Lots of Asheville locals call on us hang large art in a stairwell (it's one of our most popular services) so we've seen lots of beautiful stairwells in our day. But I think the one we're going to show you today was one of the nicest, simply because of the generously-sized window that filled the entire outer wall. However, there is a drawback to big, beautiful staircases like this... what kind of art can you choose that's big enough to hang there? And once you find the right piece of art, how do you get it hung 15 feet in the air? Fortunately, the couple that was moving into this beautiful home already had a pair of large paintings in mind. These were originals by Marco Reichert, a Berlin artist who is represented here in Asheville by Bender Gallery. I always think of myself as a traditionalist when it comes to art, but I have to admit that Reichert's work grew on me while we were hanging his pieces. The artist creates robots which do a part of the painting for him, so you get these great mechanical lines which look fantastic in a contemporary setting like this one. I also liked what I call the "face-but-not-a-face" effect. Humans are so naturally wired to see faces that it's hard to create a head shape like this one and not automatically suggest a face. And you can read a face here if you want; but it's not the first thing that strikes you. This adds a little mystery to the viewing experience. So, they had found the perfect pieces for their space. Now we just had to hang them way above the stairs. We started with our stairwell ladders, which adjust so that they can stand level even when one side has to be set further down the stairs than the other. However, this particular location, it wasn't enough to have the right ladders because (as we soon realized) it's impossible to get the ladders in the right configuration to hang pieces of this size. Fortunately, we also carry expandable scaffold boards that fit into the ladders. Placing these paintings was interesting, because at first we assumed that we would hang them both at the same height. But when we held them up for the clients, they discovered that it was more interesting to hang them at different heights so that you could relate to them better as you climbed the stairs. The homeowners had a really appealing art collection. I really liked this Vestaboard sign, which can be set up to deliver a new quote every day. That's really fun because it makes a big ruckus as it flips through all of the letters. When we got there, it was set to a quote from one of my favorite authors. They also had a mesmerizing abstract by Daniel Nevins in their dining room. The wood slats on the wall really set off the swirling shapes in the painting. We hung several other pieces in this new home as well, and I didn't catch them all with my camera. But I did snap a few quick photos of this salvaged sign. We spaced the letters a little further apart than we would normally do, because we were covering a pair of unused outlets. But I think it turned out "A-Okay" so to speak! If you've got a piece of art that would look great if it were hung high up on a great big wall... we can make it happen. Give us a ring to get started.
Around here in Asheville, many of the contemporary homes have beautiful living rooms with a great big empty wall over the sofa. And a soaring ceiling like this may look very impressive when you're walking through the home to buy it, but then after you move in, you might start to wonder what to put on that huge wall. One of our recent clients had the perfect solution: a big salon-style gallery wall made from her extensive collection of folk art. She and her husband have been buying pieces from the long-running American Folk Art Gallery in downtown Asheville for several years, and they had amassed a variety of paintings in all different shapes and sizes. She brought us to her home to help her unite her collection into a layout that would work with the beautiful vaulted wood ceiling. After talking with her and seeing the paintings, we agreed that the best design would be a little bit non-traditional and asymmetrical to suit her style. It takes an artistic eye to bring unity to a really colorful collection like this - but it can be done. Once we had a layout that she loved, we began the painstaking process of cutting out paper templates for each piece. It's important to get this stage right if you want your gallery wall to look good... and it gets a bit tricky when some of the picture frames are out of square. (That happens a lot with folk art, because it's often painted on odd surfaces like old roofing tin or reclaimed windows.) Fortunately we have a good process for this, and it goes much faster with a team. We copied the layout onto the wall and made a few adjustments. Again, this takes a little skill in order to get it all correctly centered on the wall, especially with an asymmetrical arrangement like this where nothing is exactly in the middle of the layout. Then after the templates were each in the perfect place, we began replacing them with the real paintings and sculptures. For me, this is the part that feels like magic. However, it's also a fair amount of physical work to install heavy pieces like this (many of them are painted on thick wood panels) so this might not be something to do on your own. Another consideration is how to hang each piece safely. Folk art in particular is often lacking in the hardware department, and we spent a little extra time adding stronger hangers to the backs of some of these pictures. And you don't want to use a standard picture hook for the heavier pieces you see here. I know that the bigger ones are supposed to be rated for a lot of weight, but we've tested them in our workshop, and they're surprisingly flimsy. Fortunately we brought special hangers that can hold 50+ pounds each, even in drywall, so everything is securely installed. Our client was thrilled with the final layout. It had a good distribution of the differently sized pieces, and also kept the various colors flowing through the mix. Collecting most of your pieces in one particular style or genre can be a shortcut to making a collection that looks unified. Folk art comes in lots of colors, but it usually consists of simple shapes, and I think that's what makes it possible to hang all of these paintings together in a group. By the way, check out the tree painting in the middle (the one with the tire swing). That was created by local artist Deona Fish, and the homeowners also had a few other of her pieces in the collage. The one of the chickens in the pickup truck was especially captivating. It's a family portrait (including their four children) so it's perfect for the family room. Plus, there's a little "Florida Gator" as a reference to their favorite sports team! I dig it.
In fact, we really enjoyed seeing their whole collection of folk art, and it was a fun challenge to create cohesive display out of such a varied and colorful collection. Filling a whole wall with art is actually an increasingly common method that interior designers are using to deal with these soaring living room ceilings. As designer Maria Killam explains it, you're using art almost like wallpaper. But it takes a little know-how to pull together a collection, and that's where we come in. We're experienced at this kind of layout, and we might have a few ideas you haven't thought of. If you've got a big wall that needs a little gusto, please let us know. We can hang art up to sixteen feet high above the floor, so it's a great way to make a "blank canvas" wall into a feature in your home.
Wow. I took a textiles class in college, and tried my hand at tapestry... which means I know just enough to know that this beautiful wall hanging took absolutely forever to weave. And the colors are wonderful! Sadly I didn't take any closeup shots so you could see the talented tapestry-makers' skill. But maybe this zoomed-in view will help. Look how the duck on the left is "hiding" in the leaves. The more you look at it, the more charming it is. This thing was pretty big - maybe five feet tall and seven feet wide. That meant it wouldn't fit on just any wall. Fortunately the homeowners did have a spot for it... about thirteen feet in the air. We had to get out a couple of sturdy ladders for this, but the final effect was worth it. I really like the way the colors tie in with the sofa. One of the challenges we had was deciding how to center this piece. As you can see, it hangs over a kitchen peninsula that's off center. The pendant lights are also off center. The best thing you can do in situations like this is have a couple of people hold it up while you step back and see where you like it. We also installed this large blue piece in their dining room. This one was tricky as well, because they had ceramic tile which we had to drill through in order to add the hangers. If you have a situation like this, just let us know so we can bring the best bit for the job. Over in their kitchen was a delightful row of still life paintings. Our clients mentioned that the artist who painted these had started his career in his seventies. His sense of color was incredible.
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