I love gallery walls. When I started researching this post I realised I have about half a dozen gallery walls in my home itself. Some of them are mini galleries, having three to four gallery wall items, but they are gallery walls nonetheless.

Another thing I realised was that I will never fit in everything there is to be said about gallery walls in a single post. There are so many questions about gallery walls that need to be answered. What should you put in a gallery? How should you frame it? How do you plan the layout?

17 Exciting Gallery Wall Items

So today, in the first of our series on gallery wall posts, we talk about what we can use to make a gallery wall. Nope, it doesn’t have to just be photographs. In fact, we’re going to list down 17+ exciting gallery wall items today and see pics of some really amazing gallery walls. Let’s get started.

1 – Photographs

Okay, you’re right. I just said you don’t have to only use photographs. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use photographs at all. You can make some really beautiful… and meaningful… gallery walls, using photographs.

Putting up photos of your loved ones is a warm way to personalise your home.

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You could use a collection of black and white photos as above, or add some colour as below.

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Maybe add pictures from holidays and travel along with the portraits to relive your beautiful memories.

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Or use abstract photography, whether your own or purchased as art, as we did in Krishna’s greige kitchen.

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2 – Artwork

Artwork makes for wonderful gallery walls too. Very often the wall space you have is disproportionately larger than your piece of art. What you can do then, is to use multiple pieces of art to fill up the empty space, as you can see in my home below.

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We used the exact same trick to fill up this large wall above the sofa in our boho living room.

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And we used many small pieces of art on this wall in my mom’s home office.

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3 – Posters

Posters look great in a gallery and are a good way to personalise your space too.

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You might collect vintage posters of a certain time or style you like.

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They could be posters of your favourite movies or rock bands, like these that our teen had collected for his bedroom.

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You could even use covers of your favourite magazines or books to make an unusual and unique space for yourself.

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4 – Postcards

Use a collection of postcards or greeting cards that you love, to make yourself a gallery wall.

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They could be postcards you have collected over time or a set you bought at one go on a vacation.

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Or you could just search for and buy postcards of a specific place, thing, mood or colour to go with your interests or decor.

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5 – Typography & Signs

Calligraphy is an exquisite art form on its own and so using it as art works in two ways. The graceful lettering and meaningful words create beauty you can see and feel.

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You can use a collection of signs to motivate and inspire, as seen in the set above. Or you could create a certain mood, like the feeling of warmth and togetherness created in the entryway below.

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The Scrabble tiles used to create this name grid is another lovely way to display affection and closeness.

Source (I could only trace this pic to Pinterest. Any help to credit the rightful owner will be welcome)

Your signs could be in wood, metal, painted, embossed or any way you like them.

Source (I could only trace this pic to Pinterest. Any help to credit the rightful owner will be welcome)

You can mix them up with your art and photographs to create strong and direct messages.

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6 – Mirrors

One of the easiest to use on our list of gallery wall items is mirrors. Take plain mirrors, put them in the simplest of frames and group them on your wall and it will instantly look glamorous.

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You could buy multiple ready mirrors in pretty frames and use them together to create an easy gallery wall.

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Line them up to down to fill up a vertical wall or put them side by side to fill up a horizontal space.

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Try out various configurations and be open to experimenting with layouts.

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You can group them together by using similar frames in different shapes.

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Or a variety of different styles, but in the same colour, material or finish.

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I love how they are layered on top of each other in this stunning gallery wall below.

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You could also use hand mirrors for an additional quirky quotient!

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7 – Wall Plates

Wall plates make another charming gallery wall item, and there are so many ways in which to use them. The easiest is to use a set of similar size and colour and lay it out in a simple grid.

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Depending on the space you have, you can try various shapes in which to lay them out.

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Try to use plates of various shapes and experiment a little with the colour tone if you want a little variety in your gallery.

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Again, using symmetry is an easy way to get it right.

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If you are a little bolder, you could try different colours laid out asymmetrically as we did in our boho living room.

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This glorious gallery wall below is a much bigger, bolder and better example of the same.

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8 – Masks

Face masks make for very intriguing gallery walls. If they are masks you have collected over time from various parts of the world your wall will be a wonderful collection of memories and a great conversation starter too.

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Though wooden masks are the most common, you can get masks in a huge variety of colours, materials and craftsmanship.

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And as with all gallery walls, your mask wall can be as big or small as you would like it to be.

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9 – Tiles

It is easy to use tiles for wall decor too, as you can get them in so many colours, patterns and designs. When you aren’t sure of how to fill up empty wall space it can be an option that is inexpensive and easy to customise as per your design.

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You could use designer ceramic tiles that you will find easily at your local tile shop, or various others that are specifically meant for wall decor. These could be hand painted wooden tiles.

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Or 3-D ceramic tiles that are made as art work, like these we used in our neutral bedroom.

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Or tiles like these which we used in our pretty nursery.

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10 – Baskets

Another easy and flexible to use gallery wall item is baskets. You get them in various sizes, colours and styles to go with your decor.

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Use them over your sofa in your living room,

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over a console table or sideboard,

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or even behind your bed.

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You could lay them out to lie at the centre of your space.

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or asymmetrically to one side. Baskets look great in every way possible.

Source (I could only trace this pic to Pinterest. Any help to credit the rightful owner will be welcome)

11 – Hats

Yes, you read that right. As we go further you’ll see how the most mundane, everyday, functional items when put together artistically can become a piece of art. Starting with the hat.

Source (I could only trace this pic to Pinterest. Any help to credit the rightful owner will be welcome)

Line them up in one single line, or put them together to make a collage.

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Use various sizes, materials and textures to make even a monochromatic collection interesting.

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They can look fiercely masculine…

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… and delicately feminine, depending on the colours and style you choose.

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12 – Kitchenware

Didn’t I just talk about using everyday essentials as works of arts? Let’s start with kitchen essentials.

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First up is the humble spoon. Arrange them in patterns, either by themselves..

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… or along with art work and they make such a unique style statement.

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Did you ever think a collection of chopping boards could be considered art?

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Add some baskets and cutters and you have the perfect kitchen gallery wall.

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While we’re at it, let’s not forget to include our pots and pans.

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Arranging your kitchenware aesthetically in the open saves you storage space, gives you easy access to your essentials and also looks great!

13 – Books

Planning to get rid of some old books? Hang on and go through our next set of gallery wall ideas before you do.

Source (I could only trace this pic to Pinterest. Any help to credit the rightful owner will be welcome)

Arrange your favourite books along your gallery wall. Isn’t it interesting how you could flip through different pages every time you pass by? You could mark your favourite passage in one, or pin it open to the most exciting chapter in the other.

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Love how some beautiful calligraphy has been added to this unique gallery wall.

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And though I’ve added this to our collection of gallery wall ideas, it wouldn’t be right to call this a gallery wall. This one is a work of art.

Source (I could only trace this pic to Pinterest. Any help to credit the rightful owner will be welcome)

14 – Plants

Yes, as with almost every post I ever write, I’m back to plants. It can’t get much better than a living gallery wall. You could use shelves to line up the plants along your wall.

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Or use wall planters in a pattern to directly fix the plants to the wall.

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Or even use baskets to hold them.

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15 – Functional Items

The thing with gallery walls is that the way you lay them out makes them a piece of art, so the gallery wall items need not necessarily be art themselves. You can take all the things you need on a daily basis and put them together to look pretty.

Take this entryway for instance. A chalk board, a weekly calender, and baskets for letters combine with some typography to make this lovely gallery wall.

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A blackboard and a basket with hooks combine with some decoratives to make a useful gallery wall in this kitchen.

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Can you see anything decorative at all on this gallery wall below? All the items are essential, and yet such a lovely wall this is.

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16 – Just About Anything

This  means, you can take anything at all that you can think of, and lay it out artistically to make a beautiful gallery wall.

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Are you a sports enthusiast? How about using your old rackets, bats or gloves to make a gallery wall?

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Do you like to travel? Maybe you can use a collection of maps.

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Or how about a stuffed toy gallery wall in your baby’s room?

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Even empty frames without any art at all can be put together to make a piece of art.

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Yes, anything at all that is close to your heart can be used as an exciting gallery wall item.

17 – Mix It Up!

Finally, your gallery wall doesn’t have to be about any one of these items. You could take one of this and another of that and use all the items you love to make your very own personalised gallery wall.

You’ve seen me use a mix of wooden carvings, masks and baskets in the gallery wall in my balcony.

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While a vintage carved panel combines with a boho mirror and Tanjore paintings in my living room.

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Typography, artwork and that beautiful brass deer head come together to make this stunning gallery wall here.

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Brass keys, a macrame hanging, baskets, wooden carvings and plants all come to make this sensational wall a very personal space for Raina.

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And I love the quirky touch of the little red lantern in this gallery wall.

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So that, finally, answers the question as to what items you can use in a gallery wall.

The answer? Anything.

Use things you love, give some thought to laying them out artistically and you’ll have a space decorated to be yours by being truly unique to you.

The other thing I love about gallery walls is how flexible they are. Change the items as per your mood, add or subtract from the wall as you go along, and the wall will change over time and evolve with you.

So go ahead and collect everything you want to put in your gallery wall. Once you’ve done that, click here for 11 ways in which you can layout your gallery and here for so many ideas on how to frame them. Go ahead.. make those stunning galleries!

Until then,