In 2011 I made a piece of art that, to this day, is still my favorite art in the house.
You guys loved the art so much that I started making and selling them out of my garage. It was quite an undertaking! I made probably 40 of them but it was very time consuming so I shut down shop eventually.
Ah, the good ol’ days.
Well, I’m not here to announce a shop re-opening or anything like that, but I am here to announce that I finally hung the original piece in my new house! Hallelujah for getting art on my walls almost a year after moving in.
I hemmed and hawed for months over where to hang it and finally decided on the stair well to the basement. You can see it from the foyer when looking down the stairs, so I get to smile at it daily, and also now my kids and their friends will read it multiple times a day as they head into the basement to play. I feel like it’s a good message, especially for teens when self-esteems can run low and peer pressure can be great.
I never really had a great way to hang it, so for the past 5 years it’s pretty much been balancing on some random nails, but with this higher traffic area I was afraid balancing it on a nail wouldn’t be secure enough. I’d hate for it to fall on someone as they are running down the stairs (it’s kinda heavy). Finally I purchased a Hangman Picture Hanger. They are about ten bucks but worth every penny.
As I went to install my new Hangman I remembered that I didn’t really get my cross board level when created this art. Oops.
Ya, that’s pretty bad. Wow. Okay, so what to do? Well, I need to hang the Hangman level, so here’s how I remedied this situation.
I held the level where I wanted my Hangman to go and drew a level line on the artwork.
Then I just attached the Hangman exactly along that line. Piece o’ cake. Should have done this 5 years ago.
From there it was as simple as installing the other end of the Hangman on the wall, then hanging the art onto the wall. Now it’s super secure!
Because of the thick boards I used on the back of this piece, it hangs away from the wall about 2″. I was worried it would look terrible as you are coming up the stairs, but in the end I think the extra 2″ is negligible.
So glad I’ve finally checked this off the list. I don’t know why I procrastinate things like hanging artwork when in the end it only takes 10 minutes to complete.
Now that I’m on a roll I guess I should go hem the curtains I hung in the piano room a few months ago. 🙂
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Have a wonderful week!
Great idea. Basically it’s a French Cleat. My handyman made a large one from wood to hang my painted shutters on a wall in my last house. They were mutliples so very wide and heavy. Worked like a charm.
I’ looking for hooks to hang very heavy mirrors from Ballards. At one time they sold ‘power hooks’ but I can’t find them now. Any ideas for 3 large, heavy mirrors?
Thanks.
I totally procrastinate on hanging pictures, too! I think it’s because mending the holes is a pain. Not hard or time consuming, though! Ha!
Haha, dangerous, getting on that roll! Never know what will come next! Ugh, thanks for reminding me that I need to get the huge stack of stuff sitting on my bedroom chair HUNG ON MY WALLS. : ) Yours looks superb! Great location!
Way to check some things off of your to-do list. I’m the queen of procrastinating so I understand full-well. I’m currently (going on two weeks now, lol) working on making a framed chalkboard and chalk art on my basement door. The chalk board paint is done because it was easy but the art is prety intricate so I’m back pedalling. Keep inspiring me with your posts and hopefully I’ll get ‘er done!