Best way to hang things on walls without holes?

February 22, 2024 10:44 AM

I have some wall mirrors and framed pictures I would like to hang without poking nails into the walls. I've hung posters and stuff with 3M strips before but these would be too heavy. I feel like there must be a simple solution out there I'm not thinking of so please enlighten me!
posted by madonna of the unloved to Grab Bag (11 answers total)

(Watching this thread, as a framed print of mine that was hung with 3M Command Strips fell down last weekend and cracked the frame at three corners.)
posted by wenestvedt at 10:53 AM on February 22

Sometimes if an item is too heavy for two short strips, you can use several strips together to hang up a bar as a French cleat or a rail.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:54 AM on February 22 [1 favorite]

There are rails that will do this but those need to be screwed into the wall so wouldn't work. Using a similar concept I think you could make some kind of structure that went around the sides and top of your wall and then drop hooks on steel wire from that. The mirrors and framed pictures would then be hanging off the hooks. Maybe vertical tension rods could be used for the sides.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:02 AM on February 22

I used to be a custom framer and Command Strips sometimes saved our month's profit, in the sense that "They said 20 lbs on the package! But it fell down and broke" resulted in a lot of sales for us. They are particularly bad if you have any humidity whatsoever in your environment.

My advice is:

1) Make a few holes in the wall but make them good ones with wall anchors maybe done by a pro-- add picture molding or a hanging system so you can hang the rest of your things via molding hook or cable.

2) If you really really can't make any holes at all, get easels, or bookshelves that go halfway up and prop the pictures on those. If you have high ceilings and want more stuff up high, use the Command Strips for light things that don't matter if they fall (textiles, light macrame, posters, etc.)

If it's a landlord issue, bear in mind that in many places, pinholes and nail holes are "normal wear and tear" and you can get your deposit back on that basis.
posted by blnkfrnk at 11:17 AM on February 22 [7 favorites]

Command strips dry out. Don't use for anything of value.
posted by H21 at 11:22 AM on February 22 [1 favorite]

I've used multiple sets of Command strips (two on each side, and one or two at the top) for items up to about 10 lbs; they work much better if you clean the wall with some alcohol before you put them up. Once you're past about 10 lbs, or if your walls have a lot of texture, the sticky solutions aren't workable. I definitely wouldn't hang a mirror or anything breakable that way.

If you're lucky enough to have picture rail molding, or can convince your landlord to put some in, picture rail hangers are the best. If not, you could try them with a tension rod in a nook, or a curtain rod near the ceiling where holes aren't as obvious.

If you're open to minimal holes in the wall, I've had good experiences with 3M's Wall Claw hangers and these "gorilla hook" picture hangers for heavy items.
posted by fifthpocket at 11:35 AM on February 22 [1 favorite]

Seconding wall claw, if that would be acceptable.
posted by Wild_Eep at 12:04 PM on February 22

Wall claws are great, but I’d say they leave only slightly less damage than a regular nail
posted by raccoon409 at 12:13 PM on February 22 [1 favorite]

Lengthy strips of double-sided foam tape will hold flat things on the wall more or less permanently. To remove, use a long length of dental floss behind the object to saw through the foam. Then roll the adhesive off the wall.

Note that when not putting a hole in the wall, you're relying on the adhesive and paint's integrity to keep the item from falling. That's why you want a large surface area of adhesive touching a lot of paint.

Myself, I hang pictures with Picture Pins which leave the tiniest hole but also will hold a decently heavy picture, and if you put two in you're good for almost anything.
posted by seanmpuckett at 1:01 PM on February 22

After having a job cleaning and painting apartments, I will tell you that I hate command strips with the white-hot fury of a thousand suns. When the heavy-duty CS were left on the walls over several summer/winter rotations, they would come off ok and look fine until they were painted, then there would be this nasty blemish in certain lights. I could always patch a nail hole and make it look good, even larger holes left from wall anchors, but the strips were a PITA.

Seconding a rail or a bar or propping up heavy items on a rack of some kind.
posted by BlueHorse at 4:15 PM on February 22 [1 favorite]

If you are in an old house you might be lucky enough to have picture rails already installed. Sometimes they are up high just below the ceiling (full article here) and gets mistaken for just regular molding. And sometimes it's been made inoperative by a ceiling repair that closed the necessary gap.

There are freestanding picture easels, and picture ladders that you can prop up against your wall.

As a former renter and current handy guy and landlord, I would much rather patch nail holes than deal with tape residue or, worse, the paint pulled off, or, much worse, the paper coating of the drywall ripped away because the adhesive was too strong. You don't even need tools to patch a small hole--you can add spackle with your finger and smooth it out with a damp rag once it's dry. A few dabs with a foam brush can mimic the nubbly texture of a paint roller if you're going to touch up the paint.

If you're wary of making holes because you have wallpaper, there's a trick for that.
posted by hydrophonic at 7:21 PM on February 22 [2 favorites]