When we arranged to build our current house, we found a place in the floorplan that would suit the Rogue's Gallery to a "T" (floorplan link). There is a small hallway between the guest bedroom and the kitchen. It was built to allow people to go from one side of the house to another without going through the kitchen. Its walls are only broken up by a coat closet (yes, there really is one in this house).
In the last while Georgia was able to put the family photos on the walls of the gallery. With so many photos, one could not just start nailing photos to the wall, or one would quickly run out of room on the wall. Georgia decided to use the same method of photo placement that she used in Grants Pass.
First our decorator went to a teacher's supply store and bought a number of yards of blank paper. Other supplies included 2 inch painters tape, clear packing tape, pencil, eraser, a mid-sized carpenter's level, measuring devices, hammer, and hanging devices for the photos (quick hanger link).
Next Georgia cut the yards of paper in half, each being the length of the gallery. She used the clear packing tape to tape the cut pieces together, making a wider swath of paper. Using the painters tape Georgia attached the tape to the wall.
Because some of the photos are old, Georgia wanted to protect them from any (further) sun damage. She marked on the paper how far into the gallery the light from the sometimes bright windows reached.
Randy's level is longer than Georgia's, which made it a little easier for our handylady to draw a level line on the paper across the whole wall. Next, Georgia carefully cut the tape along the edge of the paper, avoiding actually damaging the wall surface with her small box cutter. The paper was then pulled to a long area in the house.
Georgia placed the family photos on the paper, trying for a pleasing arrangement. She also avoided putting the old photos too close to the "sun line" from the parlor. While she was able to arrange the placement of a large number of the photos, not all of them would fit on one wall. With a bit of editing, Georgia decided on a final arrangement for the first wall.
One by one Georgia measured from the level line on the paper to the top corners of the photos. Where the measurement was not the same, she straightened it out in relationship to the line. Then Georgia traced around the picture frame. Next, she measured the location of the picture frame's hanger. That measurement was then transferred to the paper as well. The two pictured frames had one hanger each. A few other frames had a wire for support. Those frames would have two hangers. Before moving on to the next photo, Georgia marked the paper according to which picture belonged there.
When all of the photos had been placed, measured, traced, and re-measured, Georgia asked Randy for help placing the paper back up on the wall. She matched the painters tape on the paper to the tape on the wall to ensure that the level line on the paper was once again level on the wall.
The next step was to transfer the quick hanger mark from the paper to the wall. Georgia used one of the quick hangers to punch through the paper into the wall. Along the way Georgia discovered one of the "no nail strip" that the builder used to protect the plumbing and electrical lines. It only happened once, and she was able to convert one larger picture from having two hangers to just one. Before removing the paper from the wall, she inserted one hanger into each hole.
Georgia removed the paper from the wall to hang the pictures. She referred to the paper to know where she should place which pictore. Now she discovered a measuring error (she is human after all). Using her shorter level she was able to move the individual hanger, correcting the placement of the picture. One older photo had a long wire along the back to hang the frame. In the process of hanging, that wire had loosened up to a point where Georgia decided to give the frame a whole new wire.
With the first wall finished, Georgia moved on to the second one. Rather than buying more paper for the second wall, she cut and reassembled the paper she had for a "fresh" surface to work on. The second wall proceeded much like the first.
Georgia decided that rather than have a refrigerator surface full of photos, she would find a way to put them in the Rogue's Gallery. However, she did not want to cover the wall completely with these yearly photos. She went to the picture frame store one more time before arranging the second wall. The largest frame toward the bottom of the second illustration has been reserved for all of those cute photos that family members send in Christmas Cards, etc. She plans on removing old photos when new ones arrive, keeping it all updated.
So keep those cards and letters (and photos) coming folks! We'll add you to our Rogue's Gallery too.
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