Build Your Own Wire Photo Wall

Screw Eyes One of the rooms in my new place has a bare white wall that wasjust crying out for some creative sprucing up—so armed withthis previous Lifehacker post on a DIY photo wall project and a few ideas on how to modify it for my own tastes, I wentahead and created a cheap, easily-reconfigured photo wall. Forunder 20 bucks, using some wire, black card stock, and mini binderclips, it's easy to create your own wire photo hanger. Let's take aphoto tour of how to get the job done. What You'll Need First, you'll need a bare wall with a place to screw mounts inabout 1/4" away from the wall on either side, with no obstructionsin between. You'll also need: A length of cable that spans your wall. I got 1/16" thickness, andlots of extra length in case I screwed up. ($2.00 at your localhome store) 2 wire sleeves, the same thickness as the wire, so 1/16" for me.($0.78 at your local home store) A set of 2 screw eyes. I got the 1 5/8" size. ($0.92 at your localhome store) 1 screw eye with hook turnbuckle. I got the 5 1/4" size. ($4.13 atyour local home store) Of course, you'll need photos prints. In the original project thatwe linked, they used slats of wood to mount the photos on , but I didn't like that look—I wanted something darker andsleeker. So I went with black card stock—actually, theStaples near me didn't have that, so I used black certificateholders instead. Use double-sided tape to fasten the photos to thecard stock, that looks like a faux matte. My photos were originally digital, but I had them printed at aplace that can automatically include a nice white border aroundthem to make them stand out against the black background even more.(Coincidentally, Photoworks in San Francisco can print photos in Flickr, and they offer several border options,plus glossy or matte finish on the prints. I used them and I waspretty pleased with the results—except for a littleunevenness on the side borders of one of the photos, the printscame out very well.) Assembly Gathering the supplies is the most annoying part of the project;once you've got those down, the fun begins. You can probablyimagine where all the pieces fit, but let's step through them. First, loop one end of the wire through the turnbuckle screw eye,and slip on one sleeve to seal the loop. Clamp down the sleeve tomake it permanent. (I had trouble with this part; see the end formore info.) Drill a hole on either end of your wall about 1/4" in and screw inthe eye screws. (Do yourself a favor and use a level.) Unscrew theturnbuckle so it's as open (and wide) as it can be, then hook itonto an eye screw on one side of the wall. Loop the other end of the wire around the other eye screw, and slipon the sleeve. Trim off any extra wire. Pull the wire taut, and fasten the sleeve. Now you should have a bit of slack in the line, but reduce it asmuch as you can. For the wire to support your photos, it needs tobe tight. When your sleeves are clamped, tighten the wire byturning the middle part of the turnbuckle, which will contract itand pull it tighter. Mount your photos on black card stock with double sided tape. Clip the cards to the wire with mini binder clips. Arrange and space the photos to your liking, and admire yourfinished product. For a cleaner look, you can optionally remove the binder clipsilver handles, as shown. The main trouble I had with this project was getting the wiresleeves to clamp down—I'm going to have the toolmaster in mylife take a look at them this weekend. (In the mean time, I madesmall knots in the wire outside each sleeve to hold them in place.)Also, cutting 1/16" thick wire isn't easy with regulararound-the-house tools. But overall I'm pleased with the results of this project, given theprice and time investment. The card stock isn't as sturdy as thewood slats in the original project , so mounting the card stock on wood slats may be a worthy upgrade. What's your favorite, flexible, inexpensive way to mount art andphotos around the house? Let us know in the comments.