SFGate

Diana Bier Interiors, LLC I agree with hubby--it looks very strange. How is it NOT falling??

Carolyn Albert-Kincl Design I like leaning pictures, but I've never seen them leaning forward! LOOK OUT BELOW! I'd put them upright. You have lovely art in a beautiful setting.

Cynthia Taylor-Luce No no no! I think you're right! The lean makes it look like the picture's in the process of falling off the corbel very slowly! Leaning pictures is something we have seen far in the past, when people used to have picture rails which were trim pieces that went around the room just below the ceiling. Pictures were suspended from the rails by wires. This meant that you didn't put holes in the wallpaper or in the silk wallcovering--the support was from the picture rail. Pictures hung like this, would lean forward, the amount depending on how loose the wire was across the back of the artwork. I find this kind of a spooky look, myself. But you have decorative corbels that are visual (and actual) supports for the pictures! So no no no don't have the picture leaning out from the wall! I am so glad that you asked the question. Otherwise you have a beautiful room and your decorator did a fine job.

reginacpa Thank you! He is coming back to tackle the 2nd floor tomorrow and I will have him rehang! We just moved into this 1908 Foursquare on Saturday and I am trying to get it in order before my sister arrives this weekend for Christmas....Oh My, I may lose my mind in the process....

Cynthia Taylor-Luce Trust your instincts! And have a wonderful Christmas :)

Diana Bier Interiors, LLC Love those window treatments!!

pollyannagal Those pictures are definitely wrong whatever the decorator tries to tell you. If they are on corbels like that they should be very gently leaning back against the wall like they are comfortably resting there not madly leaning forward like they are trying to escape. Easy enough to fix and then the room will be lovely. If you have just moved in you have done amazingly to be that well sorted. Don't loose your mind ... have a lovely Christmas.

Kevin Retired Decorator I wouldn't lean out pictures. I do love leaning pictures on a sideboard or something like that but the shelves you have are just to small for them to lean towards the walls. take the shelves down. Or use smaller print's Enjoy your room, Kevin

reginacpa Thanks Diana Bier! The window treatments, mirrors and light fixtures had to stay as part of our contract on the house...or I was NOT moving this close to Christmas!

decoenthusiaste Yes, I remember the ancestral pictures leaning over the bed at my grandmother's house. Very scary because they stared at you ll night long!

Tres McKinney Design Kudos to you and your decorator for a distinctive, unpredictable, and sophisticated design. Is your home in New Orleans or somewhere in the south or maybe in Europe? The design feels very international. The images are moody but maybe it is the lighting or time of day the photos were taken.
Your question was regarding the pictures leaning into the room. You might consider a rope cord or velvet ribbon that hangs from the picture rail for that pair of pictures instead of sitting on the brackets. It is OK for them to lean an inch or so at the top but not as much as they do in your image. A slight adjustment will remedy the situation. If you keep the brackets then just lean the pictures towards the wall rather than away form it. Work with you're decorator to come up with a good solution. Obviously he or she is quite talented.

houssaon Well we all agree. No leaning pictures!

Bonnie No leaning pictures! I agree it is a little creepy or spooky ala haunted house!

reginacpa Tres McKinney - yes, its a 1908 Foursquare in Louisiana but North not South - good guess! The pictures were taken with an iPad that seemed to give it a slightly "Adams Family" look...the room is actually very bright and airy. It needed to be darkened up a bit with the black oriental screen and wood pieces. I promise Morticia will not be serving you coffee there. My mother-in-law dealt in European antiquties as a sideline hobby and reited 15 years ago. She fell in love with the house and opened up her storeroom of goodies for us to use for decorating! My decorator is in heaven and a little infatuated with my 83 year old mother-in-law. :-0

Carolyn Albert-Kincl Design What a lucky woman you are!

victorianbungalowranch Yes you are. I bet your tree is lovely too!

Pictures also were hung at a slight angle on top of a stacked art arrangement (above eye level) so they could be seen better from below. In very grand old spaces, especially during the Baroque period, sculpture and ceiling paintings were deliberately distorted so that they appeared "normal" from below.

I find the supporting brackets a little too busy and would just rehang normally or from the picture rail, as suggested above.

Chroma Design For a salon look, I suggest hanging them by chain.
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Carolyn Albert-Kincl Design I like those brackets under the pictures. I think they add nicely to the ambiance.

TanCalGal I'd live with it for a while (6 months)? I'm beginning to like it, very unusual.

clairefromthecolonies Nope. Just wrong way of hanging :(

prospera Anyone from earthquake country would be very uncomfortable with it. I have problems with plate rails for that reason. My grandmother's apartment was built in 1901 and it had the rails similar to what Cynthia was talking about. It had very high ceilings and obscure hooks in the crown molding that were moveable. Thick cords came out from those (the kind you see as tie backs) and there was a decorative fabric medallion as well. The pictures hung from the cords. Since the cords were thick, they came out a bit, but the pictures were flush to the cords.

kennedytarheel pictures that fall away from the wall did so because they were hung by wire with a hook on a picture rail (wooden rail with a groove for the hook) near the ceiling so that the pictures would hang down far enough to see them in the room. ...unless you are installing a picture rail today it makes no sense to force the picture to do what it would not normally do.

Interiors International, Inc. Heck no! That would make me crazy. I have know idea what that designer was thinking. Unless the were to lazy to do it right.

Anish Motwani Associates hello

design is what you like.. do not go for what others like and dont
go for what u like.. its your house
if ur not comfortable than make it straight

regards

Diana Bier Interiors, LLC What?

Barbara Ann Holmes - Lintels & Lallies Good for you for asking. You have a lovely home! As mentioned above, (and having worked in the art & framing industry for 11years) this is wrong. There are however, framing techniques if depth is something you want to achieve. Such as using a deeper moulding, or playing with liners & fillets that enhance the shadows in the art.

pmblades When pictures hung from pictures rails they were only hanging about 2 inches forward depending where the back wire was located on the frame. It looks as if these pictures are tilting much too far forward. I agree, hang them flat you have a lovely traditional room. You could live with them for awhile, you'll soon know what feels right for you.

Kevin Retired Decorator I can't believe this is still a topic. LOL Why can't you just decide? 1st thought you like it or you don't. It should be that simple. Decorators are human and make mistakes too! Have confidence in yourself. And if your other half doesn't like them then you should take them down it's their house too. I hope you don't go thru this with everything. The only one that has to be pleased are the one's who own the home. RELAX now !!!

reginacpa Um I'm not commenting....I already called the decorator and told him to change them! Is there a way to make this inactive? It's taken on a houzz life of its own.

reginacpa Um I'm not commenting....I already called the decorator and told him to change them! Is there a way to make this inactive? It's taken on a houzz life of its own.

csmrtn I agree with everything Carolyn said!

elklaker One last comment-you have a gorgeous home. Enjoy it and have a wonderful Christmas!

Ramona I think people are still commenting because the look is startling and, I agree, creepy. Sort of like a house gone surreal. We will all survive this thread. But honestly, now we will all get emails telling us when someone else comments.

The original look is as described above, pictures hanging just a couple of inches forward when they are mounted from above.

I wouldn't have been able to stand this for one minute. It would make me nervous thinking the picture is about to fall. Your husband is very restrained. I would have taken them down myself in minutes

klf78 I got motion sick from looking at this. Designer should work for Disney.

windingcreek_creations It would bug me. I wouldn't mind a slight lean from being hung by a loop wire or ribbon, but this is too much angle and looks odd, like it fell forward when it should be sitting straight.

prospera When I look at the photos, my eye is also drawn to the corbels and not the artwork. The method of hanging should enhance, not distract. I would get rid of them and let the pictures speak for themselves.

In answer to the question about notifications, there is an option button at the bottom of every email to opt out, either from one particular discussion or all of them. The purpose of asking a question is to get as many different points of view as possible, at least that is why I ask.

apennameandthata The probs were pretending that the pictures were hanging by wires from a picture rail.

nancymic Looks like a physics experiment. I agree with you. Lean them back or straight. Nice room!

lpmenache I would actually hang them a little higher and then place a small vase or figure on the bracket. Charlotte Moss does this all the time and it is very effective. Where in Louisiana are you as I am also in N. Louisiana.

jackake Absolutely no, no way! Lock up your liquor cabinet if your designer is coming back again.

anonyms Ridiculous. That may work for animals low to the ground looking up but for a human animal, s/he needs stuff at or slightly - very slightly - above eye level and parallel to plane of vision on the retina.

You see that downward tilt in some renaissance paintings but guess why? Because the stuff hung was often hung poorly and with crappy and old hanging stuff, no spacers at bottom, etc, and as a result, the pictures would end up lose and tilting down. I have battled this often in exhibiting. Whoever told you this is a well paid fool, that's for sure. Hubris of that guy!! ~ Lisa Rose, M.F.A.

jackake Exactly!

reginacpa The leaning pics are GONE! Thanks to everyone for their comments and suggestions

jackake I also see that the picture above the cabinet is gone and there is a plate and plater collection. I like this better. So much more balanced and traditional. Very nicely done.

cfritzrn Beautiful room but I agree with your husband. It does look strange. But I guess it's all in the eye of the beholder!