A gallery wall with a 3D piece: mixing relief and flat art

A relief does not behave like a print. It stands out from the wall, throws its own shadows and changes character with the light. That makes it an excellent anchor for a gallery wall, as long as you plan for it.

Here is how to mix a 3D piece with flat art: where it should go, how much space it needs, and what to think about with light and frame colour. How big a piece should be relative to the furniture is covered in our guide to sizing wall art, and how high to hang it in our guide to hanging. We will not repeat that here.

What sets a relief apart from a print

One of our square pieces measures 28 x 28 centimetres on the outside, but it also stands out from the wall. With frame and terrain it comes to around eleven centimetres at the highest point. A framed print next to it is a few centimetres deep.

That depth is both the point and the thing to plan for. A relief pulls the eye differently from a flat image, because its shadows move as you move around the room. It naturally becomes the thing the wall is arranged around.

Let the relief be the anchor

In a mixed gallery wall the relief works best as the piece everything else relates to. Two layouts are the easiest to make look intentional:

• In the centre. The relief goes in the middle of the group, with the flat pieces arranged symmetrically or in a loose ring around it. The calmest option, and the one that works above a sofa or a sideboard.
• As the cornerstone. The relief sits at one outer edge, low down, and the flat pieces build up and out from it. The wall feels more relaxed, and the relief is still what you see first.

Avoid putting two reliefs side by side in the same group unless they belong together, such as two places from the same trip. Two heavy objects compete, and the wall looks cluttered even when the spacing is right.

Spacing: give the depth a little more room

A common rule of thumb for gallery walls is five to ten centimetres between frames. With a relief in the group it is sensible to stay at the upper end of that range around it, so its shadows do not fall across the neighbouring picture. Between the flat pieces you can keep things tighter.

Plan the wall before you drill. Cut paper to the size of each frame and tape it up, so you can see both the spacing and the balance before there are holes in the wall.

Light decides whether the relief shows

A relief is read through its shadows, and the shadows come from side light. A gallery wall lit straight on by a ceiling light does justice to the flat pieces but flattens the relief. A window to one side, or a wall light raking across the group, brings it to life.

That is also why it pays to place the relief on the side of the group closest to the light source, where the side light is strongest.

Frames and colours

You do not have to match every frame. What holds a mixed wall together is a clear rule: one frame colour throughout, or two colours that repeat. Our oak blends in among pale wooden frames, and the black frame sits well next to black or dark grey ones. More on the choice in our guide to oak or black frames.

The relief itself is pale against a black base. It therefore sits best with pictures that have some dark tone in them - black and white photographs, graphic prints or maps - rather than very strong colours.

Choose the place first

A gallery wall becomes personal when the pictures belong together. A relief of the place you go back to every year, next to photographs from there, says more than five random subjects. All ready-made places are among our 3D topographic maps, and if you want your own, you can draw the square yourself in FRMD by You.