Hanging Art From Wire--Can't Have Holes in Wall!?

Question

I live in an old dorm and we're not allowed to put holes in the walls. However, there is a level of crown molding around the tops of the walls with a few inches gap between that and the ceiling. From this the mirror in my room hangs. It hangs from two wires with little clamps on the end to hold onto the mirror. I'm wondering if anyone would know what type of picture hanger this is and where I could buy more for my room. I'd like to hang art, pictures, and possibly a second mirror from the ceilng.

I don't know what type of clips to use or how exactly it is attached to the ceiling. Since the room is old (50 years +) and has paint peeling, I honestly don't care if I have to drill a small hole or two to s***w a hook in to do this. But if someone could put me in the right direction here, I would really appreciate having a beautiful dorm to come home to! :-)

Answer 1

I can't tell whether you mean that the clamps are on the moulding or on the ends of the wire that holds the mirror. Doesn't sound like anything I've seen yet. But I have some other ideas.

You have several choices here. How lucky that you have that moulding. With all the things I'm going to tell you about you'll need to have long enough wire or whatever to hang the stuff at normal height. Depending on the weight, you can use wire, fishing line(experiment with knots first, it can slip, don't buy a really heavy one, it's harder to tie), strong thread or fine strong string.

There is a type of hanger called a picture rail hanger. It simply rests on the picture rail. If the moulding you have is flat on the top, you could use that for pictures. These hangers are decorative, and are a bit pricey but work well, and don't damage anything. If someone jostles the picture, there's a chance it could knock the hanger off the moulding so use those where no one can touch the picture by mistake.

You could use a cornice hook, which is also called an L hook. It's--guess what?--L shaped and has threads on one end. You could s***w one into the wall(find a spot with some wood behind it) just above the moulding, if the moulding is flat on top the hook will rest right on it, no one will ever see the hole. Buy ones long enough so the unthreaded part of the long side is at least as long as the moulding is deep. I'd use those for a mirror since mirrors are heavy.

Next, try barbless fish hooks. Wal-Mart has them. Use barbless because they're safer. You cannot get your finger hooked on them though you can still stab yourself with them. Take the pointy end and press it as hard as you can into the top of the moulding, so that the eye part hangs down. If the wood is really old and hard, this might be difficult to use. Use these only for light things.

If your walls are drywall, you can use dressmaker's pins, the glass headed ones, buy quality ones if you can, to hang light pictures. Push the pins in at a 45 degree angle, make sure the wire rests right against the wall. They'll leave a hole but a very tiny one.

Last but not least, if the moulding is flat on top you can just use a plain old nail, box or common is good. Put it through the wall just above the moulding, doesn't need to go into wood, and it will stay in place because the combination of the hole in the wall and the moulding will hold it.

Answer 2

They have some really cool hangers you can get now that don't use nails, they are tape and when you want to remove it you pull the tab and it comes off clean yet it can hold up to 100lbs. Go to Home Depot they sell them by the other picture hangers. Good luck.

Answer 3

Strangely enough, you can hang some pretty good stuff from sewing needles poked into the walls.  No one would ever see those holes in an old dorm wall.  Of course it would depend on the material of the wall, but give it a try.