Secret Tip! Hang a Group of Pictures…

Isn’t this group of pictures so fun and charming?!

Looks can be deceiving!

Hanging them just about made me crazy… until I remembered the secret tip to hang a group of pictures with even spacing!

My husband found a vintage ‘Bozo Under the Sea’ book at a Flea Market. It came with a record that you could listen to while reading the book. The illustrations are so cute and wonderfully colorful they were perfect artwork for the Maine cottage themed kid’s bedroom at our new house we’re renovating. (framing the illustrations, meant taking apart the book to do so… which felt a little sinful!)

I carefully measured and marked the wall where each print was to be placed.

I, (perhaps a little OCD-ish) laid out on the floor the order in which the prints were to hang. Creating rules in my brain about things like subject matter, the color of the frame, which way the animal featured is looking, all sorts of ‘rules’ that help my weird brain figure out what pleases my eye…

As I started to hang the pictures, all that meticulous placement prep nearly didn’t come to fruition!

First problem:

The saw-tooth hangers that were attached on the back of the frames work best when hanging on a single sheetrock screw mounted in the wall.

These were going to hang on the wall over the kid’s daybed. Just hanging on a screw head wasn’t going to secure them enough. I’d need to figure out a secondary form of securing once in place.

Second problem:

That wall is the old plaster with metal lath, and hard as a rock! So a lot of pre-drilling was necessary.

Finally time to hang the first picture, starting at the very top, the title page went up. Seemed OK. (though I was sweating out a hot flash now due to trying to get the stupid drillbit into what felt like a piece of granite wall!)

Next row down, by the time I got to the 2nd one in the row I realized there was another problem.

Big problem.

The little sawtooth hangers on the back of the frames that came pre-attached to the frames, were each just a wee bit off from the others. That meant that 1/8″ or even 1/16″ of an inch looked hugely different once on the wall. If one hanger was slightly lower and the picture that I had selected to hang next to it was slightly higher, well you can see how that quickly becomes an exponential issue!

Darnit!

Then I started to compromise on my selected placements. Thinking I could still fix the spacing outcome, I started to move the pictures around based on the sawtooth hanger placement. After a very frustrating time, I quit!

Yup…

I had to walk away.

I left the project splayed out in the kid’s bedroom (no kids were coming for several days, so no worries) and shut the door.

A solution would come, once my head cleared a bit.  It did, too, several days later! I finally remembered about Command strips:

You can get the Command strips here:

12-pound capacity Command strips (these are the ones I used on this project)

16-pound capacity Command strips

These Command strips resolved all of the maddening issues I was facing with this project!

• They very securely attached the pictures to the walls, safer for being over the kid’s bed.
• Since they attached to the wall surface, no drilling required.
• Command strips are placed directly on the wall in the exact right spot, thus the placement issue is resolved!

The directions on the package pretty much say it all, but I’ll go through some of the steps I did here.

The Command strips aren’t exactly velco, but similar idea. They are sort of like stronger, stiffer velcro. So first I ‘snapped’ the strips face to face:

Then on one side of the set,

I peeled off the paper backing, thus revealing the adhesive part.

I placed one set on 4 corners of the frame back.

Carefully holding and pressing it in place for the 30 seconds they recommended.

Next, I peeled off the paper backing that was now facing out:

Lining the frame up with the pencil marks on the wall, I pressed the frame to the wall again for the 30 seconds recommended.

Oh. My. Word!

That was an embarrassingly easy task once I figured out the right product for my project!

Good grief… I knew about these long ago and had just sort of forgotten. Hopefully writing this post will not only let you in on the secret tip how to hang a group of pictures with even spacing, but it will also help me to remember how to!!

So, there is the group, not only even spaced, but very, very securely mounted to the wall!

The first day my 4 year old grandson came over and saw the finished pictures, he immediately got up on the daybed and thrilled with the pictures was talking about, (and touching) many of them. I’m so glad the pictures are mounted securely!

Last time I showed you the vintage ceiling light in the room. (if you missed that post, you can see where and how I hung that here)

The light and the prints are from the same era and really compliment each other super well in the room.

You can get the Command strips here:

12-pound capacity Command strips (these are the ones I used on this project)

16-pound capacity Command strips

If you’re wondering about the daybed with the pull out trundle, here are the affiliate shopping links for it and the mattresses. The comfort of the memory foam mattress is surprisingly good. (order online can feel a bit risky) BTW, last time I checked both the daybed and mattresses were drastically on sale!!

• Memory Foam Mattress
• Daybed with Pullout Trundle

Did you know I now offer e-decorating? I can help you with your decorating needs via email, without having to step foot in your home. If you’re interested in more information, visit my e-decorating site: Frame and Frills. I’d love to help you with your project!

Here you can read more tips and tutorials:

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This post was featured at HomeTalk!

This post is linked up at these other sites: Skip to My Lou, Refresh Restyle, DIY Showoff, Between Naps on the Porch, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Worthing Court, A Stroll Thru Life