Don't Be Afraid To Go 3D With Your Gallery Wall

If you have a large, blank wall or long hallway in your home that has yet to be decorated, you may be considering setting up a gallery wall. Gallery walls, however, don't need to be located in traditional stretches of blank space in your home; as The Zoe Report explains, gallery walls can be smaller collections of art pieces that are clustered over your bedroom dresser or even wrap around across two walls in corners of rooms. This quality highlights an essential feature of the gallery wall — it can really be whatever you want it to be.

Gallery walls can be comprised of different pieces of art, personal photos, or posters. But one of the newest trends in gallery walls is also one of the most striking: moving beyond the mold of two-dimensional components altogether. Gallery walls today are also incorporating 3D aspects, and the sky is truly the limit when it comes to what that can include, from showing off collections of trinkets to displaying components of your hobbies and interests within the wall itself.

If you want to add some eye-catching 3D pieces to your gallery wall, it can be helpful to think outside the box in terms of what's usually considered "art." There are some areas of traditional artwork that include 3D aspects, of course, such as wooden carvings and sculptures made of metal or other materials. However, you can also be creative by using floating shelves to incorporate 3D display areas for smaller items like plants, books, or figurines. One classic example of a 3D component of a gallery wall is a large painted letter, such as the first letter of your family's last name.

According to The Zoe Report, gallery walls are great areas to highlight collections; maybe you want to display your seashell collection or your collection of decorative plates. The great thing about such a collection display is that it often automatically captures one of the key features of a good gallery wall: variety in terms of shape, color, and texture. Don't be afraid to branch out even further and include more funky items on your wall that highlight your personality and/or interests. For example, if you like skiing or other winter sports, maybe there's a way to incorporate artwork made from skis or ski poles.

Whether you decide to include 3D pieces in your gallery wall or not, it's important to keep in mind some crucial steps to building a gallery wall that looks intentional, as opposed to one where it appears as though you hung up a bunch of stuff willy-nilly.

To begin, start by arranging your gallery wall's largest piece(s) and then filling in the gaps between with smaller items. Since 3D aspects can often be the bigger components of a gallery wall (and are also usually a lot more complicated to mount or hang up), start with these items and then go from there. Larger pieces usually look most appealing when they're hung in either the center of a gallery wall or one of its four corners for a more visually anchoring design.

If you do plan to make 3D art part of your gallery wall, make sure other aspects of your room highlight the details and differences in the texture and shape of your art pieces. The Zoe Report recommends carefully considering both the background color of your wall itself, which can help make your items pop, as well as the lighting in the larger space as a whole. You can make the most of your gallery wall by specifically angling your lighting options to highlight the contrast between your 3D and 2D pieces.