Create The Perfect Marriage Of Art With A Gallery Wall Featuring Minted

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Getting married and becoming a new couple means a lot of things. Joining finances, discussing future plans, and… joint decorating. Funny thing, it always feels like it's the last one that drives couples to bicker!

Trust me. I know. I've been there. After my husband and I got married and started renovating our home, it felt like we endlessly fought over decor styles. He's very into what I call “dude art” – prints with horses, men fishing, and dead animal mounts.

My Top Tips For Creating An Art Gallery Wall That Represents Both Of You:

I am definitely more feminine and like color and abstract imagery. Combining the two is tricky but, using a few tricks that I've learned, it can be done.

Here's how to create the perfect marriage of art with a gallery wall featuring Minted!

Here's How:

Pick Your Favorites.

The first thing that you both need to do is decide on a specific number of pieces that you get to keep no matter what from what you already own. Seriously – no vetoing here but do be flexible on where the pieces go.

For example, while creating our art gallery wall, we each picked 5 pieces that we both loved. After picking out our favorites, we looked for art that complimented them.

It ended up that we each had a piece of art that just did not work with the gallery wall so we agree on different locations in the house where they would work.

That way, we each felt that our feelings and favorites were being recognized but no one felt forced to make a style happen that just wasn't working.

Find A Color Palette.

We touched on this in the above tip, but one easy way to make your art and their art work together is to look at color palettes. Are there colors that you can pull from each and use to find new art for the wall?

For example, I noticed that there were two ways that we could go with our color palette – neutrals or ocean colors. So, I hopped on over to Minted and used their color scheme tools to find artwork that fit into those palettes.

Then, I chose a handful from each that I thought would work with the pieces we had picked from our own favorites. I made up two different collages in Photoshop that grouped my pieces together by palette so we could see which way we were leaning.

It was really helpful because we didn't have to try and visualize how the pieces would work together – we could actually see them – you can see a better example of this below:

Find Mini Themes Or Symbolic Pieces.

In addition to finding pieces that work with your color scheme, you should also look for pieces within the palette that speak to your relationship.

For example, we selected pieces that represented locations important to us like, the Alamo (we live in San Antonio), a moose (we met in Alaska), some mountains (he loves the outdoors), and a few images from the beach/Los Angeles (I lived there for a while).

Other ideas are birthstones, state flowers, or interesting typography and quotes.

Embrace imperfection and dimension.

This is more for those of you wanting to do an more eclectic or informal look.

One fun way to make an art gallery wall look amazing is to include lots of handmade items, 3-D pieces, and different art materials.

For example, on our wall, we included one of my husband's favorite deer skulls, a few canvas images of the two of us, and a cut-out of the state we met in.

These kinds of things add personality and interest to your wall plus, they break up the potential monotony of frames.

Mismatched Frames OR All Matching Ones.

Since you're probably working with a wide variety of sizes, colors, dimensions, and mediums – finding frames can be tricky.

My best advice is to go all the same or all different. If you're looking at decorating with a more classic or very modern look then set up all the artwork with matching frames in all white or black.

It's very soothing to the eye and makes a powerful impact. This works really well if your art pieces are similar in size. For a more relaxed feel perfect for mid-century modern homes or farmhouse styles.

Also, if you'll be doing all mismatched frames, then look at doing a few pieces with a mat and a few without. It adds to the eclectic feel.

Create An Accent Wall.

Choose a wall with a purpose and one that is clearly a focal point in a room.

For example, we selected the wall that our couch goes on because it has clear perimeters (the entry to kitchen on one side and the hallway on the other) and the logical place for our sofa to go.

The wall is covered in 1980's paneling and, since we don't have the budget right now to drywall it, we opted to paint it a deep blue color to make it really stand out.

Painting or adding shiplap, faux brick, or trim to a focal wall is simply adding another layer of art to your gallery wall.

Spacing is key.

The negative space in between your artwork is as important as the art itself. Whether you pick a narrow spacing or a wider look – the spacing acts as a frame outside the framed artwork.

Personally, I love a narrow space in between my art but others love 4-6″ in between. It's entirely up to you and what looks good in your eyes. The only key thing here is to keep the spacing uniform.

Either do all narrow or all wide – it can be tricky to mix the two so, for now, stick with one or the other.

Getting It On The Wall.

Straight up. This is THE WORST part of this whole deal. This is the part that made us get frustrated and start bickering. From figuring out the layout to getting each art piece up on the wall – it was rough.

BUT! So, so worth it and necessary so suck it up and just do it. The easiest way to create the layout of your gallery wall is to create a spot on the floor that's is the exact same size as what you have to work with.

I laid out a dropcloth that was the same size but you can easily tape off a rectangle on the floor. Then, start plucking art down. Move things around and look for an arrangement that you love.

I find that putting the biggest piece in the middle and working out from it is easiest for me but you do you. Once the arrangement is done, use a tape measure, level, pencil, and picture mounts and/or 3M strips to hang them on the wall.

Again, for me, the easiest way to do this was to work from the middle out. We hung the middle piece in the middle row first and worked out, one side and row at a time, from there.

3M strips are awesome with this because, if you hang a picture slightly crooked – you can just readjust it as needed.

“Always Love” Art Print // Photo Booth Strips Art (Ours) // “Golden Palm Tree” Art Print // Large Metal “D” (Ours) // Canvas Print (Ours) // Deer Skull (Ours) // Alaska “Home” Cutout (Ours) // “Blush Blossoms” Art Print // “Broad Shoulders” Art Print // “LIVE WHAT YOU LOVE” Art Print (Ours) // “Ombre Sky” Art Print // “Aspens at Altitude” Art Print // Canvas Print (Ours) // Oil Painting (Ours) // “The Alamo” Art Print // “Happiness Factory” Art Print (Ours) // “Wetland” Art Print // “Silver Moose” Art Print

So, which art pieces are you looking to join in a perfect marriage in your home? Which prints from Minted do you think would work with them?

Do you have a particularly tricky favorite piece that you're trying to work with and I make a few Minted suggestions for you? Fire away in the comments!