Heavy Primitive Wall Decor Tricks

I stopped in on my friend (and former decorating client) Susan last week since I was in the neighbourhood. She loves primitive country decor but she’s a bit eclectic in her style. She likes the old farmhouse feel - old barn windows refinished with a crackle paint and a new mirror tucked in behind, small (but heavy) cast iron gates and bed rails hanging in the sunroom for her vines.

Now although her house is gorgeous and everyone feels right at home the moment they enter, I get a little nervous when I see such heavy items hanging. We talked about this and then I decided to share some thoughts with you here.

First and foremost I won’t attempt to explain a process that could steer you wrong if you just visited the average hardware store. The wall decor I’m talking about here are 25-30+ pounds and they’re being hung on standard drywall or panelled interior walls.

To ensure your satisfaction, the integrity of the wall, and the safety of your home visitors, you don’t want to take any chances with hanging these items correctly.

With a little investigation and market research I happened upon a site that I feel very confident in sending you to for excellent products and service. These guys can handle any picture hanging job (and do it right), but they also supply the best mounting hardware for cabinets, shelves and more.

The goal is to hang pictures so that they’re level and secure. Tips that even an old expert like me picked up from my contact with the owner of the store.

The safest, most innovative way to hang unique primitive wall decor items to standard walls - interlocking brackets.

You’re probably accustomed to sawtooth hangers. This has always been my hanger of choice as it makes easy work of hanging pictures without too much fuss. However, far too often I have had to remove or adjust the sawtooth by a fraction of an inch to achieve that level state. Plus, with the larger items the ‘hang’ is only as strong as the nail going into the wall.

Interlocking brackets do not use picture hooks or wire so once your ‘art’ is on the wall and level it stays on the wall and level. One bracket gets mounted on the frame and one on the wall - then the frame bracket fits easily onto the wall bracket.

It’s a 2 step process:

1. Install the frame bracket by centering it on the top back rail. The lip of this bracket will slide under the lip of the frame. Nail the bracket in place with nails provided.
2. Install the wall bracket onto the wall with anchors or screw directly into your wall studs. Do not use nails.

The place to get these is the Hangman Store.

If you’re wondering why I suggest this store above all others, here are my answers. The Hangman System, comes with a level embedded into the wall bracket - there is no guesswork if your picture will hang straight or not!

You can see a picture of the system here - >level wall decor, 25-35 pounds. If you need something stronger or larger, the site is very easy to navigate and if you’re really stuck you’ll find a “Send Us Feedback” link at the bottom of every page. (Yes, they really answer their emails!)

I’ll talk to you again in a few days time.