11/22

Elsie’s Dining Room Wall Hooks

Budget: $$, D.I.Y. Project, Dad Helped, Dining Room, Home Decor, Organization, Weekend Project
By Elsie Larson

Dining room wall hooks For the longest time my dining room felt incomplete. The bright white walls and high ceilings made it feel bigger, but for a while it almost felt too big. Here's how it looked for about six months after we moved in…

BEFORE hooksSee? It was missing something. We thought about filling the walls with frames or large artwork, but I wanted something that was more versatile that we could change and update throughout the seasons. So, we decided to add trim around the entire room with hooks for hanging artwork, flowers and plants. 

Dining room wall hooks Once I had the idea for adding these simple little wall hooks Emma and our dad helped install them. Here's how they did it:Meaure and cut the boardsFirst we measured the walls. I wanted the hook trim to wrap all the way around the room (except doorways and windows, of course). We bought boards and cut them to the sizes we needed. You'll see in some of the following photos that we didn't cut the boards at angles for the corners of the room. Most houses, especially houses as old as mine, don't have corners that are perfect 90° angles. So, to make the project easier on ourselves we simply measured so one edge would fit flush against the wall while the next board (on the adjacent wall) would fit flush up against the first board.Hold boards in placeBefore you do any gluing or screwing, check the boards against the wall. It's always good to double-check your measurements as you work whenever possible.Make sure they are levelHold the boards in place while using a level to make sure they are straight. Make a small mark on each side of the board on the wall so you can easily get them into place once the adhesive has been applied.How to use liquid nailsGlue the boards to the wallApply some liquid nails the backs of the boards and then follow your marks to get them in place. (I love how you can see curious, little Suki in this photo.)Some projects take two peopleWhile one person holds the board in place have another person screw the edges to the wall. Since we don't plan to hang anything super heavy on the hooks (mostly just very small plants and picture frames) we simply used long screws. For added security you could use wall anchors here instead. And, yes, this is a two person project. I would not try to attempt something like this one your own as you'll need the extra hands to hold the boards in place as you get them fixed to the wall.Fill in the seemsOnce all the boards are in place fill in any gaps and the screw heads. We used paintable wood filler for this step. Another good option is paintable acrylic caulk. Whatever you use make sure that you will be able to sand and paint it once it dries. Check the container for dry time information. Once it has fully dried sand it down to be smooth with the boards.Prime and paint the boardsOnce you're done sanding clean the boards so they are free of dust or debris. Now you're ready to prime and paint them whatever color you want.Add the hooksFinal step: add the hooks. There's no surprise trick here. Simply measure how far apart you want the hooks and place a piece of tape in each spot. Once the tape is up, stand back and make sure you like the placement of the hooks. Once you are happy, screw them into the boards.Dining room wall hooksThis solution was perfect for our space because it's simple, changeable and fills the space without adding clutter. If you have any questions let us know in the comments! xo. Elsie + Emma 

Credits: Author: Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman, Photography: Elsie Larson and Janae Hardy, Project: Emma Chapman and Don Chapman (LOVE you Dad!) 

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