How to: Arrange and Hang Picture Frames Using Butcher Paper Jessica's February Jumpstart Project 2009

How to: Arrange and Hang Picture Frames Using Butcher Paper
Jessica's February Jumpstart Project 2009

Here's a tip from one our readers about how to hang an arrangement of picture frames without resorting to using tape, ruler or level:

The other day I was trying to hang an arrangement of nine picture frames on a wall in my new house. I am allergic to using a measuring tape or ruler for some reason (too much hassle). However, the last time I'd hung this particular group of pictures I'd had them perfectly arranged on the floor- and then once I tried to transfer them to the wall I couldn't maintain the spacing, and the arrangement looked awful. I ended up poking about 800 holes in the wall just to make it look decent (not a good thing for a renter)...

This time around, I had an "a-ha!" moment- I tore off a big piece of butcher paper, arranged the pictures on the floor on top of it, and then traced around the frames once I'd found the arrangement I liked. I removed the frames from the paper, marked approximately how far down the nail should be, and then taped the paper onto the wall. I hammered the nails in through the paper, took the paper down, hung the frames... and they looked PERFECT. I was thrilled, and thought that if I could save just one person from having to pick up his or her measuring tape, and having to make a million pencil marks on the wall itself, it would be worth writing in to AT.

Thanks Emily for writing in your useful tip. If you've got a useful tip you'd like to share, please contact us (preferably with an image or two).

[Top photo: Danny Seo who also mentions wholesale butcher paper suppliers]

Comments (16)

Emily, that's brilliant! Thank you.

posted by AlmostAD on March 3rd 2009 at 9:51pm
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Ditto!
(Hold on a sec--I need to go straighten those tilted photos in the top right photo...)

posted by pammyfay on March 3rd 2009 at 10:45pm
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how do you make those blueprints?

also, great idea. thanks.

posted by thepictures on March 3rd 2009 at 11:32pm
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What a truly brilliant idea! Thanks so much for sharing it with us.

posted by sarahrae on March 4th 2009 at 12:24am
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WOW!!! I suck so bad at hanging pics I have to HIRE someone to do it properly (not that that is such a bad thing, I appreciate a job well done)... but...

WELL DONE!!!! Thank you SO much for the amazing "a-ha!" I think I might be able to do it myself this way.

posted by VeryDelishVeg on March 4th 2009 at 12:28am
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That's brilliant- thanks for sharing! I have a grouping that I've put off putting up because I can never get them the way I want them without 500 holes in the wall...

posted by SeattleMama on March 4th 2009 at 1:19am
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I've tried this before -- it works great!

Some frame sets are packaged with a paper that you can use already marked out for where you need to nail, which is super convenient.

posted by Geno B. on March 4th 2009 at 5:55am
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Genius!

posted by idontdobeige on March 4th 2009 at 6:42am
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No tracing, no butcher paper, no guessing where the nail goes..

It's one of those things I own, and always say to myself while I'm using it "Now why the heck didn't I think of this?"

http://www.utrdecorating.com/about_hang_and_level.php

It's only $20 CAD, and will save you time, money and grief in the long run. Imagine, a wall that doesn't look like swiss cheese!

posted by marc from vancouver on March 4th 2009 at 9:22am
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marc from vancouver... thanks! This is brilliant! THIS (not the butcher paper suggestion) is what really solves the problem...

The butcher paper is a great tool for helping to place and assemble a group of images. But it does NOT help with the problem of where to put the nail/hook when you have wire-hung images. Marc's tool addresses this issue. Thanks again!

posted by arroyo on March 4th 2009 at 11:28am
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I can't remember what show on HGTV I saw do this last week but I made a mental note of it for when it comes time for me to put up a grouping in my Living Room. Thanks for sharing your tip b/c a lot of people had obviously never heard it before!

And I think I'll also pick up that picture hanger thingy Marc linked to above ... it's so handy!

posted by nerdnik on March 4th 2009 at 11:54am
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Newspaper works just fine too.

posted by AngelaPeregrina on March 4th 2009 at 2:09pm
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Fantastic idea. So now, where do I get one of those great rolls of brown butcher paper? I feel like I would use it for everything if I could just get my hands on some...

posted by kkf on March 4th 2009 at 3:58pm
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@kkf:
I used to buy Red Rosin paper from Home Depot a few years ago for about $7/roll. It's much cheaper than rolls of brown kraft paper from art stores.

posted by lalonde44 on March 4th 2009 at 4:53pm
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Thanx for sharing this practical idea. This could come in handy in hanging multiple anythings on a wall.

Newspaper sounds great, too.

posted by SillyBug on March 10th 2009 at 8:26am
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I've used the butcher paper idea several times and it works wonderfully every time!

posted by jennipearl on August 12th 2009 at 8:19am
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