Why haven't we put pictures up on the walls yet?

[BarrelOfOtters]

We moved 3 years ago. Spent 2 years doing a full scale renovation. A year on, with lovely new walls and paintwork we cannot get motivated to get up into the loft and bring down the pictures we used to have up in our old house.

Why?

It doesn't just seem to be laziness. Perhaps It just feels like it's too many decisions to make after making a whole load of other decisions on building and decorating.

I miss having pictures up - and in reality if a picture doesn't look right you move it - yes?

So why am I still starting at blank walls?

Fear of damaging the paintwork?

Possibly, but in reality you'd just put a bit of filler and a dab of paint if you decided to move a picture.

Because you're not really that bothered.

We moved a few weeks ago. We had a cupboard full of pictures from when we previously moved 10 years ago that we'd never got round to putting up. I don't know why either other than laziness in our case!

If you want them up and see no logical reason to put them up, then it is laziness.

Go get them from the loft now, order some command strips on Amazon and lean them against the wall in the room you think they should go in. Hold yourself accountable - don’t search for an excuse as to why you haven’t hung them - acknowledge you’re being lazy.

We have only recently ( in the last couple of months) put some of ours up.
We moved in 6 & 1/2 years ago.
It almost seemed too big a decision where to put them.
We still have to decide on where to put the other half. Ours aren’t even in the loft, they are on the floor in the study leaning against a wall.

The same reason why we haven't put the new door knob on... procrastination.

We have this problem because the Johnstones/Johnson's (?) paint we used is an absolute pain to match. Its basic cream but it seems to change colour between every batch number! So any time we need to move a picture or an attached piece of furniture we patch the paint and it looks like a totally different tone of cream. Painting the entire wall again would be the only solution but that's such a lot of faff moving everything out the way and masking everyhting, then keeping a toddler from touching it.

Nah. Pics ain't worth the hassle.

Wonder if all paint is the same or if it's just our bad luck.

Sometimes it’s because the new pictures don’t fit the feel of the new house but you feel like you should put them up.

Can you go on Etsy and search for some new pictures that spark joy? Or is there a gallery near you that sells local artists work?

That's a bit harsh. Sometimes procrastination over something can be because our brains are just at max capacity, spinning too many plates becomes mentally exhausting. Even the most basic of tasks can seem like an insurmountable challenge when you reach burnout.

www.dunelm.com/product/takker-hardwall-multipurpose-hanging-kit-1000085633?defaultSkuId=30237959&branchCode=0550&ds_c=Gallery_Canvases+and+Prints-SmartShopping_%5BGOO-LIA-GALLERY-PICTURES%5D&gclid=CjwKCAiAwc-dBhA7EiwAxPRylEZCegrjAMysWEM8yqGVlgO3jMfNbo9K3jgzKi7ITmzQp8iZvDXeZBoCiB8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I bought one of these and it took my fear of blank walls away. It’s brilliant.

Maybe you don't really miss any of the pictures you have? Did you love any of them? Maybe get some new pictures.

I’d procrastinated for the best part of a year on putting the pictures back in our living room, and that was because a) one of the walls is an absolute drama to get anything hung on (but it’s the wall that needs them most), and b) I had pictures that needed framing and the extra steps involved in working out the size of frames and surrounds, ordering them and then doing it was too much.

But! I did some before Christmas and it was really very lovely indeed and makes the biggest difference. So, just do it. Head up into the loft and get them down to hang them.

@SergeiL does it work with heavier pictures?

@NoSquirrels some of the frames got damaged during the various moves they've done round the house during building work - so I know a couple of favourites need reframed or the frames repaired...expense and hassle. But I might love them more in a new frame.

I think I also have to acknowledge that some will have to go...

But why do we always have to have stuff on the walls, often just for the sake of it? Some times less is more

I found getting rid of pictures surprisingly hard, can you sort them into love/like/meh piles. Then focus on getting the pictures you love sorted first?

You can get custom frames made easily online too.

A freshly painted wall is aesthetically pleasing.

I think it also involves DH getting out the drill, the ruler and the spirit level. The thought of which makes my heart sink a bit and makes me bad tempered. I'm more of the 'by eye' method of putting up picture.

Do it yourself! Cut him out of the process if he’s a barrier.

We moved back from overseas with a lot of pictures and decision fatigue, so I had a picture hanging service come and do them for me. He was brilliant - such a perfectionist and made sure the right pictures went in the right place. It wasn’t crazy expensive for a day’s labour. Have a look on Instagram, I think there are a few in the country but we used hangmyart

I don't know, I think clean lines can be relaxing. Like how a room can sometimes look better when you move all your stuff out to have new flooring fitted etc.

Uninspired by the pictures? I think a pp said something along those lines.

It's taken me a year to put up some pictures I bought at my sisters wedding! I finally did it the other day.

If there was a picture hanging service where I was I would use them like a shot. Already got a man in to hang a couple of heavy pictures on a dodgy wall and 2 heavy mirrors. Cutting DH out of it.

If I just fling pictures up it'll lead to hours of muttering about them not being straight.

I think it's the uninspired....maybe we need new pictures or frames.....