Affordable solutions for framing or hanging a poster?

December 5, 2017 12:44 PM

I have a poster that I want to hang, but I want to avoid just tacking it to the wall because that looks crappy. How can I affordably hang it in a nicer way?

The poster is 60x30, so it ain't small. Framing would be well over $150, at best. So let's say I'd like to come in at under a third of that. What solutions do you know that I don't know?

Bonus points if I can get it online quickly, or if it can be done faaaaast!

posted by still bill to Home & Garden (20 answers total)

They sell these poster hangers that are basically long clips that go on the top & bottom edge of the poster. I can find plenty online but none 60" wide. Maybe at a framing shop?
posted by GuyZero at 12:47 PM on December 5, 2017

What solutions do you know that I don't know?

I don't know what you know, but have you searched for "poster hanger clips"?
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 12:47 PM on December 5, 2017

IKEA has a range of poster frames, if there's one near you ( not sure if online is an option, it's not here)
posted by kitten magic at 12:48 PM on December 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

It's not a third, but I just configured a poster frame on American Frame for half that price (using no matting or glazing; just the frame and a mounting board).
posted by primethyme at 12:48 PM on December 5, 2017 [2 favorites]

Mount it on foam core board using spray adhesive, then use Command strips to mount to the wall? You will need a large piece of foam core board, spray adhesive, an X-Acto knife. Art supply stores or even office supply stores should have these.

Makes a nice minimalist display that looks nicer than just sticking it to the wall, and can be done fast and cheap. Only works if you don’t mind permanently sticking the poster to the foam board, though.
posted by snowmentality at 12:51 PM on December 5, 2017 [3 favorites]

IKEA has a range of poster frames, if there's one near you ( not sure if online is an option, it's not here)

I have had problems with their bigger frames with them coming apart. What about using Staples?
posted by Alexandra Kitty at 1:00 PM on December 5, 2017

Response by poster: Update: I don't want to mount it to foam, because I really don't like how foam looks either. I first searched for clips or similar, but came up dry. I did see lots of poster hanging rails, but the only ones I found wide enough were $75, which just seems ridiculous. I've looked at American Frame, but the size is bigger than they appear able to do.
posted by still bill at 1:05 PM on December 5, 2017

Best answer: Maybe this DIY wood frame? (Long story short: Take some strips of wood as long as your poster is wide — most big box home improvement stores will cut wood for you. Paint or stain wood as desired. Sandwich each end of poster between pieces of wood and screw or nail together. Hang with cord. Sort of a wall-scroll-ish type feel. Works if you have the tools to do the painting/staining and screwing/mailing.)
posted by snowmentality at 1:25 PM on December 5, 2017 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks, I didn't find any options big enough on there! I'm worried, though, that a frame with no mat and no glass will look kinda crappy. Anyone taken this approach and had it look good?
posted by still bill at 1:26 PM on December 5, 2017

I bought a 4 x 3 ft engineering print from Parabo and used these magnetic stickers to hang the print. So far they've worked great (and will allow me to easily swap out the print in the future). I'm not sure how thick your poster is, but this may work for you.
posted by MundaneNoodle at 1:26 PM on December 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

You could pretty easily make your own poster rails from something like 1x2 furring strips or molding and XL binder clips (or you could screw or nail the boards together).

I also like the look of hanging posters directly from binder clips - it's not great for the poster, but if the poster isn't extra-special it's not the end of the world.
posted by mskyle at 1:28 PM on December 5, 2017

Swiss clips are an option — you'll need a LOT of nylon cord for something 60" x 30", though (maybe order two kits, they're only ~$10 each). You'll also need foamcore as a backing board for the poster. At that size, I wouldn't recommend glass; the weight of the glass will require a metal or wood frame to support it. But if you just want to get it up on the wall, that'll do the trick, and without glass, you can ignore the 30"x 30" size limitation of the kit in the link (provided you buy enough nylon cord.

You can also buy sticks of molding on their own, and see if you can talk the nice people at the hardware store into cutting them for you. You'll still need foam core backing for the poster, and to nail and glue the molding together.

This place does custom-length aluminum banner hangers.

A framed poster with no mat and no glass won't necessarily look bad, but be aware that without the glass to protect the poster, and the mat to protect the poster from the glass, it'll get dusty, be easily scratched, etc.
posted by culfinglin at 1:37 PM on December 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

You can also trawl thrift stores and garage sales for bigger framed images and even mirrors. If the finish of the frame isn't great, you can buy some (spray) paint and make it your own.
posted by filthy light thief at 2:03 PM on December 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

The 30" hanger here is $33 shipped.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 2:13 PM on December 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

I had a poster mounted by a framer, who added an edging of trim, not an actual frame but thin wooden trim, about .25" x 1.5". It was installed with the thin dimension visible from the front, and the wider dimension created what looked like a frame, although you might prefer a dimension that hangs the poster flatter to the wall. The framer placed the poster in the center of a foam-core board with a border about 2" all around so it looked "matted", but was actually a painted foam-core border edged in painted wooden trim. The edging finished the foam-core edge so it wasn't seen.

This was a large poster and the cost added up to less than $50.00. I expect a handy person would be able to do this, too. An additional benefit to having this firm wooden edging is that the framer was able to glue a dowel to the edging on the back to prevent bowing of the foam-core. My poster is now 25 years old and it still looks perfect.
posted by citygirl at 2:39 PM on December 5, 2017 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I have a very, very large poster (old USGS survey map that's 4-5 ft
Wide) hung like snowmentality links to. They work great, and look pretty fantastic. I didn't use a cord, but mounted it with brackets. Also, I did use foam on the boards, just to get good friction and compression on the poster.
posted by furnace.heart at 2:59 PM on December 5, 2017

Response by poster: I think I'll go with a variation of what snowmentality suggests.

Thanks all!
posted by still bill at 5:37 PM on December 5, 2017

I see you have already marked best answers, but I've had good luck finding frames of various sizes, including large ones, at thrift stores. Just remove whatever crappy "art" is already in the frame.
posted by easy, lucky, free at 10:33 AM on December 6, 2017

Michael's has cheap frames in large sizes, and their framing service is also quite well-priced (although perhaps still out of your budget for this project). Check online & print out a coupon before you go, as they often have major sales.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 3:29 PM on December 6, 2017

I've seen large poster sized photos hung at an art gallery very simply. Put four small steel screws into the wall, flush with the surface near the corners of your poster, then use small rare earth magnets like these over them. It doesn't mar the artwork with holes. Steel thumbtacks would work too.
posted by bonobothegreat at 3:55 PM on December 6, 2017 [1 favorite]