apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Recently purchased an apartment in a great 1950's
building on LES. Walls are some sort of plaster/concrete (?).
Any suggestions on hanging artwork so the walls aren't
damaged.

Mitch

Perhaps some sort of traditional picture rail at the point where the ceiling meets the walls, and artwork is hung from the rails by chains or cording (or, as an update, monofilament?) It was a big Southern mansion thing, and usually integrated right into the building's construction.
Or one of the many variations of the picture ledge, offered by Room & Board or Pottery Barn and others? You still need to wallmount, but it allows greater flexibility and relieves the pressure to get the (one) hole right the very first time!

Also, regarding the idea of hanging at eye level, keep in mind that in many rooms, "eye level" is usually from a seated vantage point... be it dining room chair or (even lower) living room sofa. But MGR is right that most people hang stuff way too high.

Hang them where they look good. Alternatively, hang them to maximum use of space. There are a number of good books on maximizing use of space in small houses/apartments. You can even hang small pictures in open spaces in a shelving system. Use of formulas and decorating creativity are mutually exclusive.

Ah but a lot of people like to hang work so that the centres align. However others prefer it if the tops align.

What do you prefer? Or does it all depend on the size of your works.

I would always go with the centers aligning as that will give every image the best, most natural relationship to one another as you look around the room. This is important. also, hard lines - as in aligning tops or bottoms - can be jarring visually. they work best when sitting on a ledge or rail, but not when hung.... M

Thanks for the answer, guys. I'm doing the math again and hanging my new "affordable art" on Friday!

Mitch,
That may be firebrick with a plaster skim coat, which is what I have.

Any decent hardware store has a set of picture nails for concrete. They are like normal ones but have a plastic or sometimes metal anchor, into which go screws that hold the picture support. You need that because if you put too much weight on the normal picture nail, the firebrick basically crumbles and the whole thing falls out, usually leaving a big gaping cone of space and a lot of dust.

You will need a masonry drill bit to drill the holes for the anchors. I think they are red tipped.

Obviously, measure about five times and use your friend for a trial run. Mistakes look really, really bad.

Alex

I'm renting an apartment in an old building (I'm living in Paris for a few years) and while the ceilings are really high, there are existing nails in most of the old plaster walls. The walls are not painted white, but khaki, so I can't just take out the old nails.

I want to hang my pictures at a more appropriate height, which has thus far meant dropping them with string from the higher nails. This makes all of my pictures appear to have antennae... Is there a fancy way to disguise this with bows or ribbons or something?

Sometimes it's just one nail, so it looks like this:

o - nail
|
| - string
-----------
| |

But other times there are two nails where one picture should go, so I end up with the string in a V shape instead of just a straight drop. It's better than high pictures, but not by much!

Any help would be appreciated.

How nice to be in Paris for a few years!
Ribbons are a good solution, but I suggest using them not as a straight drop but attached to the eyehooks on the back side of the frame so they form a triangle. You don't say what sort of style you are using. If it is more decorative you can make simple bows with the ends trailing down the center. If the picture is heavy, you may want to hang it with wire underneath the ribbon so it doesn't pull.
If your decor is modern, use more hard-edge materials rather than ribbon - such as chain, rawhide or wire bent to the right dimensions. If the decor is more whimsical, you might make the colors playful and use imaginative materials rather than plain ribbon.
In the case of the double nails, good for hanging things like mirrors, if you don't need the strength or don't like the trapezoid shape they form with the ribbon, you might consider: 1) leaving the extra nail for future use by simply painting it the same shade as the wall behind it with artist paints, or 2) driving the nail farther into the wall and then painting over it.

For the picture on wall, the better hanging level of picture is the door height. Top edge of all pictures shuld be at same height and that shuld be the top of door height. but door height should not be more if height is more than seven feet, 7 feet height for pictures.

I have 2 problems 1 I have a spiral staircase, castle style. how do you hang pic. going up. it has 3 long windows as you go up. 2 do you center a large wall mirror in a bathroom with door closed or open. should the mirror be center if door is closed or as door is open with less wall exposed.? thank you Andrea Austin

this doesn't make sense. you're saying that the center of the picture has to be at 4 3/4 feet off the ground? isn't that way too low?

I am hanging some small pictures size 9inches by 14 inches along the wall of the stairs. I want to know how many pictures that size can be hanged along the wall aand the distance between the pictures. The total distance of the wall is 10-12feet .

With respect, I'm using my eye level-- the artwork is for me. Let the others use a chair.

lorna: hope this doesn't find you too late: prototype. Cut art paper in the size (and probably the color) of your frames and try out a couple different scenarios using tape. Live with 'em for a couple days. You'll know soon enough what is right for you.