If your walls are anything like ours, they may look like someone has taken a shot gun to the wall.
My wife is amazing at everything, except perhaps the art of hanging a picture properly. I have seen her in action; she blindly or she might as well be blindfold, picks a spot on the wall, hammers the picture hook into the spot, sometimes with a hammer, sometimes a shoe or any other object she can find, and once she places the picture on the hook, if its too low, too high, too close, she repeats and repeats until she gets her perfect spot!!!!! Yikes!!!!! Sometimes pictures have been known to fall, she blames the kids' heavy footedness, I am not sure she's not partly to reason (or at least her picture hanging skills!!!).
So here is a quick guide on how to hang a picture correctly:
1. If your frame came with a picture wire or series of hooks already attached on the back, then you’re already set. If not, go to Walmart and invest in either a picture hanger kit, or a set of professional hooks. Follow the instructions that came with them to attach them properly to the back of your frame.
2. Figure out where to hang the picture before you hammer in the hook!!!! Remember that the picture needs to have some space around it, and its edges shouldn’t butt up against the edges of the wall. It should also be large enough for the space that it’s in, as you don’t want to hang a tiny picture by itself over a large couch or table. Your picture needs to be centered in its space, if possible. And it should be hung at a reasonable eye level – one that is not too high or too low. Once you have found the right space and height, hold the picture up to the wall. Then get a pencil and leave small marks on the wall where the corners of the picture will sit.
3. Next measure - put the picture down and get out your ruler or tape measure. Measure the back of the picture to see exactly where the wire or hooks are. You will need to make sure that the anchors on the wall correspond to these exactly. Jot down the measurements, then turn to the wall itself, and mark where the two match up.
4. Here's the finale - get out your drill and picture hanging kit and install the wall anchors. Once they are in all of the way, hang up your picture. Give it a few small adjustments if necessary, and then sit back and enjoy your new artwork!
Easy peasy - right. Just spending a couple more extra minutes and doing this properly will be worth it. Especially if you value your artwork and your walls.
Justin
