When decorating your home, stylish pictures and posters are essential. They can be placed almost anywhere in your home – in the kitchen, in the bedroom above the bed, or as a beautiful gallery wall behind the sofa in the living room. Dare to be creative when creating your gallery wall and choose a variety of favorite pictures to decorate with.
In this article, you will get inspiration and tips on how to set up a gallery wall behind the sofa. Before you can start your gallery wall, several decisions need to be made. How many posters are needed? Which frames are best? And which motifs work best behind the sofa? Remember that you can also use our gallery wall templates to get started.
How to Create a Stylish Gallery Wall Above the Sofa
Putting together a gallery wall can be a bit tricky – believe it or not. The gallery wall should match the room's other decor and blend in nicely. However, we are confident that creating your gallery wall will go smoothly with the help of a good guide.
Below, we go through all the choices that need to be made, and we explain how to choose the right pictures for your living room. We also suggest different methods you can use when hanging your art above the sofa.
How Should I Place the Pictures?
There are many ways to build a gallery wall. You could, for example, place one or a couple of posters in the middle and then build the gallery wall around these. Be sure to keep clear spaces between the pictures, which should preferably be equally sized.
It is important that the pictures do not end up too close to the sofa's backrest or even rest against it. The picture might be in the way when you sit on the sofa. There should also be no risk of hitting your head on the edge of the picture. If you want to be a bit more creative, you could let the pictures go down along the side of the sofa or all the way up to the ceiling.
Do you need more tips on what to consider when hanging pictures? Read our comprehensive guide to hanging pictures here.
How Do I Choose a Frame?
When choosing the type of frame for the pictures behind your sofa, you should base it on the room's other decor. If the sofa or any other furniture is in a stronger color, neutral frames that let the other decor stand out might be better. White or light wood frames are examples that fit well in these contexts.
You could also match the frames with the sofa or the room's other decor. Match the black sofa with black frames or choose oak frames in the same shade as the coffee table. If you have decorated the living room in a more glamorous theme, silver and gold frames fit perfectly.
At Posterton, you will find plenty of beautiful frames. Check out our entire range here.
How Do I Choose Posters and Motifs?
Choose posters in matching colors that work well with the rest of the decor. This does not mean that you have to choose motifs in exactly the same color, but you can look for posters with similar color accents to create a cohesive overall impression. If the room is neutrally decorated with an existing color theme, you can instead introduce a completely new color to the mix. This color should, of course, complement the other colors in a harmonious way.
When it comes to motifs, only your creativity sets the limits. Do not be afraid when choosing motifs; dare to mix and match your personal favorites. Why not mix more eye-catching photographs and paintings with neutral illustrations to create a beautiful balance? When the gallery wall is placed behind the sofa, it captures people's attention. Make sure to create a harmonious living room with stylish pictures that catch attention but do not take over too much.
Passepartout or White Margin
To create a harmonious gallery wall behind the sofa that is pleasant to look at, many people choose to include as much white as possible. You can, for example, choose a white margin between some of the motifs or add a passepartout. A passepartout is a piece of cardboard placed on top of the picture afterward and thus hides part of the motif.
We Share Inspiring Ideas
To make it even easier when setting up a gallery wall behind the sofa, we have provided several examples for inspiration. All posters and frames can be found at Posterton. Remember that you do not have to follow all the tips and rules when creating your gallery wall – the most important thing is that you are happy with the result.
Above, you see a medium-sized gallery wall where a larger poster is placed in the middle. The picture is surrounded by smaller motifs consisting of both photographs and illustrations. All posters have a sleek silver frame.
This is a slightly larger gallery wall where a large horizontal picture is placed in the middle. Smaller pictures in both horizontal and vertical formats are placed around it. All pictures have a black frame.
Here too, you see a larger gallery wall where all posters are equally sized and large. The pictures are lined up above and below a horizontal margin.
In this image, you see a large gallery wall that covers most of the wall. Here, larger and smaller posters are spread out over the surface. If you look closely, you can see that vertical margins have been used when placing the pictures. There is also a clear theme in the chosen motifs – black and white photographs that match the white decor.