For quite some time now, I’ve been trying to think of a practical way to store drying paintings and works in progress where I can see them. I find that as I look at them, I see areas I want to touch up or improve upon.

I put together ideas from a couple of people, and set out for Home Depot to see what I could find that would suit my needs. I was thinking I’d probably have to build some narrow, ledge-like shelves using two different types of wood molding. But then I found this great molding that does the whole trick! It comes out from the wall about 3/4″, and has a U-shaped groove on one side that the painting panel can set into. Because that groove is fairly shallow, it doesn’t block my view of the lower part of the painting. The front is a very nice, decorative pattern.

I cut the molding strips to the length of the wall, and primed and painted them with semi-gloss in a color to match the wall. I wanted them to blend in as much as possible. My dear husband helped me mount them. The top row allows for paintings up to 16 inches high (for standard 16×20s horizontally, or 16×12s vertically). The middle rail is set for paintings up to 12 inches tall. The lower rail will hold up to 10″ high works. Paintings larger than those would be on stretched canvas, and not displayed on the rails.

Here’s a straight on image:

I’m so excited! I think this is going to work out really well for my needs. I might do another wall too if I end up needing more space. I’d been hoping to have this done in time for my “studio tour” a couple of weeks ago (click here to see that post), but better late than never!

Posted by Jamie on Tuesday, January 1st, 2008 at 2:22 pm.