Hanging Pictures in a Straight Row

I love sharing tips and tricks to clients when I am working on their installs.  I often get questions on how to do things or I see it done completely wrong and I just want to help.  I have hung a lot of art on walls in my day, and over the years I have figured out some easy tricks of the trade to ensure a fail proof way to hanging some of that artwork without putting nail holes all over their walls!

One of the toughest things to do when it comes to decorating a space is hanging photos on the wall.  A lot of people are intimidated by hanging anything in a straight row because it is such a challenge to actually hang them in a straight, level row!

Here is a simple, quick trick to get over your fear of hanging pictures in a straight row and all you need is a roll of painter's tape and a level.

Start by figuring out where the center of the pictures will hang.  If you can eyeball it, great!  If you need to measure to find the center, then mark the center on the wall with a pencil.  Height doesn't matter at this point.

Stick a long strip of tape on the wall, as straight as possible.  With your level (best to use a large level) draw a long straight line down the center of the tape.
(you can do the same thing for hanging pictures in a horizontal line)

In this case, it was easiest to start at the bottom, with the bottom picture first since I had to be aware of how low the pictures hung and be sure not to run into the toilet.  Once I knew where the bottom picture would hang, I marked the "nail hole" on the painter's tape, on the line I drew.

To figure out where the next nail hole would be, I placed all 3 images on the floor, picture side down, with the exact space I wanted between each picture (3" between each picture) and measured nail-hole to nail-hole.  Once I had that measurement, I measured up from my first spot on the painter's tape, straight up to get the second placement.  making sense?!?

The third and final mark on the top of the painter's tape will be the exact same measurement from the second placement as the first.  

The level and straight line on the painter's tape is the most important part.  This is how you will get those 3 pictures in a perfectly straight line.  From there, hammer in those 3 nails in the exact spot you made the marks.  

Once you remove the tape, you will have 3 perfectly placed nail holes ready to hang your pictures!

Three nail holes in a perfect row!

 The design board from this project.  Other rooms of this home design were shared here and here.  

pictures are from Hobby Lobby

This shower curtain from Target was the perfect match to the Comfort Gray Sherwin Williams walls. 

Hope that helps with your next decorating project!!

Guest Bath Design Scheme {gray + coral}

Kids are back to school, the holidays, yes, the holidays are in the near future, and so it is the time of year to remodel and redecorate your homes!  Or at least it feels that way!  I have been SO busy meeting with new clients (yay!!) and putting together new design schemes for a lot of new future projects.  If you are waiting on your design scheme from me, bare with me, I am working away on them!!!  :)  After a meeting with my contractor, a trip to Lowe's, a stop into Target, I have a start to a bathroom design scheme.

image from Lowe's Home Improvement website

How do you start something like this you ask?  I hear this question all the time....where do I start?  So, here is how I start......I talk to my client first about colors.  What colors do you envision for this space?  The existing white vanity is staying, so my first choice for the walls were a soft gray.  I love a bright, clean feel in bathrooms.   I will pick the exact gray later, but as a start, we agreed that a light gray on the walls was the definite answer.  You can then bring in accent colors in towels, shower curtain, and artwork.  Every color matches gray.  YES!  REALLY!  People are still having trouble believing that, but gray really is the new neutral.  We did the cool blues and greens in this client's Master Bath and Bedroom so I wanted to go a different direction in her guest bath.

I headed to Target and to Home Goods to look at towels.  I wanted to find a favorite towel, just like I would with fabric in any other room, and use the colors in that to move forward with the design and accent colors.  What I found were beautiful towels from both places with gray and corals.  I also found the perfect shower curtain with the same colors from World Market.  So I knew right away gray and coral would be the color scheme for this bathroom.

A Quick Tip:  Stick to just two main colors in a small space such as a bathroom.  Too many colors will give the space a cluttered, messy feel.  Two softer colors such as gray and coral will keep the space feeling clean, modern and open!

This client loves modern, contemporary design, but her home is more traditional.  So when putting together a design scheme for her bathroom, I kept the space on the transitional side.  Leaning on the contemporary side for the finishes -- tile, lighting, polished nickel hardware.  And the traditional side will show through in artwork, towels, and the shower curtain.  Do you love it!  I do!!  There is a loooooong work list on this one for such a little bathroom.