Gallery
This is the media room/lounge in an elegantly restored bungalow in Mt. Eden. The left wall of this lounge has about 90 individually framed items (concert tickets, record covers, photos, scarves etc...) a menagerie of memorabilia. in stark contrast, the wall on the right has 35 A4 black&white original Rock legend photos, hung in a perfect grid. Suffice to say, they'll need a 'fill & repaint' when they sell!
Long time Auckland clients moved to very large amazing villa in the Hawkes Bay. They hosted us for a couple of days so that we could rehang everything. this particular room, the main lounge, we rehung an eclectic mix of old & new items. several sets of antlers, round mirrors, Gimblet-quadrafoils, beautiful still life oil-on-canvas's. If you look closely you can just make out the Liz Thompson white moths scattered amongst the array of items. The more we added the more interesting it became.
Hanging within panelled wall detailing has its challenges. for example, the panels are of differing dimensions. the walls are all brick and plaster. Fortunately the frames are all the same size. Measure twice (or more) drill once!
This group of awards is situated in the stairwell of 42 Below’s Auckland city HQ. Due to its height (over 6mtrs at deepest point) scaffolding was needed for installation. This meant that the stairwell was out of use for more than 8 hours. Another factor with large projects such as this is that the items at the top will not get that much visual attention and so each item needs consideration as to its final location. For example, if it’s important that it gets seen or read then put it front and centre. There would be about 60 items in this montage.
Tiltslab, concrete block or masonry walls - a blessing when hanging large items, but a burden for small ones. For large heavy items concrete ensures good strengthwhen (and where-ever) anchors are inserted, no need to worry about where the studs are. On the other hand, small items (by ‘small’ I mean smaller than A4) need small fittings so as to sit relatively flat to the wall. However even the smallest plugs, bolts, drillbits etc... designed for concrete are all rather large. The solution is to redrill the hole in the hook big enough for a screw but not so big as to weaken the hook.
Relatively large office walls are often a challenge, as the items to hang aren't generally large or elegant enough for hanging one solitary item. Also large office walls are a thing that is inherited along with the new lease, rather than 'purpose-built' for the company's brand and or collection of various framed awards, memorabilia, brochure-ware etc. Thank goodness for the montage.
Some clients like the idea of all black frames, or all white frames. Some clients don't. Such an amazing home, and the styling of each room, hallway and bathroom was a unique work of art in themselves. When it came to their family photos, more was definitely more. Several constraining factors here that are a bit hard to see; two gold petal light sconces, and the ever present light switches. This wall is approx 7 mtrs x 3 mrs.This has been added to several times since this photo was taken.
Main entry foyer, group of family photos (various sizes), but all framed in the same sized frames, make for an elegant grid. A great way to deal with the differing dimensions of the photos that have been collected over a lifetime.
I love grids.
I actually included this photo simply because I loved the styling of this room. The amber crushed-velvet bedhead simply glows whenever the light hits it. The picture over the bed is an old tapestry, rich with history, colour and texture framed in a mahogany frame to match the rich dark timber panelled feature wall. Oh, and the nine framed antique photos added a bit of scale to an otherwise large white wall. The 30 other photos of this collection carry on down the stairs thru to the living area (refer next photo).
The best way to showcase a large collection of rare, original photos by your late father, framed all exactly the same way and size, is to retain some kind of grid-like symmetry. But sometimes you just have to fit them into the only space(s) available. even if that means installing them onto 3 walls.
Here's one for all us rugby-heads. Dan Carter's 2011 World Cup winning number 10 jersey. signed by the team. So, Ive framed quite a few jerseys over the years but they always look dead and flat and relatively underwhelming. When we were given the opportunity to do this one... We thought we'd do something more than the usual. We stretched it over a 3D torso to give it some pecks, but the frame was 7 inches boxed out the back. When we came to hang it, a builder had to cut a hole in the wall to the dimensions of the shadow-box. Suffice to say that the client was aware of the hole in the wall prior to the builder's saw.
When the idea of a family photo-montage is discussed, often there is a reluctance for them to be located in the main entry of a home. As some clients would rather not have photos 'front-and-centre' for all to see when first entering the house. In such cases this scenario is the ideal, as the stairwell is kind of viewed from a 'public space' (by 'public' I mean a common area of the home), but is located on the wall leading into the more private parts of the home (bedrooms, bathrooms etc).
I would not usually recommend the idea of twin photo montages, on both sides of the same hallway. However if your hallway is approx 2.5 mtrs wide, then you can do just about anything and it not feel visually cramped. The continuity of all black framing (albeit deferent sizes and shapes) is a beautiful addition to the elegantly modernist architecture of this home. This particular group of family photos had been compiled over a decade or so, and yet the theme of 'any-frame-so-long-as-its-black' has always been an easy fit, in each of the 4 homes that we have hung them in.
Architectually designed, purpose built, negative-detailed walls (if they can be called walls) are the 'cabinetry' for these eight frames (there are 16 altogether). Each one is a chronological narrative of portraits, from the first 90 or so ASB CEO's. These were in an area that is easily accessed by the public and so 'security-hanging' was essential. The thing about Architects is that they are exacting. To the millimetre.
The thing about photography (thumbnails in particular) is that its hard to impress upon the viewer the scale of things. This photo is typical of such a challenge. This room is very big. But due to the skill of the couple that styled it, the room feels neither small and cluttered, or too big and under done. Each individual item of furniture and artwork is perfectly proportioned for the room. The portraits are in two separate frames, big frames, but after some too-ing & frow-ing, we decided to hang them touching, as like twins. The mirror from memory is 1.9 mrs x 1.4 mrs and weighed about 60 kg (we had to use Steadfastener brackets as there weren't any studs where we needed them so as to carry the weight).
Now here’s a funny thing, a photo montage over a stairwell with no photos. You might well ask the question ‘why would someone do such a thing?’ Well, after this client explained to me that she really wanted to get something happening but didnt know where to start, this all of a sudden sounded like not such a bad idea. Now all she needs to do is decide on the photos, then install them one at a time. Although there are over twenty frames in this montage, there are only six sizes.
After many years of hanging family montages for others, my wife (boss) eventually convinced me to hang one of our own. I like it, more importantly so does she. What I really love about this is that our four kids are constantly asking me questions about the past family members in the photos they never got to meet (their paternal grandparents), and so the memories I have of them are refreshed regularly. And though they never had the chance to meet them, the ongoing conversation is a simple way in which to light a candle in their hearts, for those who meant so much to me. Oh... and I also like the different types of frames too.
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And yes, here is a 'roundy-the-corner' installation. Yes its a bit of a novelty item and does help to fill an awkward wall. But its more about being odd, a bit different. I'm thinking that as long as the artwork suits the space, and its just having some fun, then fill your boots up! What helps this group and its 'roundy-the-corner-ness' is that they mostly have no frames. Which emits a lack of pretension.
This is as pragmatic a hanging as one can get. There was no where else in the house with a large enough wall to hang the entire family photo collection. The straight line at the bottom has a twofold purpose; firstly it assists in giving the group a point of reference when beginning the layout. Secondly, the hight to the bottom of the montage is determined by the chairs that will surround the table at dinner times. Hanging them maybe 3 centimetres above the hight of the chair backs will save a lot of bashing of frames during those busy roast dinner evenings.
I just love these creepy crawly kind of things. However hanging them into concrete that was constructed in the 1920s is a job not so easy to love. There are always a dozen ways to hang any group. But we got this layout right first time, which is always satisfying. The only thing that doesn't really belong in the theme of this group is the bat. But who would really care. It looks better with him in than not.
In-spite of what some interior designers say, I really love a rich and diverse group of family photos located at the front door. I love the idea that when you are there at the door welcoming people into your home, you have a huge entourage of loved ones behind you, welcoming them in also. When people enter they will see it and instantly get a feeling of 'family-lives-here'. And of course, much of our family photos are of people, young and old, smiling (mostly). And there is nothing more inviting than smiling faces.
Typical of older homes, but becoming popular again in newly renovated homes as well, is battened and or panelled walls. Hanging anything onto walls such as this will always be dertermined by the spacing of the panels themselves. But beware... as not all of the panels will be symmetrical, due to the location of architectural elements, such as doors, hallway corners, balconies, stairs, etc. This passage way has all of these elements. So the battens that divided up the walls are indeed uneven. this meant that the gaps between each of the pictures was not the same.The strongest visual anchors are that the battens run equally between them, and that they are all exactly the same hight (even when they continued around the corners then carried on over the stairwell).
This huge antique map of London's Thames river is divided up into 24 individual A2 gold leaf frames (as you can see). The hight of the ceiling where they are hung is only 2.5 mtrs. which meant that there was only enough room for a 11mm gap between the 3 vertical frames (with about 35mm at the top and bottom) which translates to 11mm gap between the horizontal frames also. so now that the math had been figured out, all that was needed was to plot (and check) then drill 48 holes into the high compression tilt-slab concrete wall. 7 hrs and eight drill bits later, the job was done.
This group of memorabilia hangs in the CEO’s office of a private international company in downtown Auckland. Given that the items were previously collected and framed with no intention of creating a uniformed whole they came together quite well. The client was so happy with the initial result that he has doubled the amount on items since this photo was taken. Not to mention the photo montages now hanging in his home.
As with the top image that shows the use of random shapes and sizes, the success of this group depends for the most part on a good quantity of various sizes and shapes. But what adds to this group is that they are all the same ‘thing’ - gold mirrors. These are then arranged in a considered, ‘A-symmetrical’ layout. Much time was given to where each item would be located in relation to the next. Getting this right often takes as much time as hanging them.
This client had a collection of about forty framed photos, different sizes, different shapes. And to make things interesting there was an iron hand rail and of course, a light switch. This montage needed to be laid out exactly before installing so as to plot the frames within those spacial obstacles. Once this had been confirmed, all that was then needed was to install the frames one after the other in order of proximtiy to the previous one.
When all items are the same size its always a crisper, cleaner look to go with a grid. Logical minds tend to love this look as it has a sense of order. It's also very easy to add more. By the way, just in case you were thinking of trying this at home - a word of warning - don’t try using string. In fact, don’t try using string, cord, wire, cable or anything other than the ‘twinpin system’ for any of these examples shown. There’s approx 60 items in this group (5.0 mtrs x 1.9mtrs).
The Remuera Bowling Club had a ‘make over' and had a bunch of various items, maps, photos etc they wanted on the wall. This is a good example of how a group can appear to look balanced without things actually being symmetrical. All of the frames are of differing sizes except for the two A4’s at each end of the second row (this group is about 2.4mtrs across by 1.4mtrs).
Unfortunately this photo has been unceremoniously cut off at the top so that its strongest impact has been lost (however if you watch the rotation of photos on the top of our home page you can see this image in its fullness). A very large stairwell montage which is dead-straight at the top, running in line with the top of the wall. Lots of ladder work. and lots of math in order to maximise the quantity of frames with the minimum of unnecessarily large gaps between them. Approx 5mtrs wide by 4 mtrs deep at bottom.