Play and display | Daily Mail Online

From concert tickets to family photos, anything goes on the modern gallery wall – so get creative. Interiors editor Nicole Gray shows you how   

The gallery wall is a clever way to hang a collection of favourite prints and artwork. And the best ones are those that include mementoes, curiosities, craftwork and photographs collected over the years. All the things that trickle into your life over time, often with special meaning, which makes them worth displaying. Think old postcards, tickets from various performances and wine-stained menus from memorable meals at favourite restaurants – all of which can be mounted in a selection of frames that also allow you to have fun with different scales and styles. 

Just because an object is small doesn’t mean it has to go in a tiny frame. Four ticket stubs from a concert you went to with friends – or any special souvenirs – can be displayed as part of a grid formation or in the middle of a frame with lots of white space to make it sing. These items, when grouped together as part of a display, will make you smile every time you walk past and create talking points for guests. Over time the gallery wall can be added to and transformed into a tableaux that conveys a story of your life. 

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you have to do away with the art prints altogether – slot your favourites in and around your memorabilia to anchor a wall and inject even more personality. Don’t feel you have to stick to living rooms and hallways for displays: consider areas such as the top of the stairs, kitchens or bathrooms as potential canvases.

This new take on the gallery wall is not only more personal but, framing aside, is free. Many of us already own a box of tucked-away memories – now’s the time to let them live and breathe. Here are a few ideas to get you started…