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Grid Gallery Wall Reveal (and How To Hang Gallery Wall)

Curious how to hang a gallery wall? In this post, we'll teach you the best way to hang a grid gallery wall and reveal our family photo wall with square wooden frames.

This article contains affiliate links, but nothing that I wouldn’t wholeheartedly recommend anyway! Read my full disclosure here.

Have you been following along as I’ve been giving our hallway a little makeover? It’s been pretty small, but meaningful changes.

First up, I painted this wall this dark gray color to provide a little moody contrast and I LOVE it.

Next, I got rid of an old sewing machine by our back door and hung this super easy wicker basket wall, and put this green boho cabinet under it (which was a fun thrift store upcycle I did last year).

Then I gave this metal bin from a thrift store a makeover and turned it into a wall planter with touches of leather and a gorgeous faux stem.

One of the last things I have planned for this little hallway makeover is to hang up some family pictures that we recently had taken.

1. Choose your photos.

To keep things consistent, you can either choose pictures all from the same photo session. That way the colors and editing style in all of the photos will be the same.

Alternatively, you could also edit the photos to make them more consistent with black and white or other filters. Black and white family picture walls are very trendy!

2. Choose your frame size.

This is going to depend a lot on the space that you’re hanging the grid gallery wall in. When it doubt, go larger. I opted for a grid of 9 square 12×12 picture frames.

3. Choose your frame shape (and why square frames are the best option!)

You’ll see in our grid gallery wall that I went with these 12×12 square picture frames. There’s a very specific reason that I think square frames are the single best option for family picture walls.

With square picture frames, you can use either horizontal or vertical photos! Genius, right??

When I selected our pictures, there were some of my favorites that were vertical and some that were horizontal. With square picture frames, you don’t have to compromise!

4. Get photos printed

I chose to get our pictures printed at Walmart and it was an affordable and easy process. They were roughly $8 each to order online and were shipped directly to my house, easy peasy! I ordered 12×12 “poster” prints from Walmart.

Once they arrive, they will be rolled up. I flattened them under some heavy books for the day and they were perfectly fine.

5. Put photos in frames

Unpack your frames and put each photo in the frame. Be sure to clean the glass with some glass cleaner if there are any marks.

How to create a grid gallery wall using painter's tape, a level, and wood picture frames

Now, these frames come with built-in hangers on the back – which makes the hanging process SO much easier. There’s one sawtooth hanger in the middle of the back of the frame (see picture below to see what the back of the picture frame looks like).

No need to line up keyholes on each side of the frame either – but if you do need to do that here’s my favorite picture hanging hack that makes it way easier!

Rotating paddles and picture hooks are the easiest way to hang wood picture frames
  • I did the math to figure out the rough boundaries of the grid gallery wall with the spacing that I wanted (which is 4 inches in between frames if you are wondering).
  • I put painter’s tape on the edges of the boundary on the wall and made sure that was level.
  • I was using these wall hangers, which just get pushed into the wall. I figured out that when the frame was hanging on the hook, it was only about 1/2 inch from the top of the frame to the top of the hook and then I measure how from the edge of the frame the hanger was. Using those two simple measurements from the boundary marks I put in the hook for the very top left frame followed by the top right frame.
  • Once the outside corner frames are in, you simply measure the distance between the two frames and divide by two to find the middle. That’s where you put the next hook.
  • Next, you’ll move on to the middle row. Measure the distance from the bottom edge of the frames on the top row and put your painter’s tape at the right distance on the wall. Make sure your painter’s tape is put on the wall nice and level so that the frames are lined up straight.
  • Continue the process of putting the hooks in the wall and using your painter’s tape to make sure to keep things level.
  • Repeat the process with the bottom row of the grid gallery wall.
The tool-free picture hangers I used to create my family gallery wall.
A side view of a grid gallery wall, created with 9 wood picture frames ina  grid pattern

I’m so obsessed with how the grid gallery wall turned out!

I love the look of our new grid gallery wall and how it contrasts with the wicker basket wall right next to it
When creating a grid gallery wall, it's important that all the spaces between the photos are perfectly even

See how nice and straight the picture frames are hung!

A perfectly measured grid gallery wall hanging against a dark painted wall
Here's how to create a perfectly spaced grid gallery wall

So SO glad that we decided to paint the wall this darker moody color, it really makes the photos POP, don’t you think?

A 3 by 3 grid gallery wall with wooden frames
Our modern boho style entry way, complete with a grid gallery wall and wicker basket wall
How to create a 3 by 3 grid photo gallery wall with wooden picture frames

Let us know in the comments below!

How to create a grid style family photo wall with wooden picture frames
How To Hang A Grid Gallery Wall

How To Hang A Grid Gallery Wall

Active Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy
Estimated Cost: $245
Curious how to hang a gallery wall? In this post, we’ll teach you the best way to hang a grid gallery wall and reveal our family photo wall with square wooden frames.

Tools

  • Tape measure
  • Level
  • Painter's tape

Instructions

    1. Choose your photos.
    2. Choose your frame size.
    3. Choose your frame shape. I found the squares are perfect because you can use horizontal or vertical images!
    4. Get photos printed.
    5. Put photos in frames (be sure to clean glass).
    6. Hang frames in grid shape.

Notes

Here’s what I did to hang the picture frames:

  • I did the math to figure out the rough boundaries of the grid gallery wall with the spacing that I wanted (which is 4 inches in between frames if you are wondering).
  • I put painter’s tape on the edges of the boundary on the wall and made sure that was level.
  • I was using these wall hangers, which just get pushed into the wall. I figured out that when the frame was hanging on the hook, it was only about 1/2 inch from the top of the frame to the top of the hook and then I measure how from the edge of the frame the hanger was. Using those two simple measurements from the boundary marks I put in the hook for the very top left frame followed by the top right frame.
  • Once the outside corner frames are in, you simply measure the distance between the two frames and divide by two to find the middle. That’s where you put the next hook.
  • Next you’ll move on to the middle row. Measure the distance from the bottom edge of the frames on the top row and put your painter’s tape at the right distance on the wall. Make sure your painter’s tape is put on the wall nice and level so that the frames are lined up straight.
  • Continue the process of putting the hooks in the wall and using your painter’s tape to make sure to keep things level.
  • Repeat the process with the bottom row of the grid gallery wall.

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