How to Hang Wall Art Without the Overwhelm (And the 3 Lessons I Learned the Hard Way)

Have you ever stared at a blank wall, looked at your
artwork, and felt completely paralyzed about where to
start? You are not alone and in this episode I am
sharing exactly what happened when I finally tackled
the 18-month-overdue blank shiplap wall in our living
room.

Spoiler: it did not go perfectly the first time.
But it did get done. And I learned a lot along the way
that I think every busy woman needs to hear.

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IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL HEAR:
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• Why I waited 18 months to hang wall art on our
  shiplap wall (and what finally pushed me to do it)

• The reality check my husband gave me — and why
  he was right (even if the delivery needed work!)

• Why my first attempt completely failed and what
  went wrong with the painters tape method

• How I used ChatGPT to calculate exact wall art
  placement measurements based on decor standards —
  and why this was a total game changer

• My step-by-step process for finally getting the
  art up level, flush, and secure using 3M
  Command strips

• Why hanging wall art on shiplap is trickier than
  a standard wall — and how I worked around not
  being able to drill

• The 3 big takeaways every busy woman needs to
  hear about tackling DIY projects at home


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3 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE:
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1. USE THE TOOLS AVAILABLE TO YOU
You don't need to figure everything out alone.
I used ChatGPT to calculate the exact measurements
for where my wall art should hang based on proper
decor standards — including the height and width
of my wall, the dimensions of the artwork, and the
height of the couch below it. Technology is your
friend when it comes to home DIY. Use it!

2. MISTAKES ARE PART OF THE PROCESS
Getting it wrong the first time doesn't mean you're
not capable — it means you're learning. My painters
tape method failed. I had to start over. And that's
okay. Progress over perfection is always the goal.
Every single DIY project teaches you something you
bring into the next one.

3. BREAK BIG OVERWHELMING TASKS INTO SMALL STEPS
When a project feels huge it's easy to freeze.
Instead of thinking "I need to hang this wall art
today," break it down:
→ Step 1: Enter dimensions into ChatGPT
→ Step 2: Map out placement with painters tape
→ Step 3: Double check measurements with a level
→ Step 4: Clean wall with rubbing alcohol
→ Step 5: Apply 3M strips and hang
Small steps make any project feel doable — even
for the busiest of moms.

Check out: www.sheriwalker.ca for more info on DIY training sessions & upcoming Accent Wall Workshop

Grab your Decor Hanging Cheat Sheet here: file:///Users/sherikraan/Downloads/Wall-Art-Hanging-Cheat-Sheet.html

Products mentioned in this episode:

 • 3M Command Velcro Strips — available at
  Canadian Tire, Home Depot, and Walmart Canada, Amazon
• Urban Barn wall art — urbanbarns.com
• ChatGPT — chatgpt.com (free to use)
• Painter's tape — available at any hardware store
• Shop pencil and level — Canadian Tire or
  Home Depot

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello, hello. Have you ever stared at a blank wall and then at your artwork and then back at your wall and felt completely overwhelmed about where to start when it comes to hanging up wall art? Well, I was right there this past week and I want to share my experience with you and uh what I learned. Uh, you're listening to Home DIYs for Busy Women, a safe space to dream, learn, make mistakes, and talk about the real stuff when it comes to home DIYs and beyond. I'm Sherry, a self-taught passionate home DIYer, working mom of two girls living in the west coast of British Columbia. I am passionate about helping you create a home you love. So I have been agonizing over wall art for a ship lab wall in our living room for an embarrassingly long time, like 18 months since we last did our reno. It's just been this big blank canvas. Um, and at the beginning of this month, uh I had my birthday, and my mother-in-law, I think, gave me a big hint where she gave me a gift card uh to use at Urban Barn uh for this wall art that I had been talking about. And so it just so happened that the following week they had a 20% off sale on Wall art. So I was like, okay, I think this is my time. And so I took the plunge and bought this like beautiful large three-piece uh set for our living room wall, brought it home, like picked it up a couple days later, brought it home, and I was so excited. I'm like, ah, yes, I'm gonna make like this huge, big impact statement in our house. I'm gonna feel so good about it, and I'm gonna get it all done because I work tomorrow and the next couple of days, and I'm going to get this done. And I got home and my husband gave me a huge reality check. I mean, I think he could have been a bit more delicate about it, but uh, he's like, you're not gonna get that done today. I'm like, yes, I am. Like, why not? Like, I went to Canadian Tire, I got my 3M like Velcro post-it strips, I got, I got what I need, like, I'm gonna get this done. He's like, Okay, but like we have like baseball practice tonight, and like I'm in the middle of making dinner. Like, how are you gonna get this done? I'm like, I will get it done. And so I set out to um, I had this plan. Um, I actually used YouTube to map out with painter's tape where I was gonna put everything up on the wall, and you know, um, was using a level, making sure everything was just right. And I was like, you know what? Instead of pencil, I'm gonna map everything out with painter's tape so it's really visual. And when I'm hanging things up, it'll look great and it'll just be easier. And so uh I after about like 40 minutes of tinkering with the painter's tape, I call my husband over. I'm like, okay, I'm about to hang it up. Like, I just need you to hold the level and make sure everything is completely well level. And uh we stick it on, and then he kind of looks, he's like, um, that painter's tape that you used as a guide, like the 3M stickers are right on that painter's tape. And over time, that painter's tape is gonna loosen and your picture's gonna fall. And I was like, Yeah, yeah, you're right. That, yeah, okay. And so we took it down. I didn't have extra 3M uh uh stickers to to use, and so I was like feeling super frustrated and defeated. And I just had to take a breath and be like, okay, well, I guess it's not getting done tonight. And so I put them off to the side and we had uh dinner as a family. And I'll I'll be honest, I was I was irritated. I was like, I really just wanted to like get this project done, and I it really tested my patience that I had to wait. It was Wednesday, I had to wait until Saturday to um hang it up because I was working and my husband was working. We just didn't have the time. And so it did give me time to think about okay, like how can I plan this out better and set myself up for success? And so um I actually used Chat GBT and I entered in the dimensions of the um wall art that I was wanting to hang up. I entered in the height and uh width of my wall as well as the height and width of the couch that the art was going to be around. And I said, I gave all the dimensions and I said, where should I be hanging these paintings based on like proper decor standards? And it spat out a whole bunch of measurements, and I was able to use that, map it out um with uh painter's tape for the bottom, and then I used um like a shop pencil and a level to kind of map out the spacing between uh each picture, which is um I did two inches in between each one. And so I double triple checked my measurements, and uh when I was ready, I called Matt up and like I cleaned the wall with like rubbing alcohol like you're supposed to firmly press those 3M stickers on, and um, using Matt's help, we were able to hang it up level, and it went actually pretty smoothly after I had uh made a whole bunch of mistakes. So, and I'm happy to report that uh what is it like five days later now? The uh pictures are still hanging up, so I'm hopeful that it'll work well. Um, yeah, so it's just it's really not an easy thing. And I felt like just very frustrated. I'm like, why am I not getting this faster? Um and so I just wanted to share uh three takeaways for you that I think um are important uh from this lesson. So the first one is uh to use the tools that are available to you. You don't need to figure everything out alone. So using Chat GPT to calculate your measurements, I think is very resourceful and smart. And it's I think the exact modern shortcut that us busy women need to know about to get these projects done faster because we all have this huge to-do list that we're uh slowly uh plugging away at, right? So technology is your friend, my friend. Um the second takeaway I have is mistakes are part of the process and it's not a sign that you're failing. Um I had to really remind myself that uh while I was going through this process. So um, so for me, it was like getting it wrong with pager tape the first time didn't mean that I wasn't capable of doing this. It just meant I had to kind of change my approach and try again. So um just a reminder that progress over perfection is always the goal. Um, and so and from like every DIY project that you do is gonna teach you something that you'll bring into the next one, which is definitely what I'll be taking into um my wall art hanging projects in the future. Um, and the third takeaway I want to leave you with is to break up a big overwhelming task into small, manageable steps is how you get things done. If we're looking at the big, like, I need to get this wall art hung today, and it feels huge because I have to get all these things done beforehand, you're kind of stuck in paralysis. And so breaking it up into small steps of okay, I'm gonna measure and then I'm gonna put those measurements into Chat GPT. I'm gonna get an idea of where I need to map things out. I'm gonna double triple check where I'm placing my painter's tape and my pencil markings. And then from there, I'm gonna clean the wall, I'm gonna hang up the stickers. Like, so if you're breaking any type of project that you're doing into those small manageable steps, you'll be making progress forward and it'll feel way more doable. Um and so I I truly believe that method, um, that step-by-step approach is available to every busy woman. And we just need um to remind ourselves that when we're just like got those headlights on, focused on getting the project done, is to just take a step back and uh break it into manageable steps. Um, I'll post everything uh in the show notes about uh what I used to hang the wall and um where you can find the 3M stickers and also a little cheat sheet on what I learned. As well as if you're uh looking for some help in the DIY space, I'm your girl. I offer in-home training sessions where I can work with you to help get a project started, uh, such as painting or caulking and just um give you the confidence uh to get going. Uh as well as uh you can book a call with me, and uh I'll be hosting a Accent Wall workshop uh coming up in May, which I'm excited to start talking about. Anyways, I really appreciate you listening and I would love to hear from you. Drop me an email, um, message me on Instagram. Love to hear your thoughts and what you're working on. Take care and have a really good day.