Stylist Trick: 3M Picture Hanging Strips
A couple of weeks ago, I was in Los Angeles working on an Instyle home makeover story (it’ll be in their April issue…so be on the lookout for it!) and fell in love with a new must-have tool for my styling arsenal: 3M Command picture hanging strips.
For celebrity homes (or actually, any home for that matter that isn’t mine), you can’t just waltz in and start hammering nails into the wall to hang up artwork for the photo shoots. Usually in photo shoots, you have to hang artwork that works for the camera’s angle, not for what looks good in real life. In other words: artwork is often hung VERY low or VERY high, just so it looks JUST RIGHT in the 2-D photo. Weird, I know… but it is what it is.
These 3M strips are amazing. (By the way, I’m not being paid to endorse these or anything… but that said, I’m not against whoever monitors the Google Alerts for “3M Rabid Fan” to send me a few of these strips for free.). You tear them apart and one sticky side goes on the back of the artwork and the other strip goes onto the wall. It holds securely with no nails, no nothing… and if you want to remove it, the sticky strip removes without leaving a mark.
You need about four strips to hang a 5 pound piece of artwork. Two strips for each side.
Press the velcro-y sides together. The plastic teeth grip onto each other very securely. It makes a clicking sound to let you know it’s secure.
Press each strip onto the back of the artwork. I use my fingers to press it against the back for about 30 seconds to make sure it’s on nice and securely.
Remove the two waxy strips on the upper 3m command strips, and just press the artwork into place on the wall wherever you want it. Then press the artwork firmly against the wall for about 30 seconds….let go… and it’s securely on the wall and going no where. When you want to take it down, wiggle it so the top strip unvelcros off the other strip and just pull and the whole thing comes off the wall just like that.
Sure, some of you might be like “how is this green.” And, frankly, this post is really more of a stylist insider trick/secret if anything else. But I guess if I had to find a green angle, I’d say this: I don’t have to patch holes with putty, sand them down and paint it to match. And to me, that’s enough to bow down to whoever invented these strips.
I am not sure if it sounds secure to me. but this is something one must try at least once. I want it, I hope it’s available in India. If not, then “Something” like this would do too….:)
i love those! i have plaster and lathe walls, so putting a hole into them is like drilling a hole into concrete, a big giant pain in the butt! pretty much everything hung up in my house is using those 3M strips. those 3M people are smart cookies!
oh those are my best friends at the office
There’s a Command strip for almost everything. We couldn’t have decorated for Christmas without them! Trust me – these things do what they say they’ll do.
I’ve used these strips, and I LOVE them! I rent, so most landlords don’t want you putting nails in the walls, so these things are MADE for folks who rent! The best part is if you want to show someone a picture, but don’t necessarily want them wandering your home,.you can just pull it off the wall. Rearranging pictures is a snap as well. And along with picture hanging strips, they also make hooks of various sizes with the same backing! Hang coffee mugs, kitchen utensils, etc., and they work the same as the picture hooks!
I LOVE them, I have some pictures in a wall with these strips and others with nails, all the ones with nails have fall when you pass too close, but the ones with strips are secure to the wall!
I discovered them a few years ago and they are know in my shopping list!