How to Hang a Symmetrical Cluster of Framed Art
Have you ever been too intimidated to hang art in a cluster?
I get it.
I would have been too, however, I married into a family of art dealers/ framers.
It was inevitable, that I was going to be exposed to a good bit of art framing.
Over the years, my husband and I have bought our own art for our own homes.
That is when I needed to learn how to hang art.
So, as happens in couples, hes a perfectionist.
I'm a hold your thumb up, look over your thumb and eyeball it, kind of girl.
When he hangs art, there is a penciled in page full of fractions.
When I hang art...no pencil and paper is necessary!
Stick with me.
I'll make it So Easy...
First. Our setting?
Our "new to us" home in Colorado.
If you've followed this blog, you will know that Colorado is important to us and dreaming of owning our own home... has been long.
Well, it Finally Happened Yippee, so, let the decorating begin...
We found two WONDERFUL Habitat for Humanity ReStores outside of Aspen,
and the pickins' are GOOD :)
I found this set of four VERY AFFORDABLE watercolor prints of Victorian men fishing.
Vintage and fishing together in One frame....awesome!
So, Ill step out the EASIEST way to do this.. and.you'll be hanging clusters of framed art in NO time :)
*
We will start with the Vanna White picture first, so you can see where we are headed.
You say...What? Your going to hammer into that beautiful paneling AND it has horizontal lines???
You'll fill it with tons of mishammered nails AND it will show your mismeasurements!
Nope.
I promise This only took a FEW minutes and I got the nails right FIRST time, every time.
(Whew...I look tired. Hmmm. Wonder if that's because we went like bats for 6 straight days!
Cant wait until our trips are for playing and NOT working :)
OK. This is not a new concept, but it IS what makes this work.
TRACE around your art on some newsprint or whatever you have handy. Trace Every piece!
Cut it out and play around on the wall placing each piece, just where you want them.
Take your time. Go back and forth looking to make sure its even.
The horizontal lines in the paneling were actually an asset for me, but if you don't have that, measure either from the ceiling or floor, to see if your newsprint is even.
Your Eyes are Trustworthy...they are almost ALWAYS Right...learn to trust them!
I had the tv cabinet and thermostat to work between. You will probably have those kind of issues, too.
The Next step helps you determine where EACH piece will be hung.
Lay your art on the floor and simulate it hanging, by pulling a bit on your tape measure and note where the tape is at the TOP of the frame.
On THIS piece for me, it was exactly 5".
Framers aren't robots. They don't wire (I had NEVER seen a piece of art hung with twine before..eww) every piece exactly the same, so make sure that you do this step for EACH PIECE.
MY measurements were slightly different for each piece.
OK.
Calculate what the center from side to side of your newsprint, is.
Go to the wall and from the TOP of your newsprint, mark down YOUR MEASUREMENT,
right in the CENTER of the newsprint.
.
Mine was 5", so I penciled a line at 5".
On EITHER side of your line that you drew, Mine was at 5 ", place two identical hangers with the BOTTOM of the hanger resting on your line.
(Two picture hangers are what keep your art from needing to be straightened all of the time. Its worth it to do, two :)
That will make your picture wire hang AT your measurement.
Your nail will be slightly ABOVE your measurement.
I left the newsprint on the wall, throughout the WHOLE process.
That way, you can always go back to the beginning if you need to.
See? You cant even see the paper behind picture # 1. That's because it is exactly on top of it.
No math.
No fractions.
EASY!!!
Can you see the nails on top of the first newsprint where I hung the first piece?
Go to the next piece, and repeat the steps.
Remember, measure the wire on EACH piece, as the measurements will likely vary.
Keep working around the cluster, until you have them all done.
See, my paper is still there throughout, just for a safety net, but when you are all done...
you can finally take it down!
This is what happens when you ask your husband who can function perfectly using only a few words a day, to take your picture!
Whatever happened to the words....R-E-A-D-Y?????
BLOOPER SHOT!!! :)
So...that's IT!!
You Can Do It!!!
I literally did this in the last minutes before we ran out to catch a plane.
Not something that you would choose to do under a time crunch,
but I did it completely alone, and so can YOU!!!
Below, is an example of a smaller grouping.
You still use the same steps.
*Make paper templates.
*Measure the wire on the back of the art, to the top of the frame.
*Mark that number in a line from the top of the newsprint.
*Hammer your two picture hangers... Bottoms Touching the line.
*Hang Your Art!!!
So, I thought after all of that work, we deserved a reward and it comes in Visual form!
This is a glance that I caught, just outside of our front door.
I will always remember that sight!
I sure hope that this Step by Step, was helpful for you!
You may already have a method that works for you...awesome!
If not, Give this a Try.
I once knew a person, that didn't hang pictures in their home for years,
because they were afraid they would mess up.
Remember, its not the end of the world, if you miss and have to try again...
Life is Short
...there are few mistakes that we can can make, that are going to Matter for Long!
You Can Always Fill the Holes!!!
Hey, I think I will make a Bumper Sticker of that :)
So GLAD that you stopped in to read my blog...
Hope that you will again...Soon!
xoxo Laura
p.s. This home is eventually going to be our half time home with Texas. Until then, we have it listed on VRBO for Vacation Rentals. In our first year, it has been rented almost 100% of the time. We are SO THANKFUL for that. If you or someone you know, is looking for a place to get away, THIS IS THE PLACE. It will accommodate a couple for a romantic get away, or a large group of 10 for a retreat or family reunion. I hope you will take a peek at our VRBO listing and see all that there is to do in Redstone!
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