The Boy has the most amazing (though small) hat collection from his travels overseas. I’ve always thought it was a shame to simply store the hats in a box with other souvenirs.
I’ve spent a great deal of time since moving into the Hayley House thinking about what we can do with the hats. I finally decided that we needed a Travel Photo Wall.
Now that I think about it, that’s probably not the best name for this display wall. After all, I’m putting hats on it…they aren’t exactly photos. Oh well.
With a idea in mind, I needed to figure out how to make it a reality. The problem with hats is that they aren’t necessarily consistent in size. And our hats most definitely had different structures and sizes.
So I asked our architects: How would you hang a hat on the wall…and your answer can’t be “Call a professional installer!”
After much discussion, we decided that coat hooks should do the trick. Here’s how I brought my idea of a hat display to life:
1. Fill hats with acid free paper to give them permanent structure.
2. After measuring for exact placement, install coat hooks on the wall. For best results, buy a hooks that have the mounting holes on the underside of the hook.
3. Carefully hang your hats, adjusting to make sure they are flush against the wall.
My dad, a railroad engineer, always said "home is where you hang your hat".
Clever!