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Art can elevate any space. Here are some suggestions for your selections from Danielle Castagna, interiors expert at Level Frames:
Make small rooms feel taller: “Vertical framing is a clever way to give the illusion of extra space without any structural changes. Hanging framed photos or prints arranged above one another naturally draws the eye upward, making ceilings feel higher,” she says.
Go bold in spacious rooms: “Oversized framed artwork can help avoid instances of bare walls, making rooms feel empty or overwhelming. By creating a focal point in the room, a single, dramatic canvas can balance scale and add instant impact,” adds Castagna.
Design for multipurpose living: “Homeowners with home offices or reading nooks tucked in the corner of their dining or living rooms can accent that portion of the walls with a different paint color and well-chosen wall decor to create visual boundaries — a room within a room,” she says. “Framed posters are a great option for this, helping to set the tone of the space.”
How to create a gallery wall
Don’t overdo it. “Incorporating fewer but larger elements in your gallery wall makes it easier to get started with a few main pieces you want to focus on,” Castagna explains. “No need to come up with 10 pieces right away, and you can always fill in with smaller artwork and photos as time goes on. The important thing is that each piece will have a greater impact on the room — always quality over quantity.”
Mix and match. “There can be a tendency when curating a gallery wall to stick to a certain style or color scheme, but quite often, the best displays incorporate lots of different elements to create a more natural-looking harmony,” she adds. “You can experiment with variations in frame size, color, and even the objects you’re framing — blending photographs, artwork, vinyls, posters and other memorabilia…”
Allow your gallery wall to grow with you. “There’s also a misconception that gallery walls are finite or set once hung. However, we’re now seeing a growing number of customers adding on to existing gallery walls and expanding them with new photos or artwork,” says Castagna. “This organic growth mirrors the natural progression of life, making your display both authentic and sentimental. You can continue to build an evolving gallery wall that you’ll love forever.”
Customized keepsakes add meaning
Castagna shares one collection from her own home. “This piece is my all-time favorite — it’s a series of matchbooks collected during my time living in New York City in my post-college days, which I framed back in 2020. My husband and I picked these up from our favorite bars and restaurants we frequented,” she says. “They’re a great reminder of and connection to that time, as each matchbook comes from a special place and has a story connected to it…It’s a great conversation starter when people come around, and it makes my husband and me happy every time we look at it.”
As she explains: “The matchbooks are floated above a white mat with a white frame, creating a bright canvas for the individual items to stand out on and receive the most focus. A white, gallery-style profile is also a versatile style that goes with almost any decor…”
The UV-protective acrylic glaze protects the matchbooks from fading over time with exposure to sunlight. “The fact that it’s also light and shatterproof makes it even easier to manage when moving locations on the wall or to a different ZIP code,” says Castagna.
“The piece is a perfect example of customizing and personalizing your decor to create sentimental pieces you’ll enjoy way longer than the next fleeting trend in interior design,” she adds. “That, for me, is the key to leveling up your home decor and really making a house a home.”
Go to levelframes.com.
Jeanine Matlow is a Metro Detroit interior decorator turned freelance writer specializing in stories about interior design. You can reach her at jeaninematlow@earthlink.net.
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