How To Hang Art For An Extra Luxurious Look

Mar 19, 2024

Curtains and other textiles often provide a cozy softness to any space, even beyond their usual functions of covering windows. Many homeowners and designers are embracing curtains and draping fabric as a design element, where they serve to cover up unsightly things like unused doors or poorly-placed closets, or just a great way to soften and make a room cozier. Interior designer Sarah Gibson recently showed off how she used curtains in her home as an accent to add glamor and luxury above the bed, as well as her great hack for hanging artwork over the curtains. All you need is scrap wood to create blocks, picture-hanging hardware, and other basic hanging tools like levels, screwdrivers, hammers, nails, and sticky tack.

By building out the hanging from the wall itself to safely clear the curtains, this DIY offers a great way to hang artwork even over closed curtains. This is an excellent alternative to other modes of hanging that may be a bit more complicated and less sturdy (like hanging it from a curtain rod with ribbon or mounting it to the ceiling directly.) The effect is polished and layered, creating the effect of a lush canopy bed and adding more dimension to an otherwise neutral decor scheme while still providing much-needed space for art.

A post shared by Sarah Gibson (@roomfortuesday)

After you have measured out the center of your hanging area and where the artwork will be placed, begin by preparing the frame itself. While many frames already come with a wire hanging apparatus on the back, you will want to use metal picture hanging hardware with teeth, which provides a much more secure and controlled attachment to the wall. Determine how much space you will need between the wall and the frame to successfully clear the curtains. With this measurement in mind, create two blocks with scrap wood connected by one longer piece the vertical length of your frame. This piece will sit vertically against the back of your artwork.

Using drywall screws, attach your two wooden blocks to the wall securely, then attach the longer vertical piece between them with screws. Place a hanging nail at the top of your vertical piece, which will be what the toothed hanger on the back of the artwork will rest on. Because this is less stable of a hanging arrangement than resting against a solid wall, use sticky tack to stabilize the bottom of the frame against the vertical support so it does not shift around. Allow the curtains to flow freely behind the hanging apparatus and your art. This works for either opened or closed curtains, though you can also use pins to arrange the curtains as desired behind the artwork if they will always be closed.