Dressing your walls

What's on your walls?  The real estate that makes up the walls in our homes is huge and should be dressed to reflect the success of your family.  It's generally the first thing or at least the biggest thing people see when they enter your home.  They will sub-consciously size up the color, the trim, the artwork and arrangement of your walls. Let them speak volumes of what you value and what is important to you. 

One of the most common mistakes of squandering this real estate comes with hanging things on the wall.  We are either too scared to put anything up for fear of putting it in the wrong place or we throw caution to the wind and drive nails in willy nilly hoping that in the end, it all looks good.  If we don't think it through just a bit, we can end up with pictures hung in just the right place for an All Start Basketball player, too high. 

Here are some key ideas:
1.     Consider the space:  A little tiny picture will get lost on a huge wall.  Likewise, a huge picture will be crammed on a little wall.  Balance is what you are going for.  If all you have are little pictures and big wall, group the pictures to create a statement. 

2.     Hang pictures at eye level.  

3.     When hanging pictures over a sofa or large furniture piece, the standard rule of thumb is to hang the picture so the bottom of the frame is no higher than 6" from the top of the sofa

4.     Pictures don't always have to be hung.  Consider mounting a shelf and resting the pictures on the shelf

5.     When grouping pictures either on the wall or on a horizontal surface, use frames that are similar in style, color and size.  You want people to notice what is in the frame, not be distracted with the frame itself. 

6.     Have the proper tools.  A level, a pencil for lightly marking, a ruler or tape measure and picture hangers or screws that are appropriate in size for the weight of your picture.

Hope some of these tips were helpful...now, go hang some pictures!