Hello AT,
I recently moved into a new apartment that has two expansive walls...and that's it. Makes it kinda rough to figure out where to hang my extensive photo collection....
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I've considered the French Salon approach, hanging all the pictures next to and above each other creating a mosaic of framed photos. I've also thought of putting my favorites in one rotating spot and blowing up one of my own photos that's long and horizontal -- perfect for that wall. Any suggestions?
Thanks, Sam
Dear Sam,
Not knowing too much else about your apartment, but simply judging by your words and that big wall, we would say to go with the hanging many (but not necessarily all) of your best pics in one long assembly. Don't go too dense or you will overwhelm the room. Don't be too skimpy or it won't have any presence.
Anyone?
How big is that wall? If it's really big I would enlarge one or two photos to hang - there are some great how-to pointers for big pic printing in the latest Blueprint.
http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=channel3730235&site=blueprint
It sounds like you already have them framed, but if you want to rotate photos easily, I like the use of vinyl decal wall frames and the wallter photo frames. These are great, because they look like art with or without the photos and once the frames are up you can easily change the photos. Here are some links from my site (yes I like photo frames!) where you can read more about these.
Vinyl frames and sticker frames:
http://fototiller.com/blog/2006/07/11/do-frame-at-unica-home/
http://fototiller.com/blog/2006/06/28/atelier-deco/
http://fototiller.com/blog/2006/05/30/vinyl-decal-frames/
wallter frames:
http://fototiller.com/blog/2006/05/01/wallter-photo-frames/
Also, a wall of magnetic photo ropes would be cool, too:
http://fototiller.com/blog/2006/07/17/magnetic-photo-cables/
Almost impossible to tell-- or advise-- without knowing where the furniture will live.
If your artwork is fairly small-scale, definitely mass it. I'd shy away from blowing up any one print, unless you are looking for a hyper-modern effect.
But I'd also consider one of the many picture ledges available for maximum flexibility. Pottery Barn, Exposures and Room & Board carry among the best.
The picture rail is a good suggestion - I also like the one from gus modern at design public or 2modern:
http://fototiller.com/blog/2006/04/28/gus-modern-picture-rail/
karina--
gus modern RULES!!
patrick--
I TOTALLY agree!!
heya! i have a lot of small photographs which i love (i work in a fine art photography gallery!) and one thing i like to do is put a larger mat on them to bring a 3x5 up to an 11x14 or 5x7 to 16x20 size. it gives each photograph a bit of emphasis and "specialness". if you use an 8-ply mat (twice as thick as a normal mat) it really gives it a nice platform to shine. then, pick 5 or 7 of your favorites and line them up keeping the centers of the photographs all at the same 60" height.
if you're not into rematting/reframing your photos, you could also group all different frames and sizes. i find that if you create an overall shape and hang within that boundary, it works nicely without getting cluttered. for instance, draw a large rectangle along your wall in pencil/chalk (or tape it off) and hang a large grouping of your photos within those lines, keeping the outer border, but varying sizes and distances within. *know what i mean? or am i describing in a poor manner?
anyway, good luck!
jessica