Pick your space

Find a good place to hang your pictures.. Make sure there is enough room for the picture including the frame.  I like to make a paper template of the picture to tape on the wall first.  This way I can check to see if I like it’s height and location before I put a hole in the wall.

One design tip that will help you maximize the use of your wall space without losing sight of your art is to always hang your art at eye-level.  If you don’t want to eyeball what “eye level” is, run a tape measure from the floor to the ceiling, and have someone else mark on the measure where your eyes naturally rest when you’re standing a foot or two away from the wall.

Measure first

Before you put any holes in your walls make sure you mark off any places you need to hammer nails or drill holes for brackets before you try to hang the piece. Use a straight-edge, ruler, or level to make sure the sides are level before you actually hold the art up to the wall. Mark the center line (the halfway point between the bottom and the top of the art, which should also rest at eye-level,) the edges, and all the sides. It is easy to do this if you have someone to help you.

Picture hanging kits, easily available at most hardware and department stores, often have all the materials you need to hang most common frames on your walls. Light pieces like photos, movie posters, and other art will likely require just a nail, or a nail and a bracket or picture hanger (most light frames have a bracket on the back already.)

Think About the Weight

If you’re facing something over 25lbs  you may consider using a plastic wall anchor in the drywall, or solidly mounting the art in the stud using a mounting bracket. Don’t use drywall screws in wood, and don’t use wood screws in drywall – go to your local hardware store and find the type of picture hanger for the size and weight you’re dealing with. Using the wrong mounting brackets or tools will inevitably lead you to waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of your art crashing to the floor.

If you live in an apartment this might mean you will damage the walls and you will be charged a fee for this when you move out Once you’ve measured, centered, and mounted your hardware, placing the art on the wall should be a simple task, and you shouldn’t have to spend too much time tilting the art to make sure it’s level.

You can save the paint on your walls from scuffs and scratches though by adding small adhesive bits of felt to the corners or bottom of the frame where it’s in direct contact with the wall. If you don’t have anything like that, a bit of post-it note or masking tape will work too: anything to keep the frame from scraping against the wall directly.

Pick the Right Product

3M’s Command line of plastic and metal hooks also work well to hang light pieces of art and posters from drywall or concrete, without the need for drills or nails. Apartment dwellers in rental units, college students, or anyone else who’s technically prohibited from hammering or drilling will find them especially useful. The adhesive strips that come with Command hooks go on easily, cure quickly, and remove without damaging the walls (in most cases,) which is a huge benefit if you like to change out the art on your walls frequently, or just don’t want to risk drilling or hammering nails into them.

Hanging a picture shouldn’t have to be so hard that you’re worried about damaging your walls in the process. With a little preparation, you can do it right the first time and hang your artwork easily, without ending up with multiple nail-holes in your wall that you subsequently have to patch up or cover with the art you hung.

Now that you know how to hang your artwork you might want a new apartment.  Red Oak can help you with that.  Red Oak Apartment Homes has locations in 6 NH towns and cities.  We have pet friendly living with exceptional focus on customer service.