8/28/14 The Morning Coffee: Hanging Pictures

A Good Morning to you as you begin your day—

I moved the very first possession of ours into the new house last night—a framed photograph. I hung it on the wall in the kitchen. At least two more will go on the same wall.

The house has a lot of wall space, and I have a lot of framed pictures that have never been displayed properly. Of everything I'm looking forward to in the new house, that's probably #1—arranging and hanging the photographs on the walls.

Of necessity, I'll be going with the crowded-wall look rather than the more modernistic single-image-on-a-clean-field look. I have some nice things but it's a motley of this and that, my own work of various vintages and a number of the Print Offer prints, and some pictures by friends. I imagine it will be an ongoing project.

There are also several pictures waiting in the framing queue, including the panorama picture of our former lake from the Help TOP Move sale, and the Caponigro Father-Son diptych.

It's going to be fun. Hopefully the house will have the feel of a gallery when it's all up, with lots of good stuff for visitors to look at.

Hope you have a good Thursday. Mine will be busy.

Mike

"Morning Coffee" is auto-published weekdays at 3:30 a.m. Central Time today to be in time for morning coffee breaks in the UK and Europe. For those who rise later, it will be there. The feature is a month-long experiment to give people something to check in with while I'm busy moving. This is not permanent.

I'll write about anything. Want to suggest a topic or ask a question? Leave it as a comment.

Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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Comments

[Neil Attard]

Mike, I'm enjoying reading about your journey into your new place. Since these are a little off-topic, how about going the whole nine-yards and showing us where the pool table will go...

[Thanks Neil...I will be glad to show you after it goes in. It will be much better with pictures. --Mike]

[Michel]

I must say, I really enjoy these Morning Coffee posts.

[Bruce Bordner]

How are you planning to light the prints? I have just tried LED spots which gives a better CRI but the glare is fierce... does anyone make polarized LEDs? Should I use round bulbs rather than spots?

This is really a problem for me as my house is dark and I normally shoot and print dark (slide oriented). My prints look great in sunlight but anything less is really disappointing.

This is why prints aren't popular - everyone is used to a transmitted-light (slide, LCD) image now and a reflected-light, limited-range paper copy of that image is never seen in enough light...

I don't imagine that the solution is cheap, especially to light a whole wall - any ideas out there?

[Chico Ruger]

Why don't you ask your readers for the PROPER way to hang a photo. Then..."let the fun begin".

[Craig Beyers]

Mike - I'm enjoying your restrained, pent-up excitement about your new house and office. The tone of your posts is light-hearted and uplifting and I can almost hear you giggling in both enjoyment and disbelief in your new digs. Of course, I may just be reading between the lines. I hope I'm wrong. Congratulations.

[Richard Howe]

Last year an off topic post of yours on your weight loss program inspired me to start in on one of my own — not much like yours, except that it's slow (under a pound a week, actually) and depends at least as much on 3-5 miles of brisk walking every day as it does on paying a lot more attention to what I eat and, in general, eating less than before. So far, since January 1, about 28 lbs. and another 12 or so to go, per my target. I figured if you can do it, so can I, so thanks for that.

What I'd like to hear from you is an update on how it's going, And also, since I don't have the patience to scroll that far back in TOP, what that scale was that you recommended. I'm pretty much OK with what I've got, but I am a gear head of sorts, and what you had to say about it registered with me, even if the particulars didn't.

Good luck with the move; sounds like you're doing OK so far.

I'm enjoying your "morning coffee" posts a lot.

Richard Howe

[ACG]

Mike,

You should get a system like the following link, I have them installed here in France and they are wonderful once installed:

http://www.picturedisplaysystems.co.uk/gallery-picture-hanging-rail-system-for-walls-50kg-40-c.asp

Makes hanging a breeze and you can infinitely tinker without impact on the walls.

Congratulations and Best Regards,

ACG

[David Dyer-Bennet]

My house is old enough it has picture molding around the top of the walls in the living room and dining room. I'm adding it, very slowly, in my bedroom as well, since a lot of stuff really should be going on the walls here. The gallery system is very modern, I suspect far more costly, and much more flexible. I wish I could see some illustrations of "good" uses of it.

Also just ordered a ton (or at least 30) of little nickle-plated neodynium magnets to attach workprints to metal cabinets both at home and at work (starting to set up the environment to continue using the new Epson 3880 printer here).

[Terry Letton]

I have found that 1" steel strips painted to match the walls gives me plenty of flexible space to hang prints with magnets. The steel strips are available in various lengths at all the big box lumber yards.