A few quick tips for displaying your vacation photos:

• Consider white frames and mats to frame summer vacation pictures. White looks crisp and classy all year round and fits any décor style.
• Picking identical frames and mats lets the viewer focus on the pictures rather than the frames.
• Holiday pictures can brighten up any room in your house:
  • If your pictures are from a vacation at the beach, the bathroom is the perfect spot for them because they’re bright, fun and related to water. Inexpensive frames are a good choice for the bathroom to prevent damage from the humidity.
  • Pictures of children can be hung in each child’s bedroom providing great memories for the children and an inexpensive, personal decoration alternative.
  • We often forget about the laundry room, but what better place to hang holiday pictures? Looking at pictures of your vacation will help the tedious chore go faster, and may just inspire you to plan your next getaway.
  • Maybe you’ve visited some cafés, or have some great shots of your children eating ice cream or watermelon? Pictures related in some way to food add a personal touch to the walls in the kitchen.
  • Have fun and display your pictures in the mudroom. It’s a room that gets used every day, and vacation photos are a great way to welcome you home when you’re back to your routine.
  • Start a holiday wall and add to it every year. Group photos in a hallway or in a stairway.

For more creative wall décor ideas and to watch a quick video for tips and tricks on picture hanging, visit www.utrdecorating.com

It’s easy to create a beautiful space that will encourage you to spend more time outdoors and help you relax when you return home at the end of the day. You can hang artwork on the exterior walls of the house, garage, or shed and don’t forget that every fence is a blank wall ready for your personal touch.

Whatever you use in the yard, it should be weatherproof and tolerant of the elements. Mirrors, pottery, wrought iron and even old picture frames are just a few great choices. We recently came across these outdoor art canvases from Rittenhouse, which is a perfect choice for decorating outside.

With a little imagination, and Hang & Level™ to help you find the perfect place to position your art, you will be able to create a personalized, inviting outdoor space that you will enjoy year round.

Additional Resources:

• Kings Flower & Garden
• Canvas Republic
• Soothing Patios
• InsideOut Garden Art
• Weatherprint Outdoor Art
• How to make your own outdoor canvas

We’re always looking for unique and inspiring ideas to decorate our walls without spending a lot of money. So, when we ran across these great ideas from Better Homes and Gardens we couldn’t wait to share them with you.

Click here to see how you can use beautiful fabric swatches to create an elegant look to complement any room in the house, all for only a few dollars. Decorative plates can also be used for stunning wall décor in ways you may not have considered.

For another fabric swatch idea that allows you to change your look with the seasons, click here to watch a short video demonstrating this simple idea.

As you can see, great looking wall décor doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Watch our short video Wall Décor on a Dime for some more inspiring ideas to get you started.

Overcome your fear of picture hanging with our three-step plan

	Place your furniture. Start by placing the largest pieces first. Artwork is an extension of your furniture, so place your sofa, coffee table, chairs, table lamps, etc. exactly where you want before hanging anything on your walls. Don’t fuss with accessories at this point, focus on the large pieces.
	Plan where to hang your pictures. The shape of your walls will help determine where to best hang what piece. A horizontal piece looks best when hanging on a large wall. For example, perfect to hang above a sofa. (See our Art and the Sofa article here). If you don’t have a large piece, create one using a series of smaller ones. A tall piece of artwork fits perfectly in a tall narrow space and will create the illusion of a higher ceiling. As for scale, a simple rule that never fails is to hang small items over small pieces of furniture, big items over large pieces of furniture. It’s that simple.
	Hang your pictures. Use Hang & Level™ to hang your artwork exactly where you want without having to measure once. Click here to see a quick video or follow these easy steps: Place your picture on the hook Position it on the wall and find the right spot Press the button to mark exactly where the nail goes. Hammer the nail in Hang your picture and level it using Hang & Level and you’re done.

A few weeks ago we handed over a couple of Stoppy™ door stops to our friend Carli B. Carli hadn’t seen the product before, and much to our delight, a few days later, sent in the review of the product posted below. You can check out some more of Carli’s great writing at her new blog called “Lavish – eating your heart out in Calgary” [link].

That was, until, I came across the Stoppy! This little tool is the first doorstopper I’ve encountered that is totally functional and completely pleasant to look at! It’s super affordable, comes in several different colors to accommodate decor, has a soft, rubbery surface so it doesn’t scratch floors, and it’s use goes far beyond just being a doorstopper. So far, my uses for the Stoppy include: a doorstopper for when I bring my groceries in through the garage, a flexible little wedge to keep my windows open, a doorstopper for doors on the upper level of my home (When I have windows open upstairs, a draft runs through my house that tends to slam at least one door shut a day…but thanks to Stoppy, no longer!), a doorstopper for my Jeep (Jeeps don’t have spring-loaded doors, they’re just attached by regular hinges for easy removal and tend to swing around in the wind. With the Stoppy, I simply wedge my Jeep doors open and can quickly and efficiently unload my car without worrying about the door constantly shutting on me.), and finally, my most exciting use for the Stoppy so far, is as a funky and flexible book end!

The Stoppy is a great product I highly recommend. It’s a cute little addition to my home that serves multiple purposes without the look of something that is totally functional and not at all aesthetic. Thanks to the Stoppy, my shoes have been released from double duty and can now focus exclusively on being fabulous, because now, I have a fabulous little tool to take care of the rest.

We recently found a fabulous article in an issue of O magazine entitled “Overcoming Decorating Paralysis” by Martha Beck. This piece ties in nicely to the reason why we created the award-winning Hang & Level™ picture hanging tool. In the article, Martha provides a four-point ‘stop putting it off’ plan.

“If you get cold feet when you try to start a home-improvement project, you could take the issue to a therapist and “work through it.” But that’ll take time—a lot of time—which is exactly the problem.” —Martha Beck

We can relate to this fear – so many people have told us that they worried about putting too many holes in the wall  until they started using the Hang & Level picture hanging tool.

Click here to check out the article on the O magazine website.

We love to see how people use our products, not only does it help us improve and innovate, but often we are just plain ‘ol inspired by what people think up.

Case in point with James Caldwell, a partner in the design and communication firm Thirst, who got in touch with us a while ago to enquire about buying our Deco Nails™ in bulk. Turns out he was planning a huge photo wall project for a client, and subsequently created one for himself.

Over 200 frames were used for the project, and hung in a perfect grid on the wall. When James was considering how to best fix the frames to the wall, he came across our Deco Nails, and decided to use them because:

The nails don’t make a large hole in the wall.

They have a double ‘saucer’ type head in which they secure themselves to the wall and also make a more secure hanging point for the ‘Clips’ frame hanging mechanism.

James has put together a step by step guide to creating your own photo wall on his personal website.

Back in March, the decorating blog Rainy Day Renovations did a First Look review of the Hang & Level™ picture hanging tool. They did a great overview of the tool, and highlighted one definite advantage of using Hang & Level:

We have a few “hanging projects” we need to do around the office. We’ll report back with a First Use write-up when we have had a chance to give the Hang & Level a go. We are pretty sure the maintenance guy will be happy to know that, with the Hang & Level, at least he won’t have so much patching and painting follow up work after one of our “redecorating benders.”

Fast forward to June, when the purchase of a new flat screen TV meant that wall space had to be cleared and the pictures on it rehung in a new location. Fifteen minutes later, it was all done:

We were quite impressed with how much easier the Hang & Level made hanging the frames. The task of placing, nailing, and hanging took less than fifteen minutes for the four frames. Best of all, we got the placement of all four fames exactly where we wanted them on the first try.

You can read the full review here.

With summer right around the corner, it’s also time to freshen the décor on your walls! Why not bring some of the bright seasonal colors inside for a new look? Nothing says summer like crisp white frames and matts paired with photos of vivid blossoms from your garden. Here are three quick and easy looks you can try to bring the vibrant colors of the season right into your own home.

Look A – Horizontal Grouping

This grouping is very versatile and looks great on its own or hanging above a piece of furniture. Create a balanced look by leaving equal space between frames. Here we left 5 inches.

• Hang the middle picture first, then using the SpacerTape™, measure out identical space between frames and hang the pictures on either side.
• It’s important to hang your frames at the right height. Learn more about Which Eye Level is the Right Eye Level and hang your pictures perfectly every time.

Look B – Vertical Grouping

This look works great on a tall narrow wall or in between windows and has the advantage of making a ceiling look higher than it actually is. Create a column of artwork by keeping the spacing between frames identical. Here we left 8 inches.

• Always hang your favorite piece in the middle as it will be noticed first
• It’s important to start with the bottom piece first, working your way up so the handle of the Hang & Level will not interfere with the rest of the pictures and you will have perfect alignment.

Look C – Creative Grouping

You don’t have to group pictures in a line. Tell a story by grouping frames closer together to create a compact look. If you have a small square wall space, a triangular arrangement looks great. Here, we left 2 inches between frames.

• Hang the bottom piece first, so the handle of the Hang & Level will not interfere with the picture above
• Next, hang the one on top followed by the frame on the right.

No matter which grouping you choose, you will create a fresh new look for your walls and the great thing is it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. We took these beautiful pictures ourselves. For more great, inexpensive ideas check out Wall Décor on a Dime. And when you’re ready for a change, simply swap out your photos for a whole new look.

That was exactly the situation when Jennifer Valentyne, host of Breakfast Television, Jim Caruk and I chatted during a Live Eye segment filmed at the opening of Jim’s new BiY Center in Toronto. I taught Jennifer, who is 5’4” and Jim, who tops out at 6’2”, that there is a proper way to hang a picture that will keep everyone happy. By using the HeightGuide, which is part of our new Picture Hanging Kit, we were able to easily determine the perfect height to hang the picture and keep everyone smiling.

Click to view the video segment…

“I was honoured to be part of such an amazing group of experts and have the opportunity to participate in the launch and share my tips and tricks for painless picture hanging with homeowners and the media. I am looking forward to instructing future classes at the BiY Center for people who want to create beautiful wall arrangements without making extra nail holes. “

As a female entrepreneur and mother of twins, Liette knows firsthand the challenges and rewards that come from starting and running a business while juggling the demands of motherhood.   Which is why it was a great honor when she was asked to be the guest speaker at the Annual Assembly of the Coalition des Femmes de l’Alberta on April 17 in Edmonton. The theme of the conference was “Passion & Détermination dans la vie des femmes d’aujourd’hui” or “Passion & Determination in the life of today’s women.”

“I was honored to be the guest speaker and have the opportunity to get to know the French business community better while expressing myself in my mother tongue. While I was preparing for the conference, I had the unique opportunity to reflect on my own journey as an entrepreneur and the road that has led me to where I am today. The event itself was very special and I was touched by the feedback I received from women, telling me how I had inspired and energized them to re-visit their own businesses and projects with renewed excitement.”

A common theme among the group was the challenge of motherhood and trying to “do it all”, a topic that Liette is well versed in. As well as offering advice, Liette shared some of the personal challenges and rewards she has experienced while balancing the needs of her family while running a business. It was an exciting and energizing day for all the women in attendance. To learn more about the Coalition des Femmes de l’Alberta, click here to visit their webpage.

We just returned from the 2010 International Home Housewares Show in Chicago which was a great success. The show was very well attended this year and one of the hilights for UTR was being awarded two Design Defined Awards by the IHA, one each for Hang & Level™ and Stoppy™.

The products were selected by Design Finders, teams of young designers, experienced practitioners and educators from the University of Illinois-Chicago’s Interdisciplinary Product Development Program. They scoured hundreds of exhibitors in the Clean + Contain Expo in the North Building searching for products that exemplified a commitment to design while achieving a solution to common household cleaning, storage and home décor issues.

“The purpose of the Design Defined program is to bring attention to those companies that have placed a premium on quality design,” said Phil Brandl, president of IHA, which owns and operates the Show. “We are pleased to announce the results of this much-anticipated program.”

“This year’s Design Defined Honorees showed the continued commitment of the housewares industry to integrate design and innovation into their new product launches,” said Steven Melamed, IDSA, president of Tres Design Group and a professor in the UIC industrial design department. “It was also significantly demonstrated that many companies are now actively moving towards the manufacture of more sustainable products”.

At UTR we are constantly thinking about how we can improve our products and user experience, and we’d like to invite you to help us out by giving us your feedback (both positive and negative) on Hang & Level™, Deco Nails™ or Stoppy™. Any and all comments are welcome and we’d love to know what you think worked well, what didn’t work, what changes you’d like to see, or any other comments you have.

Simply follow the link here, or click the Product Feedback button displayed on most of the pages.

Here’s a quick and easy wall décor project you can do just in time for Valentine’s Day. All the materials you need are available at your local grocery or art supply store. It can be completed and ready to hang within a few minutes. Have fun!

What you’ll need:

• heart-shaped / Valentine’s candies
• shadowbox type picture frame
• glue / a glue gun
• white card stock or foamcore

Step 1: Take apart the frame and install the glass at the front of the frame. Add the shadowbox liner into the frame.

Step 2: Using the backing as a template, cut a piece of card stock or foamcore of the same size. Make a grid or other creative design on your card stock and glue the hearts. Play with colours and love notes printed on the hearts to decorate your piece.

Step 3: Carefully place the decorated card stock into the frame, add the backing making sure the picture wire faces up so your frame sits correctly on the wall. Press the metal tabs down to secure your artwork.

Step 4: Place the frame on your Hang & Level and find the perfect spot on the wall to display your masterpiece. Hang and level your frame using the tool. View our step-by-step “How to” videos via the link below for more picture hanging tips. Use the same basic technique with other Valentine’s Day candy to create different displays.

Happy Valentine’s Day!.

In today’s challenging economic times, if you are like most people, you’re probably looking for ways to trim your spending and balance your budget. Home décor does not have to be expensive. In fact, some of the most beautiful pieces that have the biggest impression are often the most affordable.

Liette was featured recently on TELUS TV, showcasing some innovative ways that you can create huge impact on your walls – not your wallet.

Click to view the video…

Too many homeowners are overwhelmed when it comes to hanging pictures in their house. What should be a simple task becomes riddled with uncertainty. “What size of picture do I hang over my sofa?” “How high should I hang them?” “What would look good over my mantel?” “What about groups of pictures?”

In this segment, featured on TELUS TV, Liette answers all of your questions and takes the guess work out of hanging pictures. She also demonstrates how you can quickly and easily create a stunning grouping with the Hang & Level tool, so you will never be overwhelmed with picture hanging again.

Click to view the video…

We were thrilled to hear that New York magazine has selected the Hang & Level Picture Hanging Tool as one of their Best Bets in their December 14th issue! Available now at your favorite newsagents or click here for the web version.

We’re putting the finishing touches on our new series of “How-To” videos for the site and we’ve gathered together all the video segments we’ve collected over the years and posted it to our very own YouTube channel! In addition to the videos showing how to use our products, you can see segments from popular TV shows that feature the Hang & Level and Stoppy such as CityLine and Divine Design. Also from the video vault we’ve uploaded a few stories from the CBC [link] and CareersTV [link] which describe the journey we undertook to get Hang & Level from an idea to store shelves. We will continue to add videos to the channel as well as our website so stay  tuned!

We were excited to read about Hang & Level on the Tool Snob website, and also to discover that it’s currently #59 in Amazon’s top 100 selling item in the Home Improvement category. Check out the review here.