APOPKA, Fla. – Mike in Apopka told us he had three heavy pictures to hang – and he wanted them together, straight, and in a perfect row.
We knew that measuring and hope weren’t enough so we bought three hanging brackets. Why? Because the brackets take a little of the guesswork out of hanging multiple pictures together – they let you slide them right and left (horizontally) even after the pictures are up on the wall!
If you have a project you’d like Erik to tackle, send us an email at GettingResultsAtHome@wkmg.com and next week Erik might just show up at your door!
We purchased:
Hillman 6-in Hanging System 75lb
We brought with us:
Screwdriver
Measuring tape
We recommend:
Electric screwdriver
Step 1
Measure. Find the center of your wall. We had three pictures so we knew we were going to place the the center of the middle picture in the center of the wall. Then work your way outward. We also knew Mike wanted the picture frames 5 inches apart from each other so we laid all 3 frames on the floor 5 inches apart.
Step 2
Install the frame brackets. I should tell you the hanging system we used is ideal if your picture frame is thick. The screws included in the hanging system are around 1 inch long so your frame must be at least 1 inch thick so the screws don’t poke through. Screw the brackets into the back of each frame on top (it’s really easy to get it right - the brackets have labels on them - “frame” and “wall’). It’s ok if the frame brackets aren’t perfectly centered because remember you can slide them left and right later on. But it does matter that the frame brackets are installed vertically – that’s up and down – in exactly the same spot on the backs of the frames! The height of the brackets must be the same because height cannot be adjusted later on.
Step 3
Install the first wall bracket. Start with the middle picture. Hold the middle picture on the wall where you want it to go and then draw a line on the wall at the bottom of the picture. Then place the picture back on the floor, place the wall bracket on top of the frame bracket (which is already mounted to the frame) like it will sit once it’s hung, and measure from the holes on the wall bracket to the bottom of the picture. Now all you have to do is measure up from the line on the wall where the bottom of the picture goes and add in that measurement you just took (so once you stack the brackets together on the back of the frame, if the measurement from the holes on the wall bracket to the bottom of the frame is 36 inches, then measure up 36 inches from that line you drew on the wall – that’s where the wall bracket gets screwed into the wall).
Step 4
Install the wall brackets for the remaining pictures. Make sure all of your pictures are laid out on the floor leaning up against the wall exactly the way they’re going to be hanging on the wall. So, for example, if the pictures will be 5 inches apart from each other, place the pictures on your floor 5 inches apart. That will show you where the remaining wall brackets will go on the wall. You don’t have to worry about getting horizontal (right or left) placement of the wall brackets exact because you can slide the pictures right or left once you get them on the wall – but you DO have to worry about vertical height of all of the wall brackets. All of them must be at the same exact height because you won’t be able to move them up or down after mounting them on the wall!
Step 5
Hang the pictures. Once you get the wall brackets up (all the same height), just hang the pictures and slide them back and forth to make the spacing perfect! A #househack for you – if the height of the pictures isn’t perfect, place a thin piece of cardboard folded over the the brackets of the lowest picture and that will raise it up.
You just got results at home!