New Trophy Room

[koodoo62]

New house and trophy room for Chrismas. Just starting to hang some heads. Any recommendations will be appreciated.

 

[K-man]

Congratulations! Looking Good! Nice to have tall walls to hang from!

 

[koodoo62]

Congratulations! Looking Good! Nice to have tall walls to hang from!

Thanks. Not sure about how to group the animals. North American together, African together, Asian together or mix it up? Group the spiral horns together, springbuck color variants, tiny 10 together or mix it up? Big 5 together or mix it up? I know I can change it around afterwards but it’s a lot of work. I would like to do it right the first time (for once!). Any recommendations?

 

[K-man]

Hard to give a recommendation, as trophy rooms are so subjective to the owner's tastes. I grouped mine by location, but then I have to re-arrange everytime a new shipment arrives. My trophy room is also used as a meeting/party room, so we may have up to 40 people in the room at a time. Then you have to think about traffic flow, tables, etc. If it's just for you and family, much easier to do. Arrange them along the wall if you can before hanging, and if a trophy is more meaningful (to YOU) then put it prominently where you will enjoy it more. Don't be concerned about moving them if you are not happy the first time. Enjoy the process, and don't rush it. I even asked my wife's opinion......

 

[Tim Blackwell]

Great looking room!
I'm currently in the slow process of building mine. And having the same thoughts re. animal placement.

I'm thinking I'll group by country and then roughly by safari. Probably easier to explain when people ask, than just having them mixed up.

 

[BRICKBURN]

I'd suggest laying it out on paper first. Actual area of the wall required for each trophy (to scale) and play tetris in 2d before moving the mounts around.

Looks like a great space. Look forward to seeing the result.

 

[MarkB]

Good looking room. No help from me as the placement of the memories was harder than the build. Its all about what you want. Good luck.

MB

 

[koodoo62]

Good looking room. No help from me as the placement of the memories was harder than the build. Its all about what you want. Good luck.

MB

Thanks to everyone. I am letting my wife lead me on this.

 

[MarkB]

Ooh yes, I did as @BRICKBURN stated above and made a trip to the Bricks dumpster and acquired a ton of freezer box cardboard, then made proper size cut outs with horns and how far off wall measurements. I then hung these all up with tape and stood back and looked, took a couple days, looked again then started drilling anchors.

MB

 

[Scott CWO]

Congrats on a great project!

I like to vary the heights of the animals on large walls instead of them looking like rows at all the same height. I have a mule deer wall but other than that, my species/mounts are all mixed up and assigned a spot depending on size and space.

 

[Deleted member 40394]

New house and trophy room for Chrismas. Just starting to hang some heads. Any recommendations will be appreciated.

Just curious. How tall are your walls?

I want to build a trophy room/ pole building one day and always like knowing the size of other setups. I plan to make mine 100% dedicated room to game heads, ducks, geese, etc. other than a full sized kitchen and bar and living room area.

 

[Red Leg]

I admire @BRICKBURN and @MarkB, and if you are so wired that is the best advice you have had. I am not. I have to see it and "feel" the proportions. That means I am constantly going up and down ladders at our place whenever a new beast or painting comes home to stay (and patching holes!)

You did good on the design - you have tall wall space. As @Scott CWO suggests, vary heights. I saw enough battalion formations to last a lifetime in the military. A friend has a regiment on display in his great room. Large ones dress right dress on one wall and two rows (!) on another. It really looks terrible, but what can you do.

For instance I would have fully used the space above the fireplace (?) by raising the Rhino above the two buffalo - or vice versa. It would provide depth and proportion. I personally think the rhino would be better high, because it is larger which lengthens its perspective a bit compared to the flanking buffalo.

Mix some art or memorabilia in with the mounts. A leopard or buffalo painting or prints, Masai shield, large masks, crossed lion spears, etc always add interest. There are a couple of threads on trophy rooms here. Browse them. Try to ignore the architecture, but instead focus on how the ones that please you exploit space, proportion, and color.

 

[koodoo62]

Just curious. How tall are your walls?

I want to build a trophy room/ pole building one day and always like knowing the size of other setups. I plan to make mine 100% dedicated room to game heads, ducks, geese, etc. other than a full sized kitchen and bar and living room area.

The side walls and the bottom of the beams are 18 feet. The center of the room is 32 feet.

 

[koodoo62]

I admire @BRICKBURN and @MarkB, and if you are so wired that is the best advice you have had. I am not. I have to see it and "feel" the proportions. That means I am constantly going up and down ladders at our place whenever a new beast or painting comes home to stay (and patching holes!)

You did good on the design - you have tall wall space. As @Scott CWO suggests, vary heights. I saw enough battalion formations to last a lifetime in the military. A friend has a regiment on display in his great room. Large ones dress right dress on one wall and two rows (!) on another. It really looks terrible, but what can you do.

For instance I would have fully used the space above the fireplace (?) by raising the Rhino above the two buffalo - or vice versa. It would provide depth and proportion. I personally think the rhino would be better high, because it is larger which lengthens its perspective a bit compared to the flanking buffalo.

Mix some art or memorabilia in with the mounts. A leopard or buffalo painting or prints, Masai shield, large masks, crossed lion spears, etc always add interest. There are a couple of threads on trophy rooms here. Browse them. Try to ignore the architecture, but instead focus on how the ones that please you exploit space, proportion, and color.

 

[koodoo62]

Good advice. While I admire symmetry I don”t want straight lines. My wife is making most of the decisions here. She is certainly smarter than me.

 

[koodoo62]

Good advice. While I admire symmetry I don”t want straight lines. My wife is making most of the decisions here. She is certainly smarter than me.

I have another 40 or so heads and euro mounts to hang. Lots of drawings, paintings, memorabilia, masks, etc. I have a feeling I will be changing things along the way. Thank the Lord for 3/4 plywood behind the drywall and a pulley lift system to move things up and down.

 

[BRICKBURN]

My scale 2d was all done on paper. ie. graph paper and drew scale models. Then measured and threw the mounts on the wall in the exact locations and it worked.

Most of the time I am a run up and down the ladder guy.
The last set of trophies required some mounts to be moved to make room for everything. It was going to be too tight to screw around over a fifteen foot drop with Kudu, Moose and Elk.

 

[MarkB]

I have another 40 or so heads and euro mounts to hang. Lots of drawings, paintings, memorabilia, masks, etc. I have a feeling I will be changing things along the way. Thank the Lord for 3/4 plywood behind the drywall and a pulley lift system to move things up and down.

After reading the posts on here and seeing pics of rooms posted by members on other threads I now want to change my advice. I say your wife and @Red Leg should be in charge, clearly from posts, pics and advice he fully knows what he is talking about and how to do properly. Good job on the 3/4 ply backing and pulley system. I used 5/8 backing but should have made a pulley system, ladders petrify me even without a moose balanced on shoulders.

MB

 

[koodoo62]

I admire @BRICKBURN and @MarkB, and if you are so wired that is the best advice you have had. I am not. I have to see it and "feel" the proportions. That means I am constantly going up and down ladders at our place whenever a new beast or painting comes home to stay (and patching holes!)

You did good on the design - you have tall wall space. As @Scott CWO suggests, vary heights. I saw enough battalion formations to last a lifetime in the military. A friend has a regiment on display in his great room. Large ones dress right dress on one wall and two rows (!) on another. It really looks terrible, but what can you do.

For instance I would have fully used the space above the fireplace (?) by raising the Rhino above the two buffalo - or vice versa. It would provide depth and proportion. I personally think the rhino would be better high, because it is larger which lengthens its perspective a bit compared to the flanking buffalo.

Mix some art or memorabilia in with the mounts. A leopard or buffalo painting or prints, Masai shield, large masks, crossed lion spears, etc always add interest. There are a couple of threads on trophy rooms here. Browse them. Try to ignore the architecture, but instead focus on how the ones that please you exploit space, proportion, and color.

How much higher than the buff would you have the rhino? Should I keep the buff on the same level are vary their level?

 

[koodoo62]

O

How much higher than the buff would you have the rhino? Should I keep the buff on the same level are vary their level?

or vary their level?