One of the trickiest situations for apartment renters is hanging artwork and photos on the walls.
Nobody wants to live in an all white space. It can make you feel like you’re in a hospital or other sterile environment.
It makes your apartment feel more like a home when you have your own photos on the wall. Or maybe you want to show off your personality by having artwork on the wall.
Many Dallas apartments even have custom artwork from the thriving Dallas art community. You can have a truly unique piece hanging on the wall that will start conversations with all your guests.
But the issue we come back to is hanging those pieces on the walls. It’s tricky because you don’t want to make more holes in the wall than you need to. You also don’t want to hang something only to have it fall down possibly breaking or even breaking whatever it falls on.
Here is a short guide on how to hang artwork in your Dallas apartment.
Items Less Than ~2 LBS
For light-weight items, you can use something as simple as a thumb tack. You know the tacks that you find on cork boards. You might even have some on the cork board in your kitchen or in your office.
Simple put the tack in the drywall where you want to hang the item. Push it in at a slightly downward angle.
Once it’s in you can hang your item from its string or wood frame.
For light-weight items, the tack is plenty strong and leaves only a pinhole size hole in the wall for easy repair when the time comes.
Remember, this is for very lightweight items like small canvases and framed prints.
Items More Than ~2 LBS
For items more than 2 LBS (and not much heavier), small nails will suffice. You can get these nails at hardware stores, home supply stores (Home Depot, Lowes, etc.) and even at other stores. The nails are about an inch or two inches long and fairly thin.
Select the place you want to hang the item and pound the nail gently into the drywall. It should be fairly easy. Again, use a slightly downward angle. This will provide more support for your item.
A basic nail provides a little more flexibility than a tack because you can put the nail nearly all the way in the wall if you want the artwork to hang flush against the wall.
The nail should only leave a small hole in the wall.
With both the nail and the tack you can generally put your artwork anywhere and you don’t need to find the studs in the wall.
But remember: this is for light items up to approximately a few pounds.
Heavy And Large Items
For heavier items you’re going to have different levels of what you need to do to make sure the item is supported.
Large, but relatively light artwork can be hanged using hangers made specifically to hold in drywall without harming the drywall more than a nail hole.
Picture hooks are a great option. Those in particular are rated up to 50 LBS. They don’t leave sticky residue on the wall. They don’t make a large hole in the wall and they’re easy to install. You also don’t need a stud.
However, if you’re hanging heavier artwork like metals, glass and other heavy items, you’ll need to use more heavy-duty nails and screws while also finding the stud in the wall. It might be best to have a professional install the piece for you. They would have access to a stud finder tool.
With heavy items you need larger holes and when you’re doing that you want to make sure you’re drilling in the right place the first time.
Final Thoughts
Hanging artwork in your apartment is exciting. It’s a way for you to add personality to your space.
And it doesn’t have to be a challenge. For most things you can use small nails and do it on your own.
And one final tip, check out this article on The 57″ Rule. It’s perfect so your items are hanging at the right level for people to notice when they walk into your room.
Do you have advice for hanging artwork?
Please share your tips in the comments!