I added this photo to my houzz.com Ideabook a while back and planned to use the idea to display a client's vintage postcard collection from her travels.
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| Ava Lane via Kailey J. Flynn Photography @ houzz.com |
But does the thought of obsessively measuring for hours atop a ladder seem intimidating?
I learned this little trick when I was in Art school. If you create an installation piece- meaning it matters how the art is hung, this would be standard procedure.
Start with a big piece of paper- butcher paper, kraft paper, wrapping paper or tape pieces of printer paper together. Your big paper needs to be larger than the whole vignette.
Lay the paper down on the floor, then arrange your pieces. Measure and level on the ground until you are satisfied with your arrangement (these are 2" apart.)
Trace the top and corners of each frame onto the paper.
Level, then tape or pin the paper to the wall where you want your grid vignette to hang.
IF your frames have a ledge for hanging inside (like these ikea ones do) Push two push pins through the paper into the wall on the top line of each frame.
(Your vignette will hang 1/8 of an inch higher if you do this, so if that bothers you adjust the big piece of paper- trust me it is easier to pin through the lines.)
IF your frames hang from a wire or hanger you should measure the hook location on the frame and add it to your drawing (like is it half way across?).
Once all the pins are in place begin removing them. Then remove the paper from the wall. If your frames are to heavy to hang by push pins, nail in the holes marked by the push pins. These little 4x6 aluminum Ikea frames were very lightweight and could hang from push pins, so i just pit the pushpins back in the wall.
Hang your Frames and scoot as necessary to make sure your lines are even.
*If any frames are askew, it is probably just the angle of the nail/pin. Try adjusting the angle before considering a new hole.
**If you plan on nailing the frames and do not have any push pins, you can nail through the paper, then gently rip the paper off the wall leaving the nails intact. I do not recommend this with push pins though because they will fly everywhere.
