How to Hang Pictures

When moving into a new apartment or just changing the appearance of your home, hanging pictures is often part of the process. Now, some folks figure it's easy to hang a picture, just bang in a nail and hang the picture on it-what could be easier? However, to hang a picture properly, you want the center of the picture to be equal with the height of your eyes (adult eye height), so it takes a bit of measuring and often some other preparation before you hammer that nail in. Here's how to go about hanging your pictures properly.

Things You'll Need

• Hammer
• Small nails or proper wall fasteners (plastic wall plugs, Molly bolts).
• Stud finder
• Picture hanger
• Tape measure
• Pencil

Instructions

1. Plan where you want to hang your pictures and wall hangings. If your pictures are heavy (over 25 lbs.) it's best to position them over a wall stud. However, if you have a number of pictures they can't all be positioned on top of studs, so use plastic wall plugs or Molly bolts.

2. Figure out where studs are located in your walls by using an electric stud finder (available at home and hardware stores) or simply by tapping lightly on the wall. Most of the wall will give off a hollow sound, but when you are tapping over a stud, the wall will sound much more solid.

3. Determine the proper hanger for your wall. If all you are hanging is a relatively light picture (up to 25 lbs.) on drywall, you will probably just need a nail and a picture hanger). However, if you're hanging a heavier object you might want to consider using a plastic wall anchor or even a Molly bolt in the drywall. If your walls are concrete you can use a concrete plug fastened into the wall to hang your picture on.

4. Calculate the proper height to hang your picture by having someone hold a tape measure vertically up to your wall from floor to ceiling. Make a small mark on the wall equal to the height of your eyes (e.g. 55 inches).

5. Measure the height of the picture to calculate the mid point. For example, if your picture is 15 inches high, the mid point is 7 ½ inches from the bottom or top. This midway point is called the centerline.

6. Stretch the wire hanger on the back of your picture out (as if the picture was hanging on the wall) and measure from the centerline to the highest point of the wire (let's say it's 4 inches).

7. Add the distance to the high wire point (4 inches) to the proper height of the wall (55 inches) and make a mark (55 + 4 = 59 inches). This is the point where you want to install your picture hanger.

8. Drive a nail into the mark (through your picture hanger) or install your wall anchors and carefully place your picture on it.

9. Stand back to see if the picture is level. You can adjust this by sliding the picture (left or right) until it's just perfect.

Tips & Warnings

• Because of furniture height and other impediments, sometimes it's impossible to hang your pictures at the optimum height. You can obviously raise the height of the pictures a little to allow for this.

• Hanging a number of pictures takes time to plan and arrange in the best manner. Measure your wall and lay the pictures out on the floor where it's relatively easy to rearrange and adjust them

• If your walls are concrete you should use concrete plugs properly fastened into the wall to hang your pictures. Don't just drive a nail into the concrete (even a concrete nail); it could take a big chip out of the wall.