MAP IT OUT

One of the many pieces that help a space come together is often completely overlooked, but can either make or totally break a design; wall hangings (art, framed pictures, etc.) I always find it interesting when people either hang one tiny item on a large wall or a small cluster of things close together as high as possible. Many people love floating shelves with random crap resting on it. Ok, no judgment (actually, that was laced with judgment), but mapping out what you put on walls in your home is just about as important as creating a floor plan for furniture. Similar to the struggle for many of choosing paint colors, hanging pictures can be just as daunting. Not any more!  Here are a few tricks I use when hanging pieces in clients homes or my own; and, no, I don't waste hours measuring like a crazy person, I get a general idea of what I want in a room, hall or bath and I just go for it and use these simple tricks to help it all come together.
1.) If I'm hanging a group, I'll often use grocery bags or newspapers to create cutouts of each print then hang them on the wall and tweak as necessary. On each cutout I'll indicate where the hanger or picture wire falls so I know exactly where to place the nail.
2.) Sometimes, like in a hallway, I'll want a perfectly straight line of prints, so to achieve this I place the prints on the floor to get an idea of spacing then measure end to end. I measure the wall space, placing a nail on each end to indicate the first and last prints in the collection and link them all together with painters tape or a string so I can easily hang all in a line.
3.) Before painting a room, I will play with placement of artwork, hanging over and over until I get the look I want (nail holes don't matter because I'm repainting the wall). Once I settle on a design I patch the unwanted holes and leave the ones I like, snap a photo of the finished look, paint the room then replace the nails in the open holes.
By the way, speaking of mapping out a look, I LOVE maps (and incorporating them into my designs) and recently discovered the US Geological Survey website, www.store.usgs.gov where county and state maps are available for as little as $5! I bought the top 24" x 36" copy of a geological survey of our county for $8 and will place it in a frame I bought at Ikea for $29! Less than $50 for a conversation piece on any wall!