Making a New Home at the Givens Estates near Asheville

My favorite phone calls come when someone is unpacking after moving to Asheville and realizing that they are absolutely swamped with art and can't decide where to hang it. That was the case for one of our recent clients, who had just downsized to the Givens Estates, which is a local retirement home. She was now in a two-bedroom condo, and she needed to find homes for her upsized art collection.

What a charming lady she was! I was delighted by the pictures she had curated over the years.

Our largest project involved designing a salon-style layout that covered most of one wall. We laid it out on the floor first, and sort of liked the arrangement, but we weren't at 100%. So we let it sit while we attended to other pictures. In the meantime, her daughters dropped by and helped us shuffle them around until everyone was satisfied. Sometimes you have to let things percolate a bit before you hang everything up.

The final layout was really appealing. She had more than just classical and impressionist paintings; there were also several sculptures to arrange, including a very fragile ceramic chain which had to handled with the utmost care.

We left a little extra space on the left-hand side, where those brown boxes are, because she plans to have a custom bookcase installed. That's the only downside to helping people move in... we don't always get to see the final results.

On the right-hand side of the arrangement was a captivating little bust which I called The Professor. Our client said he was actually a waiter in Paris. She had spent many years there, and she had acquired some very charming paintings of that city.

Across the room was an arresting watercolor spotlighted by its own lamp. I didn't ask who painted it, but I have my suspicions...

We also installed this very heavy old mirror over a chest of drawers.

Actually, I should say that we re-installed it. The movers had hung it originally, but it was crooked. Even worse, when we took it down, we found that they had used inadequate hangers which probably would have failed someday and sent the mirror crashing to the ground.

I suppose I can't blame them... not everyone has personally tested the sturdiness of the picture hangers they use. They rely on the weight guidelines shown on the box, which is often a very optimistic number in our experience. When hanging heavy mirrors, we always overcompensate on the hanger. It doesn't cost much more, and it gives us peace of mind.

While we were hanging the mirror, I spotted another piece which we didn't install... it was already in place when we arrived.

But it was so sweet that I couldn't resist snapping a photo of it. The bronze ladder is part of the sculpture, and the third rung is purposefully snapped.

This expressive little statuette was created by the client's daughter, and the name of the piece is "Tah-dah!"

One of the best parts of my job is learning little stories like that. Every piece has a history, and it's wonderful when we have a little spare time to chat about them all and learn about how they came to be.

Here's another example of a "wall of stories." This gallery wall layout went into the client's office, and it includes several captivating wedding photos from her family. The prettiest bride was her daughter in the lower left. Look how her wedding dress resembles the opening bud of a flower. I felt sure that this must have been an expensive couture gown, but in fact, the bride designed and sewed the dress herself!

There were a few other amusing stories as well, but I'll save those for another day.

If you're relocating to Asheville and you need someone to help hang your pictures, we'll be happy to help! We can't wait to see the thrilling tales behind your collection.

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