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Toronto framing expert Tara Gavin says a successful gallery wall starts with a clear design direction, rather than a uniform set of frames. In a project for a family of five, she used burgundy mats, mixed frame finishes, generous mat space and black-and-white photographs to bring a narrow display together.
Framing expert Tara Gavin, founder of Toronto’s On the Wall Framing, says a gallery wall works best when its frames, mats and images follow a clear design direction. In a project for a Toronto family of five, she used burgundy accents, varied frame finishes, spacious mats and black-and-white photographs to make a display fit a wall just 31 inches wide, according to House Beautiful.
Gavin’s approach, as described in House Beautiful’s report, resists treating white mats and matching wood frames as the only safe choices. For the narrow-wall project, she combined oak and black frames with burgundy-toned frames and mats. She said the colors had different roles: burgundy added warmth, oak softened the overall effect, and black supplied contrast. The report says Gavin developed the display after being approached by the Toronto design studio Kessler Levitan.
She also recommends using matting as an active part of the composition, not simply as a border. A larger mat can give a small photograph more presence, while multiple openings in one frame or a photograph placed slightly off-center can add variation. Gavin said her team sometimes groups more than one photo in a frame and adjusts placement rather than centering every image. These are design suggestions from her practice, not fixed rules for every room or collection.
For family photographs taken in different places and under different lighting, Gavin suggests considering black-and-white printing to make the pictures feel more consistent together. The House Beautiful report says the photographs in the featured project were printed in black and white, while color came through in the frames and mats. Gavin also emphasized that a gallery wall need not depend on costly art: personal photographs can be the focus.
Design Choices That Tie Photos Together
The advice addresses a common practical problem: personal photographs often vary in size, age, lighting and color, while a wall display needs to read as one arrangement. Gavin’s methods offer ways to create cohesion without making every frame identical. A repeated color accent, a consistent photographic treatment or deliberate spacing can connect pieces while still allowing differences in scale and finish.
The narrow Toronto installation also shows how planning can help a display work in a limited area. Its 31-inch width is a detail of that particular project, not evidence that the same layout will suit every narrow wall. For readers, the broader takeaway is to decide how color, mats and image placement relate before hanging the work. That can help personal keepsakes function as a considered part of a room’s design.
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Inside the Toronto Wall Project
House Beautiful presented Gavin’s recommendations through a commissioned gallery wall for a family of five in Toronto. The project was developed with Kessler Levitan, and Gavin had only 31 inches of width available. Rather than relying solely on matching frames, she used a mix of burgundy, oak and black to balance warmth and contrast.
The report describes three connected choices: vary the frame and mat palette, use negative space and unusual photo placement, and consider monochrome printing when the source images do not share a consistent look. Gavin’s comments are guidance from a framing professional and examples from this project; the article does not present them as a formal industry standard or as a measured comparison of different gallery-wall techniques.
“The secret to doing a gallery wall right is to make sure it has a “design direction.””
— Tara Gavin, founder of On the Wall Framing, quoted by House Beautiful
What the Report Does Not Establish
The report does not provide a full installation plan, exact frame dimensions, spacing measurements or a diagram showing how the pieces fit within the 31-inch area. It also does not say how the wall was mounted or whether Gavin recommends the same palette for other rooms. The guidance is based on one described project and Gavin’s professional perspective, so readers should treat the specific choices as examples rather than universal requirements.
House Beautiful does not report an independent assessment of how the design performs over time, nor does it compare black-and-white printing with other ways of coordinating photographs. Whether a color, mat width or arrangement suits a particular home will depend on the images, furnishings and available wall space.
How to Apply the Approach
For anyone planning a similar display, Gavin’s reported advice points to a practical sequence: choose a palette that relates to the room, decide whether the photographs benefit from a shared treatment, and test how mat sizes and frame arrangements work together before hanging the pieces. A small wall can still use multiple frame finishes, but the colors should have a reason to sit together.
The source does not announce a follow-up project, product launch or scheduled next step. House Beautiful’s article leaves the application to readers: the next decision is how to adapt Gavin’s ideas to their own photographs and space, without assuming that the Toronto arrangement can be copied measure for measure.
Key Questions
Who is Tara Gavin?
Gavin is the founder of On the Wall Framing in Toronto. House Beautiful quoted her advice and described a gallery wall she created for a Toronto family.
What does Gavin mean by a gallery wall having a design direction?
She advises making deliberate choices about elements such as frame finishes, mat colors, scale and photo placement, so the pieces feel related rather than arbitrary.
Should all the photos in a gallery wall be black and white?
No. Gavin recommends black-and-white printing as one option when family photographs have different lighting and color palettes. The report does not describe it as a requirement for every display.
Can family photographs work as the main art in a gallery wall?
Yes. Gavin told House Beautiful that personal photographs and memories can form a meaningful display; an expensive art collection is not necessary for the approach she describes.
Source: housebeautiful.com
