Gallery walls are trending again for 2026, but they have a fresh new twist – this is how I made the 'everyday exhibits' trend work in my kitchen
Be re-inspired to try out this classic wall decor idea
I bought my first home last year, and as a maximalist by nature, I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist adding a gallery wall or two it. However, after coming across one too many identical gallery wall sets on the high street and on social media, I was nervous my gallery wall ideas would end up looking equally 'dated' and unoriginal.
Thankfully, I quickly did away with my fear that gallery wall ideas were on their way out of fashion when I noticed a new, refreshed version of them popping up on my Instagram feed. Curated wall displays are more popular than ever, but the new interpretation is more laid-back and eclectic, mixing everything from textiles to ceramics in one unique personal exhibition.
This shifting look in gallery walls is something the trend experts at Etsy have also picked up on, announcing ‘Everyday Exhibits’ as one of their key trends for Spring and Summer 2026.
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‘For 2026, we’re seeing the traditional gallery wall become a lot more relaxed. Instead of perfectly matched frames and symmetrical layouts, people are leaning into something that feels personal and more lived in,’ says Etsy’s Trend Expert Dayna Isom Johnson.
‘There’s a shift towards a ‘collected over time’ look, mixing different frame styles like vintage wood and aged metals. Etsy search data reflects this too, with interest in gallery prints up 80% and decorative mirrors up 50%, as people look to add more depth and texture to their walls.’
Artfully Walls, one of the brands that has helped champion the new approach to gallery walls, agrees that the trick to keeping it looking fresh is not to overthink it.
'People tend to overthink the process of curating a gallery wall and stress themselves out. Don't worry about how a wall "should" look. There are no rules here!' says Cathy Glazer, CEO and Founder at Artfully Walls.
'At the end of the day, it's very easy to touch up a small nail hole in a wall, so go ahead and experiment to see what looks and feels right to you.'
'Having said that, we do have a few tips to help keep gallery walls feeling fresh and chic,' she adds. 'We suggest mixing styles and mediums. For example, try pairing a line drawing with an oil portrait and a landscape, or combine a photo with an abstract painting and a piece of mixed media. The unexpected pairings create visual interest and make the art look like it was collected over time.'
'If you want to take your gallery wall to the next level, consider incorporating non-art elements like mirrors, sconces, or busts. These additions will add depth and texture, making your wall even more dynamic and visually interesting.'
Newly inspired, I included a gallery wall as part of my kitchen makeover. While I did my best to follow Cathy's advice to not 'stress', I did still learn some valuable lessons along the way.
1. Mix ceramics and prints
I picked up both plates second hand and hung them up with self-adhesive hanging discs.
One of the biggest shifts in the current trending iteration of gallery walls is the incorporation of anything and everything that can be hung on a wall. Nothing is off limits. ‘Rather than just hanging prints, people are also starting to include sculpted ceramics and vintage mirrors within their displays,’ says Dayna at Etsy, ‘The best gallery walls feel collected, not coordinated.’
In my kitchen, I interpreted this by integrating some plate display ideas, a ceramic coaster and even a framed piece of papyrus into my gallery wall. To help the plates blend into the overall design, I used self-adhesive plate hanging discs from Amazon to hang them on the wall.
2. Map it out on the floor
The gallery wall laid out on my kitchen floor, not all the plates made the final cut.
I know plenty of editors on the Ideal Home team who are skilled enough to go straight in with nails on a wall, but I am not one of them, so I mapped it out on the floor first.
I’ve collected so many bits and pieces for my gallery wall that this also helped me do some hard editing and organising. It took me an hour of moving things around before I settled on my final curated mix and design.
I did still move a few frames after putting them up on the wall, so I back Cathy's advice that nails are easy to remove and fill in if you do make a mistake.
3. Only include things you love
My framed Giuseppe Archimboldo postcards waiting to go on the wall.
The gallery wall in my kitchen is loosely themed around food, but the common thread running through each piece on the wall is that they’re all linked to happy memories or reminders of things I love.
This did mean I took a few risks with what I included as part of my kitchen wall ideas. The most notable being two postcards of Giuseppe Archimboldo’s fruit and vegetable faces. I picked them up after an exhibition of his work in Vienna. My partner loved them, but I was nervous that people would think they looked ‘creepy’. However, mounted on black card in a frame, they're one of my favourite pieces on the wall now, and I'm glad I wasn't held back by what other people might think.
4. Keep growing it
A paper placeholder is marking out where my shadow box is going to go.
While I did map out the initial design of my gallery wall on the floor, I think the beauty of the new trend for gallery walls is that they’re meant to keep growing. I currently have a shadow box with vintage matchstick boxes inside waiting to be added to the collection, and I plan to keep adding to the wall until I run out of space.
Gallery wall kit
Mix and match frames on a gallery wall, and don't be afraid to incorporate a few more decorative pieces, like this ribbed wooden frame, to add texture.
Plates are a relatively inexpensive way to jazz up a gallery wall.
Oliver Bonas has a great range of embroidered wall art, which adds extra texture to a gallery wall.
There is a big trend right now for a frame and picture to be treated as a mini canvas, with the design spilling out of the frame.
I can't recommend these John Lewis aluminium oak effect frames enough, they're super light, well-priced and come in a range of sizes.
Line drawings are a great way to keep a gallery wall feeling fresh. I included two as a little pair to break up the accents of colour.
This is only my first attempt at a gallery wall, and it's far from perfect. But if you love what you include on your wall you can't go far wrong when curating your own everyday exhibition.
