How To Hang Art & Display Objects On Shelves.

Grouping items and displaying artwork well is a skill, but it is one that can be learned through practice, and a bit of guidance. The following tips can serve as a guide to get you practicing creating artwork displays.There is no right or wrong! Have fun!

On building a gallery of artwork and objects using shelves: Odd numbers of frames (i.e., three, five or seven frames) create the most pleasing effect in a display. Place central pieces at eye level or slightly above on the wall, then expand your display outward from there.
To add interest and character to a collection of similar art pieces, use frames in a variety of colors, textures and shapes. Interspersing the display with mirrors helps break up repetition, and creates the illusion of amplified natural light.
Hang several shelves to create a gallery of artwork and objects. Place framed or un-framed artwork on the shelves to lean against the wall, and . . .

Add eye-pleasing items (found river rocks,sculptural

vases, or vintage children's toys, for example) that

play off the shapes, colors and textures of the artwork.

Use wall ledges as a framework for an ever-evolving mix framed artwork. Aside from protecting your walls from misplaced holes, ledges also provide the freedom to layer artwork so that one frame slightly overlaps the other. This technique puts the focus on the display as a whole, rather than on any individual piece.

(A quick note as I look at this picture is that it has balance. If we draw a verticle line down the middle, both sides are visually equally balanced. A easy check to see if the picture is in fact balanced, is flip the picture around. If it is balanced, it will be balanced either way. Again, practice it. Imagine as you go about your day, as you pass pictures and artwork, look for balance, flip the pictures (in your mind, not really!)

Home Improvement Design Concepts (Balance)

Often designers arrive at initial consultations where the potential client has spent a good deal of money and yet to be satisfied with the results. Clients with a dream-room in mind, spent alot of money, but no dream. The client loved the detailed bookcases, French side chairs, etc., and you know the pieces were not cheap. Still . . . it just doesn't feel right. It is almost painful that it isn't working, after so much effort.
In creating and reviewing the design of a room, balance must be achieved. Balance is equilibrium, the distribution of equal weight; and if missing in our surroundings, we feel uneven, perhaps even anxious. Balance makes us comfortable, gives us stability. It reduces stress and gives us peace. Understanding the balance is a great example of how we experience and interact with our environments.
As we enjoy a picnic site and find it beautiful and relaxing, we notice it is a sunny day, the blue sky above and a landscape of nature surrounding us. Were we to take the same site but locate it on a slight incline, the calm and harmony evaporates. When we enter a room and notice a tilted picture on a wall, the desire to want to march over and correct it is because we need equilibrium, we need balance. A carpenter installing beautiful new wood flooring will avail himself of his level to assure that his composition, the completed flooring job, has balance.

The creation of a beautiful room
is not much different than the
creation of a beautiful painting.

Painters are aware of the need for balance and will sometimes create an imaginary vertical line down the middle of a canvas, to help assure the counterbalancing or evening of the elements of the composition. We too can use a similar technique by imagining a vertical chalked plumb line down the middle of a wall - our composition.
In balance, it is ‘visual’ weight that we are considering. The more an element attracts the eye, the more it 'weighs.' In seeing balance between a bright red balloon and a black bowling ball, the balloon might have more visual weight than the black bowling ball.When teaching your eye to see visual weight, it might help to see the room from a different perspective than we do everyday. You could walk back from a particular wall about fifteen feet and as you look at the pieces, slightly squint your eyes. This technique is similar to adjusting a camera lens. By adjusting your focus, you will see that the items will either be visually drawn toward you or they will fade to the background. Those items that are drawn toward you, or that your eye perceives as stronger have more visual weight.
It is through adjusting the elements on either side of the imaginary vision line, through evening them, that we achieve balance. Understanding that balance creates harmony and comfort is vital in our journey to learn how to create beautiful rooms and how

to create beautiful rooms for us.

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This article is one in a series of Design Concepts, to go to the entire list, click here.

Decorating With Pictures

Hung against knotty pine,

this collection of pictures (in a

small guest bathroom) makes

for a beautiful retreat.

All my life my way of thinking has been hugely affected by the things around me, especially in the display of picture collections. From uniquely framed poster art to musuem-quality still lifes, I have always absorbed an awareness of beautiful things, and particularly pictures.
Fabrics, imported china, rugs and all decorator items are fascinating and essential to our interiors. But to me, it is pictures that are the soul of the house. Artwork on display says a great deal about the character of the owner. A collection of pictures brings extraordinary sense of originality and uniqueness.
People are often nervous when starting a picture collection that it make a statement. If you are a bit reticent, consider the following ideas: Open your eyes. Look around you. Study picture collections of local museums, art galleries, antique shops, etc. As you browse the homes of top decorators and art collectors displayed in pages of design magazines, notice the artwork of a particular room. What sort of pictures do they collect? Is there a particular theme (such as nautical). Is it a mix of different media and different subject matter, such as in the photos above.
You will start to develop confidence in building your collection of pictures based on your personal tastes. Flirt with the concept of 'what would happen if ....' you made small changes to the vignette shown in a photo. What might occur if the framing were altered. Consider what might happen if a particular large piece were moved. Does that picture’s placement need to be there to ‘hold’ the grouping together. Don't worry about the aesthetic dictates of others. Pictures for your home collection should appeal to you.

~ Patricia Loya ~

Decorating Color Trends

Designer Steven Gambrel describes how he used some of the new color trends. Pantone Paint's Winter Sky was used on the walls and the edges of the walls were 'outlined' with the richer hue, Niagara to add architectural interest (in lieu of crown molding). According to Gambrel, "The Winter Sky And Niagara Slate blues have a slight tension that makes this combination interesting." He adds, "I never paint walls white." (Photo, left)

Walls: Winter Sky,

Border: Niagara, Pantone Paints

A vibrant family room or library: pale teal walls, a tobacco ceiling, plum trim. Accent with: nubby textiles and woven-straw accessories.

Wall: Hyacinth Dream #22-10 Paint

Trim: Ombre #31-20 Paint

Ceiling:Wendigo #33-18all,

Pratt And Lambert Paints

Fabric: Kravet

"I'm painting my dining room these cream and aubergine colors and putting nail-head-studded burlap on the door," according to Designer Ruthie Sommers

Eggplant walls: trimmed with luscious off-white trim:

Pointing #2003, Farrow & Ball for stores

Walls: Eggplant #1379, Benjamin Moore for stores

Karin Blake - Architectural Digest Top 100

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Minimalist and Americana and/or folk art aren't often paired - but designer Karin Blake has been combining them successfully for awhile. She's been on the "Architectural Digest Top 100 Interior Designers List" since its inception and she was a minamalist before there was even a word for it. Restraint is Karin Blake's signature.

The Malibu, California-based designer is a true believer in Mies van der Rohe’s philosophy that less is more. “I value negative space,” says Karin Blake, whose concise, highly edited interiors combine the whimsy of folk art with the precision of Modernism. The designer, who has many art collectors among her clientele, notes that there is a “gallery” feel to her interiors. “There’s not a lot of clutter,” she says. “Each piece stands out, even if it’s a table. I even avoid lamps whenever possible."

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Speaking of the Cape Cod summer home she purchased three years ago, ”My children were being raised in California, it was important to get them out, to get to know the East Coast.” Especially Maine. “Maine attracted me because it doesn’t have the crowding and commercialization that’s happened in other areas. I had a little farm on Martha’s Vineyard, which I stupidly sold. When I lived there, the island was so charming, making what has happened since so sad. Maine, however, filled that void.” She pauses, laughing, “No T-shirts.”
Though the original house sat lakeside on over 100 acres, “the place was in terrible condition. The floors were a mess, it needed painting inside and out, and we had to gut the kitchen. Beyond that, the two barns had to be completely salvaged.”
“I love strong, primary colors,” Blake says. “A little bit of red in every room really helps.”
A daunting task but one Blake jumped on, ultimately creating a 15-odd-room (tiny ones notwithstanding) summer vacation haven, a much-improved version of the original home, where she and her family spent “at least a month every summer.” Even more personally, its warren of rooms provided the perfect backdrop for the true passion of this decorator’s life—collecting folk art. Indeed, a walk through its cascade of spaces is a flight of the imagination, a merry jaunt through whimsical Americana.

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Karin Blake - Malibu, CA Phone: 310-456-8010 Fax: 310-456-1093

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The above article is part of an ongoing series Highlighting Top Interior Designers; other top designers recently highlighted include: Jennifer Post *** Lillian August *** Carol Bolton Hicks *** Geoffrey Bradfield *** Paul Vincent Wiseman *** Sills Huniford Associates ***

Karin Blake is one of many hugely talented designers listed in our Directory of Designers . Feel free to peruse the Directory for help with your design project.

Architectural Digest

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Italian Style Farmhouse Designed To Look Old (Cont'd)

This house and its beautiful landscape was constructed from scratch.  Not one tree stood on the site. 

With its old, plush-looking landscape however,  it has a naturally-established look, as if seeds have scattered with the winds across the grounds.

What now has the appearance of an Italian Style farmhouse or old Tuscany estate was carefully constructed by a team of professionals led by Saint Dizier Design with attention to detail: 

• creation of elegant rusticity, “a balance between dress-up and relaxed, a hodgepodge very carefully orchestrated,” according to Jacques Saint Dizier, of Saint Dizier Design
• use of fieldstone that might have been dug from local earth 
• capture vineyard panoramas, he raised the residence three feet to allow for stone terracing. "I’ve always felt that terracing merges architecture with the landscape,” he remarks, “so that you’re not sure where the stone walls become house.”
• anchor the house with an array of gnarled trees with languorous branches as thought they've survived a hundred summers, reports landscape architect Frederika Moller
• surround the property with masses of Teucrium and other herbs, confirming the house’s wine-country setting 
• construct a bocce court (a long-time Italian pastime activity)
• reinforce viewing areas of the 200 acres of grapes
• The landscape has many moods, the result of the grand skills of landscape architect Frederika Moller.
• To the rear, a series of outdoor rooms are formally defined by the rectilinear pool, pergola and bocce court.
• Mediterranean plantings spill, climb and drape, blurring distinctions between the natural and the cultivated. A rose garden and a vegetable garden are enclosed by laurel hedges, bisected à la France by rose-lined pathways.

The High back woven chairs shown left are from Ralph Lauren Home, and it so happens that Saint Dizier Home Shop carries one of the largest collections of Ralph Lauren in the San Francisco area.

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The pergola, pool and bocce court make for a perfect outdoor entertaining retreat.

And of course, this is a fine example of a Bocce court, an Italian ball sport, but played around Europe and also in overseas areas that have received Italian migrants.



Bonus Recipe:  For Outdoor Entertaining With An Italian Flair, "Brunschetta With Swiss Chard Pecorino
Cheese"

Outdoor entertaining Bruschetta, delicious grilled slices of crusty Italian bread topped with a myriad of toppings that can be prepared quickly and is often served as an antipasto.  This version is one of my favorites, you can use any green leafy vegetable such as Tuscan black cabbage, kale or spinach in place of the swiss chard as shown in the photo. The addition of buttery, toasted pine nuts or crispy pancetta bits to the topping would offer options to vary this dish nicely.

Bruschetta With Swiss Chard & Pecorino Cheese

Yield: Serves 4

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Total Time: 35 mins

Bruschetta, delicious grilled slices of crusty Italian bread topped with a myriad of toppings that can be prepared quickly and is often served as an antipasto.

Ingredients:

4 Slices Crusty Italian Bread (Ciabatta Works Well)
1 Garlic Clove Peeled
Topping:
1 Large Bunch Of Swiss Chard
2 Cloves Garlic, Peeled And Minced
3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 Tablespoons Minced Sun-Dried Tomatoes (I Prefer Oil Packed)
Salt & Pepper To Taste
Dash Of Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 Cup Shaved Pecorino Cheese

Directions:

Wash the swiss chard and dry it well, chop the leaves coarsely, and finely chop the stems.
Heat the olive oil in a heavy pan over medium heat, and then add the minced garlic and cook just until fragrant.
Add the swiss chard and cook until it is wilted and soft.
Add the sun-dried tomatoes, and then season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
Mix well, and then set aside.
Either grill the bread slices, or place under the broiler, lightly browning each side.
Place the peeled garlic clove on the tines of a fork and scrape it across each slice of toasted bread.
Divide the swiss chard mixture between the four slices of bread, and then top each with some of the shaved pecorino cheese.

From "Italian Food Forever," Buon Appetito! Deborah Mele

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(Architectural Digest Photos, Architecture by c, AIA, and Karen Jensen Roberts, AIA/Interior Design by Jacques Saint Dizier, ASID and Richard Westbrook of Saint Dizier Design/Landscape Architecture by Frederika Moller Text by Patricia Leigh Brown/Photography by Mary E. Nichols Published June 2009 )