How to Hang Pictures

How to Hang Pictures in Three,  Four,   Six,  Ten easy Steps

hammering with a shoe

Note: not an actual photo of my technique; I don’t wear nail polish.

Equipment Needed:

Pictures – all shapes and sizes

Bottle opener, screwdriver or the end of a hammer

Nails, screws or what have you – anything that you can drive in the wall and will stick out at least a half inch

Shoe with firm heel, the end of a large screw driver, or a hammer

Toothpaste or spackle (no glitter)

Directions

  1. Look for old nails in the wall. If you find them, use a bottle opener, screwdriver, or anything you can wedge between it and the wall and pry out. If you have a hammer handy, you can use the forked end. If you don’t see a hammer, see alternative tools above. The key is to use anything that you think will work and is close by.
  1. Take your pictures and quickly decide where you are going to put them. Don’t worry if you change your mind later. That’s what the toothpaste is for.
  1. Choose your first picture and hold it up to the wall. Eyeball the position and try to remember where the hanging thing is on the back.
  1. While holding the picture against the wall with one hand, reach for what you are going to drive into the wall. If you start losing control of the picture because you are reaching too far, put it down. Try to smudge the wall with the tip of your finger, but don’t worry if you can’t. You’ll be close.
  1. Take the nail or screw and hold it up to where you think it should go. Use your shoe heel or big screwdriver handle to hit it into the wall. If what you are using just bounces off, find something heavier.
  1. When the nail is in, take your picture and put it on the nail. Try to make it look straight.
  1. Step back and see if it is exactly where you want it. If it isn’t, take the picture down and repeat steps 1 through 6, using the toothpaste to fill any holes (note: gel toothpaste doesn’t really look as good as white). Try not to put holes right next to each other; one-quarter inch is ok.
  1. Once all your pictures are hung, look around the room and see if there are any you want to switch around. If you do, repeat steps 1 through 6 over and over until it looks right to you. (Tip: If your picture is going to cover all the little holes you made, don’t bother filling them in. You can worry about that when you move.)
  1. Go to the next room and repeat steps 1 through 8.

   10.  Once you’ve hung pictures in all your rooms, walk around and figure out whether               you really want to change some pictures to different rooms. If so, repeat steps 1                   through 8 until everything looks right to you.

That’s all there is to it! Of course, if you want to go through a whole lot of trouble figuring out stuff first, you can read the article below; to each his own.

http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/make-and-decorate/decorating/tips-for-hanging-pictures