Nice question. I'm about to display my guitars in the living room, standing on the walls. Below, I'll have a shelf with vinyl records and boxes with straws, slides, etc..

I'd put them up high on the wall, right under the roof, in the living room and/or hallway. That way you could still put the furniture where it has to go.

If you go into a music store you can see those kind of things, like a cross, that they use to hang instuments. A less expensive version is to just put up a small shelf going around the room and paint it the same colour as the walls - this is something I've seen at musicians'.

Check out this hack at Ikeahackers - it's a pretty stylish way to display the guitars and cheap too! (using bathroom hangers!)
http://www.ikeahackers.net/2010/11/i-was-rockstar-hanging-guitar.html

Thanks for asking this question! In an attempt to keep our guitars and music equipment out of my living room, we had a music room / rumpus room BUILT for my husband in the garage...but the guitars keep coming upstairs...right now I have three in the living room.

I'm giving in to the reality that there will need to be guitars displayed around the house. We'll be hanging them on the wall. I just posted about how they are displayed in the rumpus room here if it is helpful at all: http://www.twobedroomsandababy.com/2011/11/decorating-rumpus-room.html.

But I look forward to seeing other pics of nicely displayed guitars :)

I love vintage instruments and gear. I once helped a couple display their memoriablia on their living room wall gallery style. Concert posters, signed cymbal etc. Consider converting typical storage to music storage. A sofa table could have amps stored under it. A bookcase with adjustable shelves could be modified. Although might not be strong enough. While I am not a fan of the entertainment center this might be a great use for it. Create a wall of gear.

They would look great probably just arranged neatly on the floor. Just make sure your cords are coiled and everything stays clean and dust-free, and you're half-way there.

I've thought of doing something similar myself, but to me "gig ready" means in the case ready to grab and go. Hanging guitars on the wall looks nice, but you'll have to consider where you will keep the cases

Do you have a nearby closet that can hold the cases? Or perhaps a low cabinet that you could then hang the guitars over?

The Anchor showroom picture shown with the original question is really quite a neat way to have a compact array of instruments look tidy. Usually when placing guitar hangers that closely you will get a cramped and messy wall. The beams here create a visual break and at the same time reduce the number of holes drilled to a minimum as well as bringing the guitars further off the wall and thus protecting the backs from accidentally hitting the brick.

For my music study I bought a number of angled hangers that let me hang the guitars perpendicular to the wall thus saving a lot of space. They don't, however, look this nice. In our new house this is definitely the solution I will aim for.

As for the Ikea hack, I am not too fond of that particular solution when talking collectibles. It looks pretty cool, no discussion about that, but considering how cheap such hangers as K&M are for instance, I would go for the real thing and sleep more comfortably knowing the finish is safe from scratches.

We keep ours hanging on the wall using the small hooks that guitar shops use. They currently hang in the living room, and because they're not laid out in a straight line, they almost look like art. We have hidden the hard cases underneath a sofa, whose legs you can't see. The extra bonus here is that having the guitars constantly on display means they get played a lot more!

I keep the guitars hanging above the sofa, with three of them it makes a nice gallery style look. The amp happens to be a side table next to the bed with a varnished piece of wood on top to protect it from daily life. My proudest DIY happens to be the wall ironing board closet (I live in a 1920's era apartment) that I turned into a hideaway keyboard station. When inspiration strikes, I just open the door and unfold my keyboard out!

My husband has a ton of guitars. I wanted them up and not cluttering the floor space. We got a long piece of redwood (so we could screw it into the studs) and mounted a bunch of Hercules guitar hooks onto it at even intervals. (herculesstands.com/guitars/hangers.html)

I have a similar issue! I keep the instruments I use most often and feel are display worthy hung on the wall (I highly recommend String Swing wall mounts). The bigger stuff (ie: my cello) lives on a stand that sits on the floor so it's still easily accessible and on display.

these folks make really interesting guitar holders from a variety of salvaged materials: http://nevernewfurniture.com/guitarholder.html

Here's Unclutterer's suggestion:

http://unclutterer.com/2011/08/25/safely-store-guitars-and-other-instruments-with-a-guitar-stor/

My boyfriend and I built one like in the picture- we stained an 8 foot long piece of wood and anchored it to studs, and added 6 string swing holders. It is a beautiful way to display our beautiful instruments! The most important thing was to get long enough screws to fit through the wood and into the studs.