4 Wall Hanging Myths We Are Delighted to Have Busted – Architectural Digest

When it comes to installing a wall hangingbe it a work of art, a shower curtain bar, a knife grabber, or a big, heavy mirrorthere are so many unspoken rules around what will hold and what won't that it can be intimidating to even move forward. (Pan right to the pile of artwork that's been waiting patiently to be hung on your walls for over a year. Now cue the violins!) Very real dark thoughts might bubble up: Is it safe to mount things on brick walls? Or possible to drill through ceramic tile? What kind of weight can my plaster walls bear!? We decided to settle some of these eternally prohibitive questions by calling on a bevy of experts to very kindly bust some age-old wall hanging myths. So maybe this weekend you'll actually hang all those things? We hope so.

It's easy to get caught up worrying if the mortar will crumble away and send your artwork smashing to the floor, but that's unlikely. "Drilling into and anchoring into brick or grout (which is cementitious) is more sturdy than drywallit's much thicker and stronger," explains Edmond Caputo, an expert in art installation and handling who consults for interior designers and gallerists. Note, however, that grout is much easier to patch than brick. "Drilling and mounting into the grout is usually for the purpose of preserving the face of the brick (depending on its condition)," he says. "It's easier to fill in and patch the (typically gray) grout once something gets removed than to try and patch a red brick and make it flawless again."

Art hangs on the walls of this 17th-century convent annex in Valencia that houses David Lladr's apartment (with no fear of it crashing down).

Oberto Gili

To drill into grout, Caputo recommends a 1/8-inch Bosch masonry bit followed by "a drywall screw of the same thickness or just slightly thicker so it bites well into the grout." Use a lead anchor or masonry sleeve if you're going to drill directly into brick.

While you can certainly go the easy route here by using sticky hooks (like the ones Command makes, some of which are even humidity-resistant), "for anything with weight, youre going to have to drill into the tile wall," says Katie Battaglia, design director at Nemo Tile+Stone. Equip yourself with a diamond-head drill bit, "measure three times, and then drill" (lest you get it wrong). For something especially heavy, like a wall-hung vanity, she recommends positioning a layer or two of plywall between the piece you're hanging and the tile wall before drillingthis will help the wall bear the weight of the piece. "If you just go through the tile, the tiles not going to hold and itll pop off," she explains. So don't do that.

A mirror hangs on the mosaic-tiled wall of this Manhattan bathroom by Drake Design Associates.

William Waldron

Before drilling through the tile itself, make sure they're not made of glass, which is usually tempered. "If you were to cut into tempered glass its going to shatter," Battaglia says. "Thats what its built to do; its in essence a safety glass." Ceramic or terra cotta tiles are fine to drill through, though, if you don't mind putting a hole in one foreverjust spritz them wet while you're drilling (you might want a friend's help) to help prevent cracking.

"Drywall is softer to drive a nail or screw into, but plaster can range in hardness from super stubborn to butterlike," Caputo explains. "Some plaster will be very brittle and break off into pieces if you try and drill or drive anything into it without patience." To counter these many variables, he recommends using skinny nails such as finishing brads (or those tiny ones that come with hanging kits) when hanging a piece on a plaster wall: "Slowly, steadily drive the nail as if you're tapping it into place. Sometimes this works, and sometimes you've got to repeat the method many times, as the nails will give out and begin to bend, becoming useless. Pull it out, get a fresh nail, continue to slowly drive it into the plastered wall. You can also use a masonry bit to tap into a plaster wall as well, then use a drywall screw to hang the painting from." If you're nervous anyhow, he recommends the tug test: "It never hurts to give a tug to make sure whatever you've nailed or anchored feels solid." If it isn't, you'll want to drill into a stud instead.

Even large artworks can safely hang on plaster or drywall (see: Basquiet's Trumpet on display in Steve Tisch's Beverly Hills living room).

Roger Davies

"Ideally you'd like to hang anything heavy by hitting a stud behind the drywallbut it's not absolutely necessary for the majority of paintings and pictures most homeowners own," Caputo says (and, yes, that means your standard drawing or painting or DIY artwork, freshly home from the framer, can go right up without bothering to break out a studfinder). "Once you start getting into works that are in the 150-pound range, you should try to hit a stud and/or just hire a professional for the job because of inherent risks to yourself and the artwork," he says. Do this also if your tug test (see myth #2) fails, meaning your drywall or plaster and lath walls are too thin.

If you can't lift the heavy antique mirror yourself, hire a professional (and be sure he or she finds the stud!).

Pascal Chevallier

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4 Wall Hanging Myths We Are Delighted to Have Busted - Architectural Digest