I can’t stand empty walls. When I move out of our rental, I’m going to have an awful lot of holes to fill, because I hang something on every inch. After hanging so many gallery walls, I’ve learned a few tricks along the way, including one from Young House Love that has made arranging and hanging easier than ever. Anytime I have a wall to cover, I turn to this technique, which has simplified the process more than I could have dreamed! It’s so simple, I’m not sure why I didn’t think of it myself.
Here’s a simple way to hang pictures without error:
1. I begin by arranging my artwork/items on the floor, finding an arrangement that I like. Then I take a photo of it so I don’t forget.
2. Next, I trace each item onto paper and cut them out. In this case, I used old grocery store ads (hooray for recycling).
3. Then I tape the paper up on the wall, replicating the picture I took of my arrangement and moving them around until I’m happy with the placement.
4. Now for proper nail placement, I measure how far down (and how far from each right and left edge, if not centered) on each frame the hanger is. Then I mark this spot on the paper that I have taped to the wall, using the same measurements.
5. Then you simply hammer your nail in the spot you marked (right through the paper), tear the paper off the wall, and hang the picture.
Your gallery wall ends up looking exactly as you had planned, and you don’t have three holes in the wall behind every frame (that was my old M.O.).
Here’s the finished product (FYI, this is a shot from the nursery, to be revealed next week!):
