Hanging Guitars





Thank you all for your kind words about the bookshelves! Some of you commented on how lucky we were that the Billys fit perfectly in the bump outs that flank the fireplace. The true story is neither side was a perfect fit. On the right side, we had to cut off two inches of the outer most bookshelf, so that a pair would fit in that nook.


And then the bump out to to left of the fireplace was too big for a pair to fit snuggly. There was about about 16" of leftover space that I wasn't quite sure what to do with. I didn't want to add more shelves because of the opening to the kitchen. Luckily, it was right around Michael's birthday when we were trying to figure this all out. One of his presents was a vintage ukelele I ordered off eBay and when it arrived I thought the wood grain was so pretty that it was a shame to hide it. ((lightbulb!!)) So I grabbed a couple guitar hooks and a small one made for ukeleles at the music shop down the street, and while Michael was at work I installed the guitars on the wall in the nook space. His guitar, acoustic bass and the new ukelele fit perfectly, one on top of the other.


I told the girls to not say anything to Michael when he came home so that he would sort of stumble on the hanging guitars and it would be a great surprise. But of couse they pointed him right to the guitars, wildly giggling, as soon as he walked in the door. Kids are so awesome at keeping secrets.


Michael is a really talented musician and I love having instruments around the house so he can keep up with his playing. This hook-hanging solution has been perfect because the guitars are protected, but they're still easily accessible.



I also love how the three different depths here (the wall, bookshelf and fireplace) are outlined by the dentil moulding. I'm telling you, just putting up those 5.75 measly inches of cheapy crown moulding completely transformed this room. My mom and I both agreed that suddenly it felt like the house was an old brownstone and not a bad condo from the 70s. I'm dying to do the baseboards now and maybe some paneling like we talked about before. Also, I promise there's a crown moulding tutorial coming soon. There was a bit of a learning curve for me in this first room, but now I'm tackling the garden level and I feel like I have some good pointers to share.


So, I'm really curious. If you have instruments, where do you keep them? I play the violin, and I'd love to have it out so that I would practice more, but the case is really bulky and it stays in my closet for now. If we ever have a big house someday, I'd take a music room over a media room in a heartbeat.

PS A hanging guitar in Alex and Joanna's bedroom.

52 comments:

  1. "a music room over a media room"--yes! xx

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  2. I love this idea.
    And yes, I said it already, but the mouldings are amazing.

    My parents have a room for the grant piano. But they also have a saxophone and a guitar. I should suggest them to hang it!

    Thanks!

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  3. Love the guitar hangers! Our new house has an extra (fully insulated) garage that I set up as the band space. It has a great slanted ceiling, so rather than doing a straight line, I mimicked that and it turned our really great. I look forward to finishing that room when the rest of the house is done.

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  4. Love the hanging guitars! We bought a guitar for our son and it's hanging in his room. He decided he wasn't really into practicing but I left it there because I love how it looks!

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  5. What a special way to honor your husband's talents, Jenny. These shots of your living room having me studying each and every accent, color choice and piece of furniture. Love it all.

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  6. Love this. We have my husband's guitars hung in our living room as well. I love the way they look and the fact that he can grab one off the wall and make beautiful music!

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  7. This is a beautiful transformation and I think having the guitars out will lead to more playing too. My son is a freshman in college home for a long winter break. He busks in Georgetown for $ and I keep finding his guitar and banjo by the front door when I come home. His room is a "long walk" but the second guest room is much closer - maybe I need to make it a music room/guest room. Thanks for the idea!

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  8. Our mossy green piano is a source of constant joy, even when it's not being played. Growing up, our piano was in a separate room and it felt like I was being banished everyday when I had to practice. I love that now our old (and slightly out-of-tune) piano sits in our living room and seems to cast a spell on guests. They have to sit down and play, even for just one song!

    Live Inspired,

    Heidi Chamoun
    athousandlaughingstarfish.blogspot.com

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  9. The whole space is gorgeous Jenny! I think it's great that even though you rent you still take the time to make the space feel like home. I'm also a renter and I've found that I'm the happiest when I put in a little extra effort to make my bland apartment feel a little more special even if it means spending a little extra on something that won't be going with me to my next space. LOVE the way the dentil molding looks!! It really does feel like an old brownstone!

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  10. And as always, beautiful ideas and execution. I so love when a house honors the people who live inside it's four walls, and the guitars speak volumes to this philosophy. So many clients I meet have ideas of how a home is "supposed to be" or have trouble thinking outside the box when it comes to art. I love trying to break them out of this mind set, and these guitars are just one more example I can show of creative design that is far more beautiful than any framed wall art you could find.


    Live Inspired,
    Heidi Chamoun
    athousandlaughingstarfish.blogspot.com

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  11. I hung my husband's guitar too. Great solution, but I wish his were as out-of-the-way as yours. http://urbancholita.com/2012/09/28/the-green-room/

    The whole living room looks amazing, Jenny. As always, I'm in awe.

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  12. We've been hanging our guitars on the walls for a few years now...glad to see it has the official stamp of design approval. My husband also plays the violin and would probably also play a lot more frequently if we could find a way and a place to keep it out. No ideas here....

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  13. I love this room, it looks fantastic! And I'd love to see what the other side of the room looks like :)

    Whenever I read your blog and see the beautiful pictures of your home, I'm left wondering how you manage having so much furniture (i.e. so little floor space) with three young kids. My home is fairly small and when there isn't much floor space, it seems like we're always tripping over each other or the kids are running into the furniture. As a result, I keep things pretty sparse but then it always looks, well... sparse! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!

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  14. This looks fantastic, great work Jenny!

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  15. Love your Billy Bookcases! We installed three large Billy bookcase units in our upstairs library and two small units with glass doors in our living room for my Christmas dishes. I have my clarinet and oboe in a small dresser in my upstairs sitting room. I haven't played them in years and need to get them out and start playing again. Love your guitars on the wall.

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  16. I love hanging guitars! Like you said, they are protected, but still easily accessible. My fiancé and I both play (granted, he better than I) and I am excited to be able to hang our guitars on the wall once I move in.

    Margeaux
    margeauxknight.blogspot.com

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  17. We hang our guitars, too! I've thought about hanging my violin, but I don't have the wall space for it.

    When I had space for bookshelves in my living room, I always reserved one for my violin and bow, which not only displayed it nicely, but it kept it out of the case and in a place I could reach for it easily. I loved having it out. My violin teacher always kept hers on top of her entertainment center, which worked for her.

    Now, there is no place for that (we downsized to a 1 bedroom, <600 sq. feet!) and it's under my bed, which makes me so sad.

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  18. One of my husbands guitars is hanging right beside a built-in bookshelf in our living room, and I love it there! I grew up in a house where everyone played an instrument, (or 3!), and I really think having the guitar out on the wall reminds him to play more. My 10 month old LOVES playing guitars with Daddy every night, and lately he will crawl over to where the guitar is hanging on the wall, point up at it, and start babbling away . It's adorable! ;)

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  19. Love the way the space looks---intersting and personal, too. One question: why did you decide to hide/cover the fireplace? Love your ideas!

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  20. We have a hanging guitar in our family room.

    http://www.chrislovesjulia.com/2012/11/chalk-house.html

    And it is so helpful to have it convenient. My husband plays it so much more now. We also have a djembe drum in the living room and it is the same story. Music is always breaking out around here and our two year old loves it!

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  21. My boyfriend and I have a 1000sf home with a formal dining room AND a large breakfast nook. In such a small house, two separate rooms for eating seemed excessive. Dining nook became music room. It has my electric piano, on one wall with my boyfriends 4 guitars and a mandolin mounted on the other wall. My plans to decorate include tasteful versions of our favorite band posters and album frames. We have a couple of cool old chairs to sit and play and listen to records. Everyone who has seen it says it's very "us" haha. I hope its a compliment.

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  22. We live in a small 2bd/1ba apartment and my husband has one of his guitars in his closet and the other is smushed between a reading chair and my vintage Singer. We're hoping to have room in our next place. Hanging is a great idea, as we have plenty of wall space! I may just surprise him (no kids to keep the secret!) with hanging them one day!

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  23. Thanks for the sweet notes everyone!

    Lynn - we actually do have a good amount of floor space in this room - I just don't take photos of those parts! It's not a huge house we have, by any stretch of the imagination, but we definitely have more room for the kids to run around here than our apartment in the city. The backyard helps too, but we also make it a point to get out of the house a lot (which everyone does here), or else we'd get a little stir crazy!

    Unknown - You music room sounds fab! You should check out these Album frames from Urban:

    http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=8098378

    xx

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  24. I just saw the post from yesterday and today and love the final outcome. I'm particularly fond of the sconces you managed to fit into the shelving scheme... so cool. And the shelves look as if they've been there forever. Nicely done, Jenny! May I ask how many height exteneders are there? It looks like there may be more than one, yes?

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  25. Looks fabulous!! Is your slipper chair from restoration hardware? I've been eyeing one there, but can't find any reviews.

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  26. Karen- I talked a little bit about this in yesterday's post, so you can go there for a more detailed answer. But the gist is the fireplace is ugly and it doesn't really work. :) I need to find a great sofa table to help hide that last little bit of the fire box.

    lonelybaker - Thanks! The sconces were a lucky find in the lighting district here. The shop makes custom brass pieces and the set designer for Gossip Girl had worked with them to develop these based on an old French design. I love the unique shape!

    Our ceilings are about 130" tall. If I remember right, we bumped up the footing by 4" and then used three extender shelves on each Billy. There was about 4 or 5" leftover on top of the shelves still, which we covered with the crown moulding. The math worked out pretty perfectly. And we were finally able to keep all of our books in one place! (Must stop buying books!!)

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  27. Rebecca - yes, RH! I found it at the outlet here. I have a post to share about these chairs, so stay tuned. For your purposes though I'll tell you that the chairs are comfortable as far as slipper chairs go. They are very lightweight (not sure if that is fully a pro or a con). The fabric is nothing exciting and is not the most kid-friendly (more in the post about this).

    xx

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  28. My husband is a musician too, and we have a grand piano that is beautiful, but it's a huge space-taker in our small home. I've wanted to hang his guitars too, but have never seen it done by a designer before! Love how you made it look so perfect in the space, and how it says something about your family. The dental molding for me is the hugest BAM moment of the room, with the bookshelves as a close second. Will be waiting patiently for that tutorial! So glad to hear it was cheap!

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  29. You're inspiring me to hang our guitar that has been shoved in a closet for (oops!) three years. Maybe we'd actually play it! My childhood home had a music room, but thanks to two musical parents, it's now overflowing into the house ;) Instruments everywhere. Good thing I moved out, as I'm sure my old room is next!

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  30. Could you tell me where you got that mirror? It is beautiful!

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  31. Could you tell me where you got that mirror? It is beautiful!

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  32. Bravo! Bravo!
    The real beauty! The real art!!
    I admire your ideas!

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  33. We have always hung our guitars to protect them mostly. Recently I found an old Kraut cutter at a flea market and put two guitar hangers on it. Now we have a place for guitars but also for the pics and various string tools out of reach of my 2 year old. http://www.uniquebywendy.com/2012/12/kraut-cutter-into-guitar-holder.html
    Love the transformation of your new space. it is always amazing to see how much you accomplish with your kids around. I have 3 and it is so hard to get things done! -Wendy

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  34. I absolutely love your ability to mix patterns, colors and metals so perfectly. It’s the epitome of home to me. Love how this room is coming together soooo much!

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  35. oh my goodness!!! In love with your blue and white striped love seat! Can we see more pictures?! It's vintage, I'm assuming?

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  36. What a lovely way to display these instruments! Function and beauty rolled into one :)

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  37. Hi Jenny, Thanks for posting your photos! We're also in the midst of installing Billy shelves and plan to try to make them like built-ins. It's not clear they are going to fit in the width of our space. You wrote that you cut off two inches to make yours fit... did you shorten all the shelves and the back? And I guess you would have had to drill new holes for the pegs & fasteners? How did you do the 9/16" partial holes for the fasteners - I could get a spade bit but I think it has a part that would make a small hole all the way through the shelf - did you just live with that?
    Thanks!

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  38. the bookcases are just beyond.

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  39. Hi Jenny,
    I was showing my husband your guitars BC we just hung his in our living room a few months ago...anyways, he noticed that the black hanger part of the mount are upside down. He says to grab the black part and pull it away from the wall and turn it around so it faces the other way. That way when you hang the guitar the little arms will close around the neck and hold your guitar in place in case it gets bonked or you have an earthquake. :) the bookshelves and guitars look great!! :)

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  40. I actually hang my violin on an extra guitar hook similar to the ones you have.

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  41. We also have a guitar hook, and it's one of my favorite things in our home : )

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  42. So beautiful! I love everything you do. Thanks for the constant inspiration and challenge to up my game!:)

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  43. The curved lines of the guitars add so much interest to the otherwise narrow and tall wall space and provide an excellent transition to the kitchen opening.

    I would love to know the dimensions of your Persian rug. It seems to have just the perfect size to be placed under a coffee table. I have been in love with it since your loft kitchen. If you ever get tired of it, you have a buyer:)

    Thanks for sharing your excellent work and positive attitude!

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  44. The bookshelves look amazing and I love how you incorporated your husband's love of music by adding his quitars to the wall. It really makes the space reflect who you are as a family. My husband's quitars hang on the wall in his music room and they are like artwork. He also made me some AMAZING built ins for my childhood piano that I inherited that you can see here: I love them!

    http://www.bluepoppydesign.biz/images/room-1.jpg

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  45. Hi Jenny, I absolutely love what you are doing to your home. I especially love all of the bright colours that you use. I have a question regarding your photos. Do you use a photo app to enhance the vibrancy of them. I've just discovered instagram but I don't like the way it crops the photos to a square. Any suggestions.

    Thanks!

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  46. "Must stop buying books." Ha! As if you could. My husband I areed on a moratorium when it came to book acquisition. We managed to honor it for nine moths,but then slowly went back to our old ways. At last count... 4,300 books. Eeeks! Looking to convert a fourteen-foot wall into library shelving and will fit in sconces. Thanks for the idea.

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  47. All of the Gentleman's guitars are hanging in our bedroom, across the top of the longest wall. At my request, that was the first thing installed when he moved in. The ukes don't have a permanent home yet, so they live in the guest room with the accordion he gave me for my birthday and the vinyl collection.

    Music has helped us merge our two households into one home.

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  48. Maybe you've already answered this question but why are you trying to cover the fireplace? It looks like you could remove a sofa (though I don't know which one, I like them all) and use the fp as a focal point, even if you can only burn candles in it. In the summer, you could stash a beautiful blooming plant in there.
    Just curious because I don't think I'd cover it up.
    As for my guitar, it's sitting in a case in my study next to the music stand but I like your idea of hanging them up as long as the instrument wouldn't be negatively affected by humidity or temperatures.

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  49. it looks something cool and different..
    especially you took different sizes of guitar
    petsmart

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  50. Your living room is so beautiful! Just came across your blog through Apartment Therapy and am looking forward to exploring it more thoroughly.

    I would LOVE to hang my violin out for display--it is a really gorgeous instrument from 1910. But unfortunately its age also makes it more fragile and a violin maker has told me that displaying violins outside of their cases can cause subtle warping of the wood unless you have a very precisely controlled environment (which my drafty Boston apartment certainly does not). So sadly, it has to stay snug in its case under my bed.

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  51. Rob: I did end up cutting every shelf and the back, just with a handheld circular saw. It was a cinch. As for the supports, we talked long and hard about it and decided it was best to install two L brackets per shelf to give the whole structure extra stability. It was amazing how sturdy everything was with those brackets installed. We painted them white later and they completely disappear. Hope that helps!

    Multitowner: Thanks! The rug was a find on one of my favorite sites - eSale Rugs. It's full of gems and they're always having a 50% off sale it seems like!

    xx

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I so appreciate hearing from you. Nice comments make my day! Thanks for keeping things light here, friends! :)