How to Hang Wood Art on Wall
High quality wooden artwork can add a lot of charm to your home. However, hanging wooden artwork on your wall can be difficult. Even the thought of doing that is enough to give some people a headache.
Hanging wooden art on your wall does not need to be as difficult as you think, if you follow the right steps. In this blog, we have created a guide on how to hang wood art on your wall with ease.
What You Will Need
Before you begin hanging artwork on your wall, you will need the right supplies and tools. You don’t need anything too fancy, unless you are planning to mount a large deer head with antlers.
Normal supplies like nails, screws, a hammer, a drill and a screwdriver should be enough. You will also need a foot stool or a short folding ladder to reach higher to hang the artwork on your wall.
Here is a list of items that you can buy online.
Choose Artwork of a Suitable Size
The most important part of hanging a wooden artwork on your wall is to choose a decorative piece of an appropriate size and weight.
Even if you are experienced in handy work and hanging pictures, a piece of art that is too big or too heavy for the wall is going to look out of place. In the long run, it can also pull out the nail and drop the piece of art on the floor, damaging your wall, floor, and the artwork in question.
You should also aim to find wall hanging art that is not too small for the wall or you will end up with a lot of uncovered area. This can be fixed if you are planning to hang multiple painting and portraits on the wall side by side to create a sort of collage.
Choose An Appropriate Hanging Spot
Make sure that you are choosing the right place to hang the art piece. You will have an easier time if you’re putting the wall art directly behind a piece of large furniture, like a painting over a sofa or a dining table.
Hanging artwork over a piece of furniture gives you some sense of measurement. In general, your piece of furniture, like a sofa set, will be slightly longer than the wall art on either side. This allows you to eyeball the distance from wall to wall to hang the picture at the right place.
In terms of height, people used to hang wooden artwork on the wall at roughly theireye level for best optics. However, someone who is 5’ 2″ will have a very different eye level compared to someone who is 6’ 4″, so it may end up looking awkward.
Finding the Ideal Height for Hanging Nails
The ideal height that will work with most people is 57 inches from the floor, as it is neither too high nor too low. To achieve that height, measure the height of your picture first. Divide this number by 2 to get the center point of your art piece.
Next, measure the distance of the picture’s wire or hook from the top point. Subtract this distance from half of the picture’s height. Add this number to 57 inches. This will give you the point where you should nail the hook to the wall.
For instance, suppose that your art piece is 12 inches tall and the nail hook is 2 inches below the top. You measure the halfway point for the picture, which should come up to 6 inches. Subtract 2 from 6 and add the result 4 to 57. You get 61 inches, and that is the ideal height to hang your art piece on the wall.
Drilling the Hole and Setting up a Screw
Mark the point on the wall and then drill a 1 inch hole. Insert a screw plug into the hole and twist in a 1 ½ inch screw. This should give you ample support to hang a moderate sized picture with frame or an artwork as heavy as 5 to 10 pounds.
If your art piece is much smaller, like a 1×1 foot picture, you can also hang it by hammering in a small, half inch nail into the wall. However, nails are not advised for larger pictures or heavier pieces as they may not bear the weight. On the other hand, using larger nails can damage your wall.
If the artwork is too big or particularly heavy, for instance more than 10 pounds, you may want to drill and screw-in a heavy duty picture hanger. Hold the hanger against the wall and then mark out all the holes for screws. Drill them in, insert screw plugs and then fit the screws.
Hang the Artwork
Once you have the screws or hanger in place, lift up the large picture and hang it on the wall. If it is too high to reach, use a small stool or stepping ladder or ask a tall friend for help.
You have to hang the art piece right from the center of the wire. Take a step back and look at it from a distance of 4 feet away. If it looks tipped to one side adjust with both hands until it looks straight.
Hanging Wooden Art
How you hang wood art on your wall really depends on the backside construction of the artwork. It will either be flat or have a cross-beam frame.
Cross beam artwork is easier to hang on to screws and nails as it has plenty of support. For artwork with a flat wood back, you will have an easier time by adding two cross-pieces of wood to the back of the painting by yourself. You can attach them using wood glue.
Place one of them just above the bottom and the second one slightly beneath the top. This will help you prevent any damage to your work of art.
Our Final Thoughts
In this blog, we offered a short guide on how to hang wood art on the wall, whether it be paintings or a decorative piece. The thing to remember is that you need to pick the right piece of art, a suitable spot on the wall, a supportive hanger and the appropriate tools for the job.
Once you start with careful preparation, the rest of it becomes much easier.