Ask the Expert: Part II With Interior Designer Carey Evans

In a post yesterday, we introduced you to Carey Evans, an interior designer, carpenter, welder, artist and organizational expert who you can see on "Closet Cases" on Home and Garden Television. Luckily for me, Carey is a good friend of my sister's (they attended Millikin University in Decatur together) and so she's agreed to regularly take on a question from a reader who needs decorating or organizational help.

The first question came from yours truly. I desperately needed some help with my sad, blank, narrow staircase. In the first part,Carey provided great advice for anyone looking for paint colors you might find in a Victorian-era home or struggling to bring cohesion to a group of dissimilar pictures. In the second part, she gives you easy, step-by-step instructions on how to hang a large number of items either on a stairway or any wall in your home. And at the end, you'll find a sketch of how my staircase could look if I follow her advice -- it actually brought tears to my eyes. I really think I can do this, and I hope Carey's advice inspires you to creatively frame and hang some of the photos and mementoes you likely have around your house, too.

Part II of the answer from Carey Evans:

Now onto the art of hanging “art.”  Staircases can be very intimidating because not only are you hanging pictures on a diagonal span of space there is also a high safety concern when working on stairs.  My easy plan for hanging a picture grouping gets you to plan ahead and make limited holes and time actually hanging your images.

This also is a great way to make any large grouping of images anywhere in your home.

Materials:

• Framed Images
• Photo Hangers
• Magic Marker
• 3M Blue
• Painter’s Tape
• Scissors
• Plumb-bob (or Weighted String)
• Tape Measure
• Hammer
• A roll of Kraft paper or wrapping paper

Directions: 

1. Find a clear area of floor space and cut the Kraft paper a few feet longer than the length of your staircase.  With the help of a friend, tape the paper to the wall on a diagonal parallel to the run of the staircase.  Keep the same distance between the front tread of each stair and the edge of the paper.  Using a plumb-bob mark off the vertical top and end of the stairs with a marker onto the paper.  At then end of this step you should have created a Parallelogram that is the exact size of the open hanging space above your handrail.

NOTE: When hanging frames on a staircase, consider safety and keep at least 8-12 inches of clear space above an existing handrail.

2. Carefully remove the paper and place the paper back on the open floor space.  Now begin artfully arranging your frames on the paper. Feel free to arrange and rearrange until you come up with your perfect design.  Remember the rules of gravity: Keep the frames aligned with vertical lines you drew for the top and bottom stair, not the diagonal edge of the paper.

3.  Once you have your grouping, carefully outline the frames on the paper with a magic marker.  You are making a template for the hanging of your frames.

4.  Turn the pictures over and using your tape measure determines the placement of the hanging hardware.  With your marker, make a clear mark where the hanging hardware goes onto the Kraft paper.

5.  Fasten the Kraft Paper back onto the staircase wall with the painters tape.

6.  Nail picture hangers into the wall through the paper.  No guesswork is involved, because you have marked the exact placement of the needed hardware.

7.  Carefully rip the paper away, taking special care around the nails.

8.  Hang the pictures on their now perfectly placed hooks and enjoy!

And now on to Carey Evans' specific recommendations for my stairway. I'll remind you briefly of the "before" photos:

Based on all the previous advice, Carey wrote: Tara, taking into consideration your narrow staircase I would suggest you do a small grouping midway between the windows, only on that side of the staircase.  Then turn the corner at the top of the stairs and on the same side of the wall hang another grouping.  I’ve included a very quick “after” sketch for what I could see working very well in your home.

See, I never would have thought of painting the back wall of the staircase a different color than the living room, but it will bring a real warmth to the whole space. And I'm looking forward to finding old frames I can repurpose for this project. Anyone want to hit the Kane County Flea Market with me?

I want to send a huge thank you to Carey Evans for making this month's "Ask the Expert" such a fun feature. If you have a question you'd like Carey to consider answering in a future column, please write to editor@gowestyoungmom.com. Also, if you'd like to see Carey's answers to some readers who wrote her immediately after this post, please click here.