By When you start searching for ways to hang your pictures, you are likely going to find people recommending nails, screws, shelves, command strips, wall hooks, saw tooth hangers, and other picture hooks that go directly into your wall. But which is the best option? Which one will best display your art and keep it safe?
Though all of these options are common and work great for some people, we do not recommend any of them as the one of the best picture hanging systems. The reason for this is that though they offer some great cost effective options, they also have a fair few drawbacks.
For example, let’s say that you go with one of the options that nail or screw directly into your wall at a single point. What will happen after you hang your art, you step back and then realize it’s not quite perfect?
Maybe it needed to be another inch or 2 to the left, but now it’s there there isn’t much you can do about it. You could remove it, and then make another hole in the wall but by the time it’s absolutely perfect, your wall may have as many holes as swiss cheese.
On the other hand, how will your picture fare if someone was to knock against it, or if it had to endure an earthquake? Would it fall off? Could the item used to hang your picture damage the art itself? These are important concerns to consider.
Therefore, with these points in mind, what we recommend as the best overall hanging system would be an art rail. These can be fastened against the wall or ceiling and are extremely adjustable making them great for last minute additions or adjustments. They are also extremely strong and are the preferred art hanging solution for many museums and art galleries.
Though we must recognize that there is no perfect system for every situation, the rail systems work well for most applications and have a long-term success rate at hanging and displaying prestigious art pieces.
Using dual cables for each art piece will allow you to keep the art closer to the wall, well stabilized and more resistant to anything that can come its way. Additionally, since the picture is not relying on a single point of support, it can hold much higher weight loads and allows your picture to be located anywhere on the wall.
