Hanging Wall Decor and Organizers
Without Making Pesky Holes
Do you ever run into those certain types of wall decor or organizers that just can’t be hung with Command Strips? Wether it’s due to the fact you can’t remove any of the hanging hardware on it, or there is just small holes for screws to fit into designed right into the decor item. There has to be a work around if you don’t want to put holes all over you walls right?
As I am slowly organizing my new crafting space I keep running into this problem. My husband and I moved roughly a year ago for his job and the home we purchased had a small bedroom that I am currently turning into my craft room. Problem is there was so much work that went into fixing all the walls and I know that I’m going to be moving things around as I go that I didn’t want to put hundreds of holes into the walls to hang decor, whiteboards and organizers. Ok, so I might have exaggerated the amount of holes a bit, but when you are filling them all and patch painting it feels like it’s that many.
I did successfully hang a majority of my items with 3M Command Strips. I prefer to use the velcro style. One side sticks directly onto your item and the other sticks to the wall. The velcro allows you to remove the item from the wall if needed and reattached back to the wall with a little push. There are multiple different sizes to hold different weights. They are super easy to work with, but there is a cost to these so going in with a bit of a game plan of where you want things is recommended. Of course when your inspiration changes or new items need to be hung, it’s easily changed with no damage to the walls. Which always calls for a little happy dance!
With a majority of the decor hung with command strips easily, I just had two items that required putting holes in the wall, that is until I created a little workaround.
The first was a metal sign that had the hardware welded onto it and the second was a wire wall organizer that had little slots for the screws to slide into.
For the workaround I ended up using some scrap wood I had laying around. It actually was a thin piece of pressed wood that had been removed from an antique dresser drawer that I refurbished into a vanity. Times like this is when I remind myself that it’s a good thing that I throw nothing away.
For this project these are the items needed:
• Decor item(s) with pesky hangers
• 3M Command Strips (I used the velcro type)
• Thinner Piece of Wood (great time to use any scraps laying around)
• Measuring tape
• Pencil & Eraser (prefer so I can erase any markings on the wall)
• Level
• Screws (I used 1/4″ length)
• Drill & Drill bit (just smaller in size than screws)
• Screw Driver/Impact Driver
• Saw/Table Saw (tool to cut wood to size)
• Paint *optional
• Paint Brushes *optional
• Hairdryer *optional (to help any paint dry faster)
Breaking it down these are the steps I did to hang these two items with Command Strips.
1. Measure the width of each wall hanging and cut the piece of scrap wood to that width. The length of the board needs to be long enough for the size of command strip you are using. For a lighter weight they are shorter and lengthen as the weight increases.
For the width I cut mine just under the full length of the decor items so it wouldn’t stick out past the edge. If you do this, keep in mind where the hangers are on your decor piece. You don’t want your screws to be placed too close to the edge so they don’t anchor properly into the wood.
2. If you are wanting to paint the wood piece for it to blend in better with the wall or the decor item, this is a great time to do that.
Personally I liked the look of the contrasting wood tone with the wire organizer and the other metal sign I didn’t think I would really notice it to much from the side. Not enough to bug me at least, so I omitted this step.
3. Lay the decor item down and line up the wood piece, use your pencil to mark the area where the hangers are. This is where we need to put the screws for the decor item to hang on.
4. Pre-drill a hole where the screw is going to be placed. This will help so when you attach the screw it doesn’t force the wood out and splinter. As you can see in the picture I forgot to do this at first. Oops!
As a helpful guide for myself, I measure the depth of the wood and place a piece of painters tape just shorter than that depth. I do this so when I’m all excited about drilling I don’t drill through the wood and into the surface I’m working on.
5. On the back of the wood piece, stick the amount of recommended Command Strips as suggest on the packaging.
*Note my scrap wood was a little short for the larger Command Strips, so I ended up just snipping of the very tip of the pull tab part of the strips so that they wouldn’t be sticking out. If this should happen to you, just make sure you don’t take too much of the pull tab section off, there needs to be enough left to properly pull when the time comes to remove.
6. With your screw driver or impact driver, place screws into pre-drilled holes. Making sure the screw doesn’t go through the piece of wood and there is enough sticking out on the front side for the decor item to be hung on or attached to.
7. For any screws that might be able to be seen, you can put a little craft paint with colour of your choice. It will require a couple layers, but luckily craft paint dries fast. If you are impatient like me, you can always you a hair drier to help things along. Just keep in mind the first layer always goes on thin and is harder to get it to stick to the metal. The second layer goes on easily and has great coverage.
8. Time to test out that piece. Hang your decor item onto the set screws. Everything lines up and fits? If not resetting the screw in the right spot is easily done and a quick touch up paint on the screw might be needed.
9. Find the spot of the wall and the height for the decor item to be hung. Use your pencil to mark the height and if the item is being centred on the wall measure and mark that as well.
10. Measure the centre of the board and mark it, that is what is going to line up with the mark on the wall.
11. Peel off the backs of the Command Strips, rest your level on top the wood piece. Match up the marking on the wall with the centre marking on the wood. Once found, make sure the wood piece is level and then press onto the wall firmly.
12. After waiting the allotted time noted in the directions on the box of command strips then hang your decor item.
Again I am extremely impatient and hung my items up right away, both weren’t very heavy so I felt ok doing it. Do keep in mind that it is possible that the Command Strips are not fully set and could pull off the wall, taking some paint with it. Yes, this has happened to me in the past, you’d think I’d learn right!?
What I love about this workaround is that I might have to reset the screws in the future but other decor items could easily be hung on these wood pieces. Making it extremely interchangeable and less Command Strips needed. Woohoo!
With that project done, do a little happy dance. Look what you just created. High-fives all around no holes in the wall baby!
Until next time,
Create, Smile and Radiate!