Do you want to decorate your home or office walls with some new art? Are you looking for a way to do this without having to hammer nails and hooks into the walls? If so, it may be time to consider adding picture hanging rails.
In addition to adding a temporary wall or two to open plan office spaces, many business owners also make use of professional hanging rails to secure everything from artwork to monitors. The good news is that these picture railings can also be used in your home. This post takes a closer look at picture hanging rails, as well as the benefits of using them.
Understanding What Picture Hanging Rails Are
We’ve all been there. And by there, we mean trying to hammer a nail into the wall and balancing a new picture frame or painting to get it to lie just right. If at some point you change your mind about where you want the frame or artwork to hang, you’re left with an unsightly hole in the wall. You can avoid this by investing in a picture hanging rail system.
Essentially, picture hanging rails can be defined as a system that’s made up of rails, hooks, and cords to hang pictures and a host of other items on the walls. Using this method eliminates the need to place traditional nails, hooks, or screws into the wall. This not only preserves your wall but also makes it quick and easy to change the layout of your wall.
The picture hanging rail system is typically made up of the following components:
- Rail: Made up as a horizontal bar that gets installed near the ceiling. This bar serves as the holding rack on which you’re going to be moving the cords and hooks.
- Hooks: A series of hooks is attached to the cords and then latches onto the back of the pictures. These hooks can slide along the rail, which allows you to choose and adjust the placement of your artwork, pictures, or photos.
- Cords: A choice between steel or nylon is made to hang from the hooks and attach to the frames. Cord types are chosen based on the weight of the item to be hung. They can also be adjusted to hang in varying lengths. This offers significantly more height flexibility.
Many Benefits to Look Forward to
There are many benefits to adding picture hanging rails to your home or office walls. We’ve compiled a few of the more noteworthy ones to consider.
Ensures Damage-Free Walls
As we’ve already mentioned, traditional methods for hanging pictures can cause significant damage to walls. No matter how carefully you place these nails, screws, or hooks into the wall, cracks and unsightly holes can form over time. In more severe cases, heavy hammering can lead to structural damage. Opting for picture hanging rails eliminates this, as the pictures, mirrors, and frames are hanging from the bar, and not directly into the wall.
Excellent Load-Bearing Capacity
Some items that you want to hang on your walls can be quite heavy. Fortunately, the picture hanging rails have been designed to hold a considerable amount of weight. This means that you can easily hang decorative panels or mirrors without worrying about them falling off the nails and damaging the walls or the item.
Easily Adaptable to Various Wall Spaces
Have you ever wanted to hang your favourite photos or artwork on the wall of your staircase, but you’re not keen on balancing on the stairs to do it? Luckily, picture hanging rails can easily be adapted to suit any space.
This includes awkwardly shaped walls, high ceilings, staircases, or even unusual architectural spaces. Since these picture hanging systems work equally well in both commercial and residential settings, which means you can use them anywhere.
Easy to Install
When opting for a picture hanging rail system, there will also be no struggling to get anything installed. This is because the process is reasonably straightforward and involves getting the rails in place and then positioning and adjusting your artwork as you want.
The picture hanging rail system also eliminates having to patch or repaint fixed or temporary walls every time your artwork’s layout changes. A system this simple is ideal for galleries, museums, or other professional spaces where layouts may constantly change. It’s also the simplest way to ensure that your artwork is uniform.
Final Thoughts
If you’re not keen on hammering nails into your freshly painted wall or temporary wall, the good news is that you can avoid this arduous task altogether without ditching your artwork. Opting for a professional picture hanging system is the ultimate way to create a professional aesthetic without damaging your wall.
These systems have been specially designed to be flexible and versatile and can also hold considerably heavy items such as mirrors. Investing in a few picture hanging systems will have your artwork or frames stylishly displayed in no time!
Lynn Martelli is an editor at Readability. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University and has worked as an editor for over 10 years. Lynn has edited a wide variety of books, including fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, and more. In her free time, Lynn enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with her family and friends.
