How to Hang Wall Art – Part 2

In the previous article you received some tips on hanging artwork when you move into an apartment. When you’re moving out of an apartment, you may find a few holes in the walls behind the artwork and family photos you’ve had hanging up that need to be taken care of. Depending on your lease, those little holes can have some consequences. Some landlords request that you don’t use nails or other methods of hanging artwork that leave holes at all, while others ask you to just make sure there are no holes when you finish moving out. It is possible to patch those holes and take care of them before your landlord ever sees them.

In most apartments, you’re likely to be dealing with sheetrock walls. Pablo Solomon, an artist with more than 40 years of experience, has hung plenty of art on his walls and helped clients do the same. He shared his tips for eliminating holes when taking down artwork. Pablo says, “Nail holes are so small that you only need a small tube of either acrylic caulk or sheetrock compound and just use enough to fill the hole ― usually about as much as a pea. You may need to match the wall color. If you do not have the official color, you can get a set of acrylic paints at an art store for under $10 and match any color under the sun ― and you will still have lots of paint to play with.”

If you can closely match the color of the paint on your walls, your landlord may not even notice that you ever hung up a picture. If your landlord uses a specific color of paint for all their units, matching it may be more difficult. Pablo suggests simply asking if your landlord has a little extra paint so that you can make sure that everything looks good when you move out.

Pablo noted that landlords can be different in their reactions to a few nail holes. Many assume that they’ll need to repaint an apartment in between tenants no matter what, while others can be a little crazy about just a single hole. Pablo offered a suggestion that may take some planning ahead but can make handling the second type of landlord easier: “Take photos of the wall before you hang a painting and after you fix the holes before you move.” This will allow you to demonstrate the state of the walls before and after you hung artwork, and make sure that you won’t have a big problem.