How to Create a Wall Collage: Essential Tricks plus Video

I love nothing more than adorning my walls with personal photos. But how you do make them look cool, and not like you’ve just plastered your walls with holiday snaps of your recent trip to Spain?

It’s a real challenge isn’t it?

So in today’s post, I’m collaborating with the lovely people over at Photobox again, showing how you can make a wall collage with your own photographs, and turn it into something cool.

We often underestimate the benefits of using art on our walls but it’s hugely important for our wellbeing, happiness and emotional connection to our home. 

I’m going to be using several different products creating a wall display firstly for under £40 and then for £100. It’s actually quite surprising what you can do with the cheaper option. Let’s take a look.

How to Create a Wall Collage with Photos:

1. Low Budget option

Use Retro Prints

To make something cool, changeable and totally you, check out the Photobox Premium Retro Prints.

In this set, costing just £19.99 plus £3.50 for the hanging set, you’ll get your collection of 36 retro style prints, plus the string, pegs and washi tape.

It’s really easy to use on the website. Simply upload your set of photos, (I’ve used mine from last year’s family holiday to Italy) add them to the product and edit if you need to.

Once you’re done, place your order. This was probably the quickest product I created on the Photobox website and I just love the end result.

Hang with String and Washi Tape

Now seriously all you really need is the string and washi tape to create something really unusual. Play around and maybe hang your tape in rows, changing up the photos.

Or perhaps take an old frame, knock out the glass, and hang your string in 3 rows across it.

Then using the pegs, clip on your photos across the rows. It makes a very cool display which cost next to nothing.

Add a Gold Noticeboard Frame

I’ve actually combined my tape and pegs combo with a cute noticeboard frame I picked up at a supermarket a few weeks ago.

Complete with gold clips, this is a very stylish way to create a display. Why not add some extra pieces onto the board too, like favourite postcards, feathers, leaves, jewellery or anything really that works with the look of your photos.

Let your imagination run wild.

If you’re just using the photos, play about with how you display them until you find the look you love. The possibilities are endless.

I just love how this idea is easy to achieve yet really showcases your personality.

Use Black and White Images

The display could reflect the style of photos too, perhaps with black and white images you could make something much moodier and more sophisticated.

Depending on the room and your colour scheme, your photos and display can reflect the scheme as well as your style.

So now we’ve explored the £40 wall display option, let’s look at how you can beef that up and go for a bigger display on a larger budget.

2. Larger Budget Wall Collage 

With a bigger budget I’ve used my initial retro style snaps display and put it into something larger.

Use Poster Prints

For this collage, I’ve used a Framed Poster Print, one of my favourite products actually from Photobox, and 2 of the Mounted Poster Prints, which are fun with a matte non-glass finish.

The whole display came in at under £100 including the noticeboard.

As I’ve chosen our family holiday photos to use in the smaller display, I’ve continued a theme of bright blue skies and the outdoors into the larger pieces.

I wanted the collage to have a theme, and whilst the photos are all slightly different, the colour and general aesthetic gives them coordination.

When it comes to creating a collage I don’t really follow too many rules.

There are so many ideas and guidelines out there to look at, but I love to see what photos and pictures I have to use, and then play around with them until I find a layout that I like the look of, and that fits within the space on the wall.

The only thing I do try to do is give the whole display an edge or border.

So it might not be very obvious, but the all of the smaller pieces, make up one larger picture in a square or rectangle. Broadly speaking.

Keep it personal

I’m so pleased with how this little reading corner has turned out.

The family love the pictures, all of which have some special significance to us, some quite personal and private.

It’s interesting how the pictures have sparked up conversations about that holiday, particularly as we’re going back there this year, and of memories and experiences we shared as a family.

I guess that’s what makes the process of using your own photographs in your interiors so special. There’s nothing quite like being reminded of special occasions on a daily basis.

If you’ve love making wall displays but aren’t sure where to start, check out my short video with top 3 tips on how to make great wall collages.

How to Create a Wall Collage: 3 Essential Tips (Video)

Have fun making your own wall displays, and don’t forget to really play around with your photographs to create something unique and personal to you.

10 Rules to follow when Creating a Wall Collage:

1. Set your budget before you begin
2. Choose a theme or colour palette and stick to it
3. Add personal photos and pieces that have meaning
4. Scour charity or thrift stores for eclectic pieces
5. Layout your wall art on the floor to choose the best positioning
6. Transfer the layout to the wall with pencil or chalk
7. Start hanging from one corner or the centre
8. Use photos in frames or on canvas, or retro prints work well
9. If space will allow, plan to expand your collage over time
10. There really are no rules, follow your instincts!

Examples of Wall Collages we love:

Sticking with one theme

Fruit. Not only is the subject matter continued throughout the examples in this wall collage, the art display also commits to a particular style of painting. This theme commitment allows for the variety of materials and pieces in the display, such as paper, frames and plates.

 

Repeating Patterns

The pattern of a plain leaf is repeated in different mediums from the framed photo art, to real life wall mounted plants to plants on shelves.

You’ll notice how two colours spring up throughout the wall display. Black and Green. Both are repeated in the different mediums to allow the whole art display to feel cohesive and well structured.  

 

Small and Subtle

Not all wall collage displays have include multiple prints or photos. Sometimes less is more.

These 3 very simple pencil and watercolour drawings are mounted in a easy style.

Again the same colours are repeated in the individual framed art so the collage feels bigger and more pulled together.

 

Example Layout

This image grabbed my eye as a way of illustrating a photo wall collage layout. 

Notice how the whole wall display has one defining line that everything else works from? 

The bottom row is hung in a way that allows the frames to line up along the bottom line. It’s a very clever trick that brings a uniformity to the wall display.

Further reading: Check out last week’s post on how to create a shelf display using photos and 15 Best Wall Collage Ideas

If you love this post then do save this image to your Pinterest board:

Collaborative post: Thank you for supporting the brands that make the blog possible.