How to plan a gallery wall that doesn't look accidental

A gallery wall reads well when it has one organising rule and sticks to it. That can be a shared centre line, a consistent gap, or a common frame finish — but pick one and hold it across every piece.

Spacing is where most arrangements go wrong. Somewhere between 50 and 80mm between frames usually looks intentional; much wider and the group stops reading as a single composition.

Before touching a hammer, cut paper templates to the size of each frame and tape them to the wall. Live with the arrangement for a day. It costs nothing to move paper and a great deal to move nail holes.

Hang the centre of the group at roughly eye level — about 1.45m from the floor — rather than centring on the wall itself. Walls vary; eye level does not.