Full disclosure: I think Kate is soooooo much cooler than Andy Spade (and, yes, I'm a guy). Hilary (woman) may lose, but Kate (woman) has won. Her style seems so much more grown up, fun and exciting than his little confused downtown boy club around the corner from her SoHo store. Okay, that's harsh, but it's true (his bags are nice, but that's it). And even though I have NO USE for anything in HER store (bags, glasses, etc), I still go in there and I like it. I know, metrosexual, wierd...
This is the starting picture - the keystone - everything hangs off of it. Look how nothing maintains the horizontal line. Every pic "steps" down.
In this view, I wanted to show how all the pictures "weep" or "slope" down from that center picture.
Martha hangs pictures on horizontal lines, Kate does not. The pictures in this assembly seem - to me - to center around one picture and then "cascade" down on both sides. The genius of this is that when you have dissimilar pictures you never get into a rut trying to make them all match up. If everything is slightly off, slightly off is perfect. Take a look at my markups.
To do this sort of thing, you want to start on the floor with all the pics you have available:
• Choose your center pic - it doesn't need to be the biggest, but it does need to have some size.
• The center pic should be precious and needn't attract the most attention on its own.
• Move - generally - from large to small as you move to the perimeter.
• Always allow for more weight or mass on the left (it's just a rule of optics).
• "Weight" means either darkness, size or thickness (this assembly has more pics on the right, but the center pic is moved to the left of your vision so the weight is there)
• When you have your assembly set on the floor, hang from the center pic outward.
• Enjoy. Try it at home.
Best,
Copyright © 2008 Apartment Therapy
I have one bedroom apartment and 29 original paintings. I definetly can use this idea to create a gallery style .
Thanks Maxwell.
view New York Muhtari's profile
Thank you! I was really stuck with straight lines and too many small things.
view rorarora's profile
I love hanging art this way. It's so eclectic and free--it puts the emphasis on the owner's broad range of art/photos/mementos instead of a rigid grid or pattern.
view Ironsides's profile
I really like this set up. I will be garage-saleing this summer to find picture frames and finaly get all my photographs up. Hurray!
view revolution9's profile
These diagrams are great! But I'm a little confused about the "Hilary {which is misspelled, if you're referring to Clinton} (woman)" and "Kate (woman)" thing. Was there a point to putting that in this post? So odd.
view kat98's profile
Well you see, kat98, it's because it's still so novel that Hillary is a *woman* and actually wanted to run for the big ol office of president. I hear there was more to her platform than being a woman, but I dunno.
view a.meyer's profile
Oh, hoorah, for the return of the personal pronoun "I" in an opinon entry. The editorial "we" makes me think of a corporate mission statement.
I'm afraid of Kate Spade's bags with the open tops that let your stuff spill out, or thieves' hands creep in. What was she thinking? Easy access for all?
view Ter's profile
I second Ter's opinion. "We" is okay sometimes, but it just doesn't work in every context. Thank you for realizing that! Also, love the tips. I would never have figured any of that out myself, and I'm sure if I had tried to replicate it based on just the photo, it would have looked "off" to me.
view shayshay213's profile
It's worth noting that this method of hanging art works best when the frames themselves are, as above, of different weights/thicknesses and colors/tones. The same goes for the mats (or lack thereof). And the art itself, for that matter.
(And I totally agree that the Hillary/woman comment was way weird.)
view Anna at D16's profile
That whole first paragraph is really just confusing me.
The rest however, is very helpful as I've been trying to figure out how to fix my own art wall thing, and I think these guidelines/ideas are just what I needed.
Also, Kate Spade's advertising and website are genius. (Um, although they don't actually make me want to buy anything, so maybe they aren't.) But they're definitely well designed.
view jennifer in sf's profile
I love Kate too. But, give me the tried and trusty grid any day! It is a repeatedly proven component of great design.
view quiltmaster's profile
This is very helpful to me--thanks!
view jen_g's profile
a.meyer, I must have forgotten that when talking about Hillary Clinton, one must always use her first name and point out that she's female. (and maybe that was the reason for bringing her in to a discussion about handbags and decorating, too!) Although I don't know how that's possible, because I'm an architect, and so I'm reminded EVERY DAY how unusual it is to be a woman and successful. Mostly by the mail and email I get that's addressed to "Dear Sir" or "Gentlemen" or some other greeting that reminds me that I'm an anomaly. Or by the people who assume I'm the secretary and will get them coffee.
view kat98's profile