This is what our MB looked like for over a year... Well, it wasn't gray for a year, but this is what it's looked since I painted it in June. It basically looked the same before that, only with lilac walls, courtesy of the previous owner.
Since our walls are not normal plaster, but some kind of mortar/concrete mix, I hate to drill holes wily-nily. And I can't just tap in a nail and move it if it's not right. Hanging things in our house involves a big process, lots of measuring, and a concrete drill bit in our DeWalt Hammer Drill. So I decided to try out the kraft paper pattern concept, which worked pleasingly well. I cut out two pieces of kraft paper the same size as my framed pieces. I eyeballed it a little on where I wanted them hung, then decided on an exact height from the ceiling to work with so they'd both be identical. I taped them up, marked the center where the hole needed to be and stepped back.
I decided they were too far apart, so instead of taking them down and rehanging them, I just moved the spot for my hole a little in on each one. I marked the correct mark with an arrow, so as not to confuse myself, and then I drilled straight through the paper and into the wall.
I pulled off the paper, malleted in my anchors, drilled in my screws, and TA DA!
We have art. Excellent. It's finally started to look "decorated". I still have a triptych I need to frame for the wall to the right and I need to figure out what to do with the walls next to the window, but it's definite progress.
Interesting story behind these pieces, too. I found this one, The Dreamer, years ago at an art fair. The artist, Randal Spangler, told me it was an old print that he didn't produce anymore and it was the last of it's kind. His style had changed to a more colorful Fantasy style and he was no longer doing the pen ad ink drawings. It was matted in navy and I never found the perfect place for him.
Fast forward 6(?) years. My mother and I were at the same art fair looking through Mr. Spangler's pieces. I don't even really know why, since his newer stuff doesn't really speak to me in the same way. But low and behold, we find a mate for the Dreamer, titled Dreams. Dreams features a couple instead of a single man and I just love the huge window detail above the bed.
I have a small tattoo on my left wrist of a heart with wings that a friend of mine drew for me a decade ago, so the headboard detail in the drawing is especially fitting.
I re-matted both in black 16 x 20 mats and stuck them in Hobby Lobby MDF frames. I got the mat, the mat cutter, and the frames all on sale, 50% off. Can't beat that.
