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2torial #0460:
Learn2 Hang a
Picture
Find the artful dangle angle...
Oops! Your recently purchased "Untitled"
masterpiece has just been re-titled "Assorted Glass
and Paper Fragments." Hanging a framed work
requires the proper materials for support and
stability. It takes a little pre-planning, but the
results will be evident: a carefully hung picture
shows off its merits and enhances the rest of the
room. If you'd like to avoid the scenario above,
just follow along with this 2torial and you'll be
on your way to a tastefully decorated space.
Before you determine the right spot to hang your
picture, you need to make some decisions about the
design of the room. Look at the art work already
hanging, and decide: is there room for one more? Or
does one or more pictures need to come down and get
"swapped out?" Perhaps the other pictures are worth
being re-hung in order to make way for the new
beauty.
While you think on these things, collect all
necessary materials and put them close by where
you're working.
 Survey the layout
Look at the other objects in the room.
Everything there, the lamp, the couch, the ficus
plant in the corner, has its own space,
sometimes called a need to breathe. Our eyes
have a natural tendency to put space in order. When
the size, color, or proximity of furnishings throw
a room out of balance, our eyes work harder trying
to put the whole scene back in order. They can't
help it, so do them a favor and look at the plan
now, before you start driving in nails.
Hold your picture up (or have a friend hold
it for you) and experiment with moving it
closer to, and then further away from, the other
furnishings. Try to notice when the furnishings
start to feel crowded--that means you need more
space.
 Install the right wire
Even if you had your picture framed
professionally, take a look at the back.
Picture-hanging wire comes in different gauges
according to weight.
Is the wire strong enough to support the weight
of the frame? Make sure the wire is securely
anchored to the frame. Screw eyes driven into a
wooden frame, or sliders made for metal frames,
should be located at least 2/3 up from the bottom
of the frame. The wire should curve up half-way
from the screw eyes to the top of the frame. It
should not be visible above the top of the frame.
- Wiring it yourself: Cut wire 1 - 1/2
times the width of the frame. (If you are
uncertain of the wire's strength, use twice as
much and double it through.)
- Fold the wire in half to find its
center. Feed it through both screw-eyes.
- Adjust the wire so the center of it
remains at the center of the picture, and pull
the remainder through the screw-eyes evenly on
both sides.
- Wrap the wire around the screw-eye
twice, then pull the remaining wire back along
itself and twist it around. This helps secure
the wire to the screw eye as well as get the
remainder out of the way. Do the same on the
other side.
Stick a small felt pad on each bottom
corner of the picture. This helps protect your wall
and the frame, and also stabilizes the picture.
 Find the spot
Given your placement decisions, hold it up by
the sides of the frame in the area where you want
it to hang. A friend could be especially useful
now, to hold the picture while you stand back and
see exactly where you want it to go. Different
people use different schemes for hanging wall art.
Some like to have the top edge of each piece
exactly level with every other piece, others like
to have the center of each piece exactly even with
the level of their eyes when they are standing. The
method described below is commonly used in art
gallery exhibitions. Remember the eye wants order
and this is the time to establish it.
- Hold up the art work so that the
geometric center of the image is five feet and
two inches high. This allows for most people
to look directly into the picture. Tall folks
will be looking down into the picture, but
experience has shown this is far easier than
having short people look up. (Life is full of
compromises.)
- Measure the distance on either side of
the frame toward the edge of the adjoining art
work or piece of furniture. The spaces
should be even on each side. You may use a
measuring tape if desired--a hammer's handle or
the span of your hand work well too. (Remember
to respect an object's space. Leave extra room
between your picture and the large plant in the
corner, the lighting fixture, or that big, dark,
heavy bookcase.)
Start with the picture in the center of the
available space. Slowly move it away from the
object. Your eye will feel the moment when the room
starts to balance, and will relax. When you feel
your eye relax, stop. That's the spot to hang your
picture.
 Mark the spot
Tuck a pencil behind your ear (this will become
useful in a minute).
- Now hold the picture with one hand on the
wire and the other on the bottom of the
frame. For the hand holding the wire, hook
your middle finger on the center of the wire so
that the picture hangs straight. This is where
the nail or hook will hold the picture. Hold up
the picture to the wall again, and make sure it
is both centered and straight. The weight of the
picture will leave a mark or small indentation
on your finger where the wire was. Keep your
hand firmly on that point, and remove the
picture. Take the pencil and draw a small mark
on the wall exactly where your finger held the
wire. Good! Now you are ready to approach the
wall.
An excellent tool for finding the spot for
the nail can be made from a 10-inch length of
coat-hanger wire. File a point on one end and use a
pliers to bend the wire 90 degrees (a right angle)
at one and a half inches from the pointed end. Use
the pliers to make a loop big enough for your
finger at the other end. Now set the picture wire
on the right angle bend with the point towards the
wall, and hold up the picture with your finger in
the loop and the other hand supporting the bottom
of the frame. The loop should stick out from the
top of the picture. When the picture is centered
and straight, press gently to the wall. The pointed
end will leave a mark in the wall where the nail
will go. Remember: if you're using hooks, the mark
shows where the bottom of the hook goes (not where
the screw is screwed in).
 Install hooks, nails
or screws
For light to medium weight pictures:
- Buy some picture hooks at your local
hardware or craft store. Hooks come in
packages with small nails made for them. Place
the hook to the wall so that the bottom of the
hook is at the mark you made for the wire. Above
the hook thereís a slot for the nail that
should be directly above the mark. Hold the hook
and nail steady with one hand and use a hammer
to get the nail started. Be careful not to let
the nail slip down at first. This may hang the
picture lower than you want it. Once you have
the nail established, drive it in.
- If you do not have any picture hooks,
then medium-gauge nails will work fine. For
lightweight pictures such as framed documents
use a one inch finishing nail. Put a small piece
of tape over the spot where the nail will go.
This helps protect the wall plaster from
cracking. Drive the nail downwards in at a 45
degree angle. The angle is critical to
ensuring the picture will stay on the wall.
For heavy pictures:
- For pictures weighing 10 pounds or more,
use nails instead of hooks. If the room is
constructed with framed drywall, center
your picture along a wall stud. Unsupported
nails can be ripped out of drywall by the weight
of the picture alone. To support the picture's
weight evenly, use two or more nails evenly
spaced from the center and level to each other.
For very heavy pictures where wall studs are
inconvenient, use wall screws with anchor
bolts. These hold the wall together while
supporting the weight of your picture. They can be
found at most hardware stores, and have
instructions printed on the package. Most require
you to drill a hole in the drywall just large
enough to allow the anchor bolt to slip through
(usually 1/4 inch). Once the anchor bolt is in
place, tighten the screw clockwise to secure it
snugly against the back of the wall.
 Hang the picture
Your picture should now be ready for
installation.
- Pick it up carefully by the sides of the picture frame,
and check to see that the wire hangs outward, looped toward the
wall. Put the picture up higher than it will go, and then let
it down gently until the hook or nail catches the loop
of wire. Adjust the picture slightly until it comes to rest evenly
on the hook. The wire should be centered as much as possible and
the picture should hang straight down.
- You may want to use a level on the top of the frame as
a guide, or look at where the wall meets the ceiling and bring
the top frame parallel to it. Be sure the sides hang straight
up and down, too. Some ceilings may be crooked.
- Not straight? Pictures can be adjusted up and down by
tightening or loosening the wire (now aren't you glad you left
extra wire?). Slides at the back of metal frames make this easy.
Adjusting pictures side to side is more difficult. Use a second
nail level with the first, driven into the wall at twice the distance
you want to move the picture. The center of the picture hanging
on both nails will be dead center between the two. If this changes
the vertical alignment, you may need to adjust the slack of the
wire once more.
As a last resort you may have to remove the
nail and hammer it in again (no one should expect
to be perfect the first time out). The good
news is that the new place for the nail is exactly
the same distance in the same direction that the
picture needs to go. For example, if the picture
needs to go 1/4 inch up and 1/2 inch to the right,
then measure exactly 1/4 inch up and 1/2 inch to
the right from the first nail hole, and try again.
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