanting to do a gallery wall in the hallway for the longest time, and this Bank Holiday weekend, we finally did! Anyone who’s renting is familiar with the drabness and sparseness of rented houses, and it’s at its worst in our hallway. We can’t yet afford to get all our prints framed (thanks to the Home Office bleeding us dry just for the privilege of being together…oh well!) but that doesn’t mean we have to live with gloomy, bare walls!
The before
Poster paper and masking tape backing
We used removable hanging strips to put up the prints, they’re an absolute blessing for renters as they don’t leave a single mark behind! I generally use the Command Poster Strips which are a bit pricey, but you can find the best deals on them and other DIY essentials on Wikibuy. I backed the prints with poster paper and masking tape and then attached the hanging strips onto them. We do want to get all the prints framed at some point and didn’t want to accidentally damage the paper, the poster paper backing was the perfect solution.
Trial positioning with masking tape
Final positioning
To put together the gallery wall, we did a trial positioning using masking tape. It took quite a few tries before we found an arrangement we were happy with! (Please make sure to use masking tape and not any other kind if you’re doing this, masking tape is designed to remove cleanly unlike even washi tape.) Once we had our gallery wall arranged, we took down all the prints, attached hanging strips to all of them, and using the photo as a reference put them back up in their final places.
Most of the prints here are from Redbubble, a couple of them are in fact from my first Redbubble campaign in 2016! There are two original paintings by Owen, a print from my friend and former housemate Ojoswi, and a print of Monet’s waterlilies that I’ve had for years now!
Clockwise, from top left: Gumnuts and Eucalyptus III by ThistleandFox, Coffee Makers by MonooPrints, Untitled by TheImpostorCalledOz, Whales by Amy Hamilton, For You by Owen Gilfellon, Unicorn Land by Elenor27, Smells Like Coffee By The Ocean by Barbarian, 30 Flowers by Owen Gilfellon, Waterlily Pond by Monet.
To finish up, we repositioned one of our bookshelves in front of the wall, complete with a plant or two. I just love the transformation from what it used to be, it looks like a totally different space! Honestly, doing up a new home is expensive, and although we can’t always have everything as polished and sleek and aspirational as I’d like it to be, I’d always pick a colourful, DIY, higgedly piggeldy, lived-in space over a cold, empty, lifeless one. So if you have art, prints, anything lying around that you’re waiting to someday frame before putting up on your wall, don’t! Get some hanging strips and add some colour to your space right now – it’s going to look great.
