Hanging Pictures
By: Amanda Campbell
Updated: August 19, 2010
Nothing makes a house a home more than your favorite pictures hanging on the wall. So here are some Quick Tips that will help you hang that picture straight.
First of all put a piece of masking tape or cellophane tape over the drywall plaster before nailing. This way you will avoid chipping the plaster. You can also try heating the nail with a flame before driving it into the wall; this will protect the plaster as well.
Next, place tape around the center of the wires on the back of the picture to keep the picture in place.
You can also wrap masking tape –the sticky side out—around toothpicks and then place the toothpicks near the bottom backside of the frame. This will also keep the picture in place.
Did you also know that you could give your unfinished picture frames a personal touch with shoe polish! Brown shoe polish will have a walnut glow, tan will make it look light like maple.
If you follow these quick tips you will have your house looking like your home in no time.
Here are some more Quick Tips we found for you for hanging your favorite pictures.
Hanging a Picture
Hanging a framed work requires the proper materials for support and stability it takes a keen eye to select the right spot and some pre-planning before you go pounding nails into your walls.
Decide where you want to hang your pictures and how they will affect the décor of your room.
Once you are ready to get started, collect all necessary materials you will need and put them close by where you're working.
Hold your picture up (or have a friend hold it for you) and experiment with moving it closer to, and then further away from, the other furnishings. Try to notice when the furnishings start to feel crowded--that means you need more space.
Take a look at what will be holding your picture up on that wall. Not all wires are the same. Wires come in different gauges according to weight.
Is the wire strong enough to support the weight of the frame? Make sure the wire is securely anchored to the frame. The wire should curve up halfway from the screw eyes to the top of the frame. Your wires should never be visible above the top of the frame.
If you are wiring it yourself: Cut wire 1-˝ times the width of the frame. (If you are uncertain of the wire's strength, use twice as much and double it through.) Fold the wire in half to find its center. Feed it through both screw-eyes. Adjust the wire so the center of it remains at the center of the picture, and pull the remainder through the screw-eyes evenly on both sides. Wrap the wire around the screw-eye twice, then pull the remaining wire back along itself and twist it around. This helps secure the wire to the screw eye as well as get the remainder out of the way. Do the same on the other side.
Stick a small felt pad on each bottom corner of the picture. This helps protect your wall and the frame, and also stabilizes the picture.
A little help from your friends! A friend could be especially useful now; to hold the picture while you stand back and see exactly where you want it to go.
Hold up the artwork so that the geometric center of the image is five feet and two inches high. Measure the distance on either side of the frame toward the edge of the adjoining artwork or piece of furniture from where it will be hanging. The spaces should be even on each side. You may use a measuring tape if desired.
Now hold the picture with one hand on the wire and the other on the bottom of the frame. For the hand holding the wire, hook your middle finger on the center of the wire so that the picture hangs straight. This is where the nail or hook will hold the picture. Hold up the picture to the wall again, and make sure it is both centered and straight. The weight of the picture will leave a mark or small indentation on your finger where the wire was. Keep your hand firmly on that point, and remove the picture. Take a pencil and draw a small mark on the wall exactly where your finger held the wire.
Remember: if you're using hooks, the mark shows where the bottom of the hook goes (not where the screw is screwed in).
For light to medium weight pictures:
Buy some picture hooks at your local hardware or craft store. Hooks come in packages with small nails made for them. Place the hook to the wall so that the bottom of the hook is at the mark you made for the wire. Above the hook there is a slot for the nail that should be directly above the mark. Hold the hook and nail steady with one hand and use a hammer to get the nail started. Be careful not to let the nail slip down at first. This may hang the picture lower than you want it. Once you have the nail established, drive it in.
If you do not have any picture hooks, then medium-gauge nails will work fine. For lightweight pictures such as framed documents use a one inch finishing nail. Don’t forget to cover the area you are driving your nail with a piece of masking tape to help protect the plaster. Drive the nail downward in at a 45-degree angle. The angle is critical to ensuring the picture will stay on the wall.
For heavy pictures:
For pictures weighing 10 pounds or more, use nails instead of hooks. If the room is constructed with framed drywall, center your picture along a wall stud. Unsupported nails can be ripped out of drywall by the weight of the picture alone. To support the picture's weight evenly, use two or more nails evenly spaced from the center and level to each other.
For very heavy pictures where wall studs are inconvenient, use wall screws with anchor bolts. These hold the wall together while supporting the weight of your picture. They can be found at most hardware stores, and have instructions printed on the package. Most require you to drill a hole in the drywall just large enough to allow the anchor bolt to slip through (usually 1/4 inch). Once the anchor bolt is in place, tighten the screw clockwise to secure it snugly against the back of the wall.
As you hang the picture, adjust it slightly until it comes to rest evenly on the hook. The wire should be centered as much as possible and the picture should hang straight down. You may want to use a level on the top of the frame as a guide, or look at where the wall meets the ceiling and bring the top frame parallel to it.
We hope these tips help you give your home look like a masterpiece!
First of all put a piece of masking tape or cellophane tape over the drywall plaster before nailing. This way you will avoid chipping the plaster. You can also try heating the nail with a flame before driving it into the wall; this will protect the plaster as well.
Next, place tape around the center of the wires on the back of the picture to keep the picture in place.
You can also wrap masking tape –the sticky side out—around toothpicks and then place the toothpicks near the bottom backside of the frame. This will also keep the picture in place.
Did you also know that you could give your unfinished picture frames a personal touch with shoe polish! Brown shoe polish will have a walnut glow, tan will make it look light like maple.
If you follow these quick tips you will have your house looking like your home in no time.
Here are some more Quick Tips we found for you for hanging your favorite pictures.
Hanging a Picture
Hanging a framed work requires the proper materials for support and stability it takes a keen eye to select the right spot and some pre-planning before you go pounding nails into your walls.
Decide where you want to hang your pictures and how they will affect the décor of your room.
Once you are ready to get started, collect all necessary materials you will need and put them close by where you're working.
Hold your picture up (or have a friend hold it for you) and experiment with moving it closer to, and then further away from, the other furnishings. Try to notice when the furnishings start to feel crowded--that means you need more space.
Take a look at what will be holding your picture up on that wall. Not all wires are the same. Wires come in different gauges according to weight.
Is the wire strong enough to support the weight of the frame? Make sure the wire is securely anchored to the frame. The wire should curve up halfway from the screw eyes to the top of the frame. Your wires should never be visible above the top of the frame.
If you are wiring it yourself: Cut wire 1-˝ times the width of the frame. (If you are uncertain of the wire's strength, use twice as much and double it through.) Fold the wire in half to find its center. Feed it through both screw-eyes. Adjust the wire so the center of it remains at the center of the picture, and pull the remainder through the screw-eyes evenly on both sides. Wrap the wire around the screw-eye twice, then pull the remaining wire back along itself and twist it around. This helps secure the wire to the screw eye as well as get the remainder out of the way. Do the same on the other side.
Stick a small felt pad on each bottom corner of the picture. This helps protect your wall and the frame, and also stabilizes the picture.
A little help from your friends! A friend could be especially useful now; to hold the picture while you stand back and see exactly where you want it to go.
Hold up the artwork so that the geometric center of the image is five feet and two inches high. Measure the distance on either side of the frame toward the edge of the adjoining artwork or piece of furniture from where it will be hanging. The spaces should be even on each side. You may use a measuring tape if desired.
Now hold the picture with one hand on the wire and the other on the bottom of the frame. For the hand holding the wire, hook your middle finger on the center of the wire so that the picture hangs straight. This is where the nail or hook will hold the picture. Hold up the picture to the wall again, and make sure it is both centered and straight. The weight of the picture will leave a mark or small indentation on your finger where the wire was. Keep your hand firmly on that point, and remove the picture. Take a pencil and draw a small mark on the wall exactly where your finger held the wire.
Remember: if you're using hooks, the mark shows where the bottom of the hook goes (not where the screw is screwed in).
For light to medium weight pictures:
Buy some picture hooks at your local hardware or craft store. Hooks come in packages with small nails made for them. Place the hook to the wall so that the bottom of the hook is at the mark you made for the wire. Above the hook there is a slot for the nail that should be directly above the mark. Hold the hook and nail steady with one hand and use a hammer to get the nail started. Be careful not to let the nail slip down at first. This may hang the picture lower than you want it. Once you have the nail established, drive it in.
If you do not have any picture hooks, then medium-gauge nails will work fine. For lightweight pictures such as framed documents use a one inch finishing nail. Don’t forget to cover the area you are driving your nail with a piece of masking tape to help protect the plaster. Drive the nail downward in at a 45-degree angle. The angle is critical to ensuring the picture will stay on the wall.
For heavy pictures:
For pictures weighing 10 pounds or more, use nails instead of hooks. If the room is constructed with framed drywall, center your picture along a wall stud. Unsupported nails can be ripped out of drywall by the weight of the picture alone. To support the picture's weight evenly, use two or more nails evenly spaced from the center and level to each other.
For very heavy pictures where wall studs are inconvenient, use wall screws with anchor bolts. These hold the wall together while supporting the weight of your picture. They can be found at most hardware stores, and have instructions printed on the package. Most require you to drill a hole in the drywall just large enough to allow the anchor bolt to slip through (usually 1/4 inch). Once the anchor bolt is in place, tighten the screw clockwise to secure it snugly against the back of the wall.
As you hang the picture, adjust it slightly until it comes to rest evenly on the hook. The wire should be centered as much as possible and the picture should hang straight down. You may want to use a level on the top of the frame as a guide, or look at where the wall meets the ceiling and bring the top frame parallel to it.
We hope these tips help you give your home look like a masterpiece!
