Roses Don't Need Studs If They're Anchored
They say you need a stud for support. I'm here to tell you “They” are wrong.
I was married to a contractor for 13 years, and I’m not proud to say that I happily let him do all the “man” jobs around the house, and that includes any sort of hanging of anything, certainly if it involved screwing into walls. Not because I ever thought that I couldn’t but because it was easier to let him do it, and it was comfortable, and kind of sexy, and a way to share that yin and yang dynamic where I envisioned and he made it happen, kind of sweet really… Until you find yourself in your late thirties, divorced, with three kids and itching to get going on that gallery wall, or just the TV honestly, and you’re scared shitless of screwing up, literally, and you feel like your whole worth is resting on whether or not you can mount your own TV on the wall or you’re going to “borrow'' one of your girlfriends’ husbands for a few odd jobs around the house… And it’s a bitter, bitter place.
I could pay someone, and I did for some things but if I had to pay every time I decided to hang something, and the hundred times I decided to move it around afterwards, I’d be out of house pretty quick. So I did some research… And by research I mean I spent time with strange men on YouTube and spotting and those retired carpenters that work at Home Depot to stay close to the tools then charming them into telling me everything they know, and here’s my summary for what you need to know about screwing into your walls:
In construction, the term stud refers to the upright structural support that holds up your drywall. Your studs could be made of wood or metal, which often depends on the year the house was built in and the location of the house, and they are most often 16” apart on centre, meaning from the middle of one to the middle of the next, but sometimes they’re 24” apart, so from the corner of the wall you can figure roughly but not exactly necessarily where they are located. Do Not waste your time and money on a stud finder (those are the computer mouse looking things that you run across the wall until it beeps to tell you there’s a stud. They only work some of the time, which leads me to think they don’t work at all but sometimes they’re accidentally right so we give them the benefit of the doubt (kind of like online dating come to think of it). Bottom line: the only sure way to find a stud is by drilling into the wall, which you will, once you decide where you want to hang what you’re hanging.
Studs run all the way from the floor to the ceiling. They can bear the most weight on their own so when someone mansplains screwing they’ll tell you have to screw where your studs are but you’re a grown ass woman and you want things how you want them and where you want them, and certainly no stud is going to dictate your choices or have a say in how you screw… So no stud. no problem, you just need an anchor.
Anchors are the plastic little thingies that allow you to bear more weight on drywall. Your anchors need to match in size to the bit you’ll use to pre-drill your hole and the screw you’re using. The labels will tell you which sizes you need, if they don’t already come together, which is the easiest.
With the right size drill bit (if you’re not sure start small then go bigger) drill a bigger hole onto your pilot hole then insert the anchor into the wall, depending on your anchor you either squeeze and push it in or screw them in (refer to the box if you’re not sure)
Once you have your anchor inserted securely into the wall your screw is ready to get screwed and your piece is ready to be hung, and you are golden.
One of my gallery walls
Now for many people, women too, this is common knowledge, but nobody’s born with it meaning anybody can learn it, so if you’re like me and nobody’s ever taught you how to use a drill teach yourself! Spoiler alert, you’re going to screw up a bunch of times but that moment you get it just right, you’re going to own it like a boss, so don’t let the fear of screwing up stand between you and your dream gallery wall. Final thoughts in no particular order:
- Every woman should own a drill set.
- Righty Tighty lefty loosey sometimes depends on your perspective. (For example: if you’re struggling to change bits on your drill you may be turning the wrong way, fun fact I found out after trying to return my brand new drill because I thought it was “broken”, which could have been almost as embarrassing as when I thought my water broke but it turned out I peed myself a little, if I was still wasting time on being embarrassed).
- Level isn’t always straight and straight isn’t always level (there’s a metaphor in there I’m sure). Bottom line, houses aren’t perfect. If your art piece hangs level on the wall but your ceiling is off, your art is going to look like it’s tilting, so even if the level tells you you’re bang on trust your eyes.
- Even the daintiest roses can hang if they’re anchored, so studs are nice to have but you can’t depend on them for support, nor do you need to.
- Over-thinking is your enemy! When I’m stuck with a dilemma mid project, sometimes on a ladder, I ask myself what would I do if I were a dude, and the reason is that guys are simple, so the most ridiculously straight forward solution is most often the right one, so again, do not over think…
- Life's hard enough, don't make it harder, a simple nail often does the job, ask yourself if you're trying too hard, and give yourself the grace to be imperfect.
- Your house you decide. If you want something go for it.
- A few screw ups along the way, however big, are not going to bring the house down.
- Be safe! Whatever screwing you have in mind...
- If you don't know ask.
Let me know if you’d like to see a video demo for how to install an anchor!
