When I was a little girl, I dreamt of being an artist when I grew up.
It was inconceivable that I’d be anything else, to be honest, as I spent my days drawing, painting and colouring.
Then when I was a little bit bigger I studied for an art A’Level, followed by a graphic design course at art college, before finally leaving home and doing a degree in Illustration in London.
A creative career was definitely on the cards, from a relatively early age.
But whilst I do still paint very occasionally — and I also create prints and paper-cuts to sell in my little shop — I certainly wouldn’t consider myself an artist. Designer, yes, definitely. Artist? Sadly not.
But I still love art — in all it’s forms. I’ve always got such a buzz from going to a gallery; seeing an exhibition wall filled with amazing images is one of my favourite things to do but given the fact we don’t live in a city anymore, trips to galleries are few and far between these days.
So I have decided to create my own gallery wall at home.
We went to a lovely hotel, in the Cotswolds, a couple of weeks ago and one of the things that I loved the most was a gallery wall they’d created up the main staircase.
It has given me the inspiration to do the same at home.
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Creating a Gallery Wall at Home
I LOVE the dark painted wall in the picture above. But I’m envisaging charcoal grey or perhaps navy on our own staircase (I’m thinking ‘Drawing Room Blue’ by Farrow and Ball). Or maybe Downpipe.
With a wall filled with glorious colourful and graphic art, that will really make an impact and look amazing against the dark background.
I’ve tracked down a fab website called King & McGaw, where you can buy the most fantastic range of art prints.
They’ve a huge selection. Everything from modern — abstract, pop art and Bauhaus — to photography prints, typography based prints and even street art reproductions.
There’s such a wealth of beautiful imagery, that I’ve really struggled to narrow down my favourite pieces. But given the fact that I’ve always been obsessed by colour, my magpie tendencies draw me straight to the riot of beautiful shades in Amy Sia’s work.
And my love for all things graphic has also seen me obsessing over these gorgeous bold prints by Inaluxe.
So to try and see if this mix of styles would work (particularly in the kind of setting that I’m imagining them in) I found an image of a hallway, with a similar feel to ours, on Pinterest.
Then with a little bit of Photoshop trickery I’ve created a mock up of how our gallery wall could look.
It’s so eye-catching and such a gorgeous riot of colour.
I don’t think my eyes would ever tire of looking at such a fantastic display; it would be like going to an art exhibition every-time I went up and down the stairs! And it also goes to show that a mix of graphic prints, combined with less regimented, painted pieces work really well together.
I can feel a painting weekend coming on ;)
Watch this space.
Caro Davies is a former art-director turned writer and content-creator, and editor behind UK lifestyle blog The Listed Home. She writes about home-related topics, from interiors and DIY to food and craft. The Listed Home has been featured in various publications, including Ideal Home, Grazia, and Homes & Antiques magazines.
Love these ideas – we have yet to decorate our hallway but a gallery wall would be lovely – and a great way to liven up a boring spec too! I like the thought of lots of family pictures and kids picture like in Brothers & Sister TV show…. And, I would totally call you an artist! #HomeEtc
I got totally carried away on their site — SO many lovely pieces to pick from!! I could spend a small fortune :) We’ve got a photo gallery wall up at the mo but we’ve had it for nearly a decade now — I fancy a change :) xx
Such bright and fantastic colours! I’d love the million stories on my wall! I’ve yet to put our gallery wall back up since we moved (ahem 2 years ago) x
Haha!! I’m just as bad — we’ve been here for 5 years and we’re still no nearer to finishing our home improvements ;)
It’ll look fantastic. We’re currently planning something similar in our hall and up the stairs, though we’ll need to go for a light colour as it’s such a dark place. I love using a mix of new prints, old paintings and prints, photos, ephemera… #HomeEtc
Ooh I can’t wait to see yours Lizzie!! Ours is currently all black and white photos in frames but I REALLY fancy a change! :)
I really love green interiors at the moment and that dark green used in that gallery wall is perfect! It must have been a lovely hotel. I really like the art you’ve chosen, the watercolour one is very pretty indeed! #HomeEtc
I agree Nancy — the bottle green wall is lovely — I was so struck by how they’d arranged their prints too. Can’t wait to recreate it — and put my own spin on it — at home :)
Ooh, that does look beautiful. Actually much more beautiful than I envisioned when you described it. My mum is an artist. Her paintings aren’t abstract as such but she does paint these vivid, bright colours that I love on huge canvases. I wish I’d inherited half her talent!x
Aaah that’s so lucky!! You should create a gallery wall with her paintings Natalie!! That would be amazing!!!!! And so personal too xx
Oooh Caro, you have inspired me… I’m already planning what pieces I can put onto my suede painted chimney breast…
Blimey! Check you with your ‘suede effect’ chimney breast!! :) I’m impressed — and shall expect to see a full report when you’ve created your masterpiece!! :) xx
Aah I WISH I’d had the option!!! Business — or anything academic (apart from English lit and language studies) — is just not in my blood!! There was not a choice about whether I went down the creative route. It’s the only thing I know!! ;)
Oooh, that sounds fab – love the prints you’ve chosen and against a dark background they’ll be even fab-ber! thanks for hosting #homeetc xx
Thanks so much lovely!! Can’t wait to do it for real! :)