A Girls Guide to Hanging Sh*t on the walls.

Running an all female studio, it has come to my attention that I have become the one who hangs all of the shelving, artwork, mirrors, plaques, wall décor, etc. When I explain the process of how to install an anchor and screw, the girls tend to stand there with their eyes glazed over. I’m hoping this simple, straight forward tutorial will help some people be independent when it comes to hanging stuff places instead of waiting for someone to do it for them. *cough*

What you’ll need to be a wall-thing-hanging master pro in no time:
– Masking Tape
– Marker or pen
– A level
– Screwdriver (Philips – the lil’ star boy one. Or whatever one matches the screws you’re using. Robertson is the square-head one and then there’s the flathead. Pretty straight forward.)
– If ya extra fancy, a drill. AKA time & wrist saver.
– Hammer
– Appropriate screws that fit your shelf properly (Make sure the screw head fits in the shelf drop-lock groove if it has one.)
– Anchors that go with said screws. Hold the screw next to the anchor to make sure it’s a good size, not too big and not too small.
– A can do attitude
– This tutorial.

Now you’re all ready to slay the act of mounting. …stuff onto walls.

1. First, you want to figure out what you’re hanging and where you want it. For this tutorial, let’s just say you’re hanging a small floating shelf.

2. To measure and make sure holes line up, I use a strip of masking tape. I lay it across the back of the shelf and I either poke holes in it where the holes are in the shelf or I use a pen/marker to mark them.

3. I lay the strip of tape across the wall and use the level to make sure it’s straight. Masking tape and painters tape aren’t that adhesive so they’re pretty easy to adjust on the wall to ensure it’s levelled.

4. Determine if any of the holes line up with studs (wooden 2×4 beams in the walls.) Studs are more sturdy, bear more weight and don’t require anchors to be used. Anchors essentially mock a stud – each anchor is different and can hold different weight loads. The bigger and heavier your shelf and the heavier items you anticipate it to hold – the bigger the anchor you’ll need, as well as screw. You can use a stud finder to see where the studs are or you can knock against the wall and hear the less-hollow sounding area. The first part might be easier, however.

5. Once you have the tape on the wall at the proper height and level and determined if you need to use an anchor or not – its time to just drill holes in the wall. If there is a stud, just screw the screw directly into the wall – no pre-drilling or anchors necessary. If you’re using a screwdriver and there’s no stud – just screw the screw into the wall, unscrew it and remove it then put the anchor in the hole you made and gently tap it into the hole until the opening is basically flush with the wall. If you’re using a drill, just select the drill bit size that is closest to size of anchor and line your drill bit tip up with the dot you marked on the tape. Pull the trigger and bam! You has a hole. Again, stick base of anchor into hole and tap tap tap it snug into place. Put a screw in and screw it in almost all the way in, leaving about 2-3 mm sticking out for shelf to grab on to. Just go ham and own it.

6. If you correctly followed steps 1-5, congrats. You successfully installed 2 sturdy screws and are now ready for phase 2. Well, remove the remaining masking tape from wall first if there is any.

7. “Phase 2” Line holes up on back of shelf with the fancy screws that you yourself, independently installed, until the shelf pushes flush against the wall, then slide shelf down to lock them in place.

8. Holy crap, look at you go. You put that handsome piece of decorative and functional furniture on the wall ALL BY YOUR OWNSOME. Now put stuff on it and carry on to hang more household items. Hang your whisk, hang your shirts, hell – hang your college degree. Your house is your oyster. A sturdily, well decorated oyster.

Xo