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Toronto framing expert Tara Gavin says a gallery wall works best when it has a clear design direction. In a House Beautiful report, she describes using varied frame finishes, colored mats, negative space and black-and-white photographs to bring cohesion to a family-photo display.
Framing expert Tara Gavin, founder of On the Wall Framing in Toronto, says gallery walls are more successful when they follow a clear design direction. In a House Beautiful report, Gavin described how she used burgundy mats and frames, varied frame finishes and black-and-white family photographs to create a cohesive display for a Toronto home.
Gavin’s example was commissioned by design studio Kessler Levitan for a family of five. The available wall was just 31 inches wide, and Gavin said the limited space became an opportunity to make a deliberate design feature rather than a constraint. The report does not give the project’s cost or installation timeline.
The finished arrangement combined familiar oak and black frames with burgundy-hued frames and mats. Gavin said burgundy added warmth and richness, oak softened the overall effect, and black provided contrast and helped connect the composition. She also suggested selecting a mat color that echoes a prominent shade elsewhere in the room, while noting that white is not the only workable option.
Gavin recommends treating the space around an image as part of the design. Larger mats can give a photograph more presence, while multiple openings in one frame or placing a picture slightly off-center can make the arrangement feel less predictable. For family photos taken at different times and in different lighting, she said converting the images to black and white can make the collection feel more consistent. These are recommendations from her practice, not rules that apply to every room or collection.
Making Personal Photos Feel Cohesive
The advice offers homeowners a practical way to display photographs and prints they already own, without relying on a costly art collection or identical frames. Gavin’s approach combines visual consistency with variation: a restrained palette can tie different pieces together, while shifts in frame finish, mat color and spacing keep the wall from looking uniform.
Her example also shows why planning matters when space is limited. A display across a 31-inch-wide wall can still read as intentional if its colors and proportions are considered together. The specific choices will depend on the room, images and personal taste; the report does not establish a single universally correct arrangement.
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The Design Choices Behind Gavin’s Example
The House Beautiful report focuses on one project and Gavin’s recommendations drawn from her framing work. It does not describe a new product launch, formal design standard or research study. Its central point is that a gallery wall can be planned around a design direction rather than assembled by matching every frame or defaulting to white mats.
In the Toronto project, color was used in the framing while the family photographs were printed in black and white. Gavin said this helped address differences in the photos’ original lighting and color palettes. She also described negative space—the mat surrounding an image—as a way to draw attention to a photograph and create room for more than one image in a frame.
“My team and I love playing with scale, unexpected mat colors, different frame finishes, and the way photographs are positioned within a frame in order to keep them fresh.”
— Tara Gavin, founder of On the Wall Framing, as quoted by House Beautiful
What the Report Does Not Establish
The report does not provide a publication date, the project’s budget, exact dimensions for the individual frames, or a full installation plan. It also does not say whether the family used Gavin’s recommendations unchanged after the project was completed. The advice is attributed to one framing expert and illustrated with one commission; there is no evidence in the source that every color palette or technique will suit every home.
Applying the Advice at Home
Gavin’s recommendations point readers toward a planning process: decide on a palette that works with the room, consider whether the photographs benefit from a shared treatment such as black-and-white printing, and test how different mat widths and frame finishes work together. The report does not announce a follow-up project or additional guidance from Gavin, so no further development is specified.
Key Questions
What does Tara Gavin say is the key to a successful gallery wall?
Gavin says to give the display a clear design direction. In her example, that direction came from combining burgundy, oak and black framing with black-and-white photographs.
Do all the frames on a gallery wall need to match?
No. Gavin’s Toronto project mixed oak, black and burgundy frames. She said the different finishes served separate roles while helping the overall display feel connected.
Why use black-and-white family photographs?
Gavin said monochrome printing can reduce the visual differences among pictures taken at different times, in different lighting and with varied color palettes. She presented it as an option, not a requirement.
How can mats change the look of a gallery wall?
Gavin describes mats as useful design space: a wider mat can give an image more presence, and colored mats can introduce a palette beyond standard white. She also recommends considering multiple images in one frame or an off-center placement.
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