HANG IN THERE

Never underestimate the power (or beauty) of a well-hung piece of art!  This summer I designed a 13,000 square foot home in the Hudson Valley of upstate New York and spent the better part of three days simply hanging artwork.  The busy homeowners over the years had done what many on-the-goers do,  what I like to call fly-by hangings…where it literally looks like someone flew through the room and haphazardly hung pictures willy-nilly.  While I don't go to the extreme that many do (I've seen some designers spend an entire day hanging one picture..nope, not me..I'm not THAT NUTS) I do like to put a little thought into the hanging of art in a home.  To get that fabulous, museum-like hanging on your wall, here are a few things I like to do.
1.) Whatever you do, folks, don't hang a shelf in your living room with crap on it.  It only looks like a wall hanging in your living room with crap on it, NOT ART.  Now that we have that out of the way…
2.) I like to place my photos, prints, art, etc. on the floor first and arrange it the way I want it on the wall.  When hanging a collection, I measure to make sure my collage will be centered on the wall and not butting up against the crown molding.
3.) I then trace each piece onto paper (old newspaper works great, just be mindful not to get on painted walls..construction paper works best).  I pull the wire taught and mark that point on the paper.
4.) Using blue painters tape I then hang each piece of paper (representing each piece I've traced) on the wall in the order I want.  With the taught point of each wire marked as my nail location, I then hammer each nail in place.
5.) Remove paper and painters tape.  Hang pictures.  Pour yourself a cocktail and celebrate hanging art like a pro!