Hang Your Pictures Like a Pro
Whether you’re hanging just one piece of artwork or a whole wall of pieces, here are some tips from the pros to make the job easier for you:
1. Hang so that the center of the piece is 60″ – 62″ off the floor, which in general is eye level for the average person.
2. When hanging two or more pieces in a grouping, space them approximately 2″ – 4″ apart, depending on the size of the frame.
3. To create a collage of pictures:
a. Trace the size of the pictures on brown craft paper or newsprint
b. Flip over the pictures, put the paper template on the back of the picture
and rub a crayon over the hanger to mark it on the paper.
c. Arrange and tape the paper templates on the wall until you like the
way the grouping looks.
d. When you’re happy with the arrangement, put the picture hanger right
through the paper template.
e. Take off the template and hang each picture on its hanger.
4. To hang one picture on top of another, hang the top picture first. Make
your own plumb bob with a heavy washer on a piece of string – hang it
on the hanger of the top picture and it will automatically give you
the exact vertical line.
5. If your picture has hangers on both sides, place a strip of masking tape
across the back and mark exactly where the nails will need to be placed.
Then take the tape off the art and put it on the wall. Put your nails through
the marks on the tape.
6. If the wall is wallpapered, use a sharp box cutter to cut a V through the
paper where the nail will go. Lift the V- shaped paper and drive the nail
into the wall. Later, if you move the picture, you can glue that flap of
V shaped paper back in place and no one will know there was a hole there.
7. To keep the picture hanging straight, hammer a very thin, short nail into
the back of the frame on one of the bottom corners, leaving about 1/2″
of the nail exposed. Use pliers to cut off the nail head. When the picture
is hung and leveled, press the bottom corner of the picture tight against
the wall so that the thin nail goes right into the drywall. You’ll never have
pictures hanging crooked again.
Creating Your Own Personal Retreat
Do you find that it’s hard to carve out some time just for you? Is every minute of your day programmed with family, work or social activities?
You need time each day to retreat to your own private place, where you can restore your tired body. Get in the habit of taking time to pamper yourself. Here are some ways to create your own divine personal retreat inside your home.
Eliminate Clutter – the first step to decorating a peaceful haven is to eliminate annoying disorder, like stacks of paper clutter. Discard dated material. File important papers in wicker file boxes. Magazines can be attractively stored in decorative chests. Decorating Den Interiors can help you find pretty and practical solutions for keeping your paper collection undercover.
Pamper Yourself in Sleep – treat yourself to a glamorous setting that promotes lingering, so that every day you can wake slowly to the joys of a new day. This month, Decorating Den Interiors is featuring lots of custom bedroom products, such as tufted headboards, duvets, down pillows and relaxing chaise lounges.
Create a Cozy Corner – prepare a quiet, cozy corner where you can relax with your favorite book or listen to soothing music. You’ll need comfortable seating, good lighting and a handy table for a cup of coffee and a scented candle. Consider a decorative folding screen for extra protection from outside distractions.
Reflect in Luxury – soaking in a tub is a glorious way of unwinding. Create the perfect bathroom ambiance with candles, scented oils and soft music. Warm up the tile floor with a lovely chenille rug to match your luxurious bath sheets. The ultimate finishing touch would be a fabulous chandelier on a dimmer over your tub.
Make a Place for Beauty – there are certain routine aspects of life that can wear us down. Our morning makeup routine is one of them. Imagine how much more appealing the morning’s ritual can be when you are sitting on a boudoir chair, before a lovely vanity table with the perfect lighting.
As you go into the New Year, resolve to pamper yourself with just one of these little luxuries. Whatever your style preference or budget allowance, Decorating Den Interiors can help you make your life just a little less stressful this year.
Happy New Year!
This year, resolve to update your master bedroom!
This year, instead of making that same old New Year’s resolution of losing those ten pounds or going to the health club three times a week, resolve to give your home a New Year’s face lift!
These design tips should serve you well as you move towards an updated, fresh new look for your home:
- Start a file of magazine pictures of rooms that you like. Even if you can’t exactly pinpoint why you find a room setting so appealing, by reviewing your file, your decorator will be able to quickly understand the feel that you want for your home.
- Involve your professional decorator at the very beginning of your project. Doing so will help you avoid the costly mistakes that many homeowners make. The most successful decorating projects are those where the decorator and homeowner are very candid with each other regarding tastes, priorities, budget, timing and goals.
- Your first goal should be to design your home to suit the way you and your family actually live. Analyze all the rooms of your home – are some underutilized and some just exhausted from use? Maybe its time to relocate some activity centers and redirect some traffic patterns.
- Be realistic when determining the amount you plan to invest in the project. If you haven’t redecorated in several years, you may need to acquaint yourself with today’s pricing to determine your budget range.
- Resist the urge to repaint your interior as the first step in your new look. There are myriad beautiful paint colors to compliment your final fabric selections but painting your walls first will severely limit your choices in fabric selections. Color schemes should flow smoothly from room to room, especially in the adjoining living areas. This means some detailed attention needs to be paid early to the long range overall color plan.
- Forget matching sets of furniture and mono-chromatic “safe” schemes. A far more interesting look is a room of complementing wood pieces and companionable fabrics in exciting complementary colors.
- Something slightly whimsical in every room will ensure that your rooms don’t take their new look too seriously. Lamps, area rugs, candles and other accessories are all opportunities for a novel touch to keep rooms feeling light and welcoming. Use many different textures, materials and surfaces. Combinations of metals, woods, glass, woven reeds, fabrics, ceramics and stone will provide depth and interest to your decorative theme.
- Insist upon good lighting. A well planned room will have lighting at varying levels and intensities appropriate to the activity of the area. Close attention should be given especially to task lighting for activities such as reading, dining, and cooking and desk top work.
This is one New Year’s resolution that you and your family will be pleased you kept for years to come.
