Girl Power! How to hang things properly at home

I’m a have-a-go-hero when it comes to DIY. But I don’t always get it right (I’ve lots wonky things up in my home). When my beautiful (but heavy) new bedroom mirror arrived, I learned how to hang it properly – and safely. All you need is a couple of power tools, a denim jumpsuit and red lipstick.

Hanging A Mirror

Last week, I took delivery of my very glam beaded gold mirror. I found it on Decorative Mirrors Online and it was love at first sight.  The mirror is a beast, weighing 27kg.
I wanted to hang it up – rather than lean it against the wall. It was my job to make sure it was properly fixed as imagine if it fell off the wall! Not only would that be so dangerous but even worse it could smash.

What you need

> Decent tape measure. I like a metal one as it stays stiff so it’s easier to line up
> Pencil (and Grazia magazine for scribbling down your measurements )
> Decent drill + Screw Driver I’m using my new Power Z Change Drill Kit by Ozito (it comes with it’s own handbag!)
> Masonry drill bits like these
> 2 x masonry screws and 2 x wall plugs
> Hammer

Step 1: Measuring

1. Measure across the two brackets.
2. Then measure straight from the bottom of the mirror frame to the top of a bracket.
3. Measure how high you want your mirror. From the top of the mirror to where you want it on the wall (in my case 33cm off the floor)
4. Measure the width of the wall that you want the mirror to hang from (in this case I measured from the edge of the wall to the edge of my wardrobe.

Here comes the maths

B + C = F
F = This will give you the height the mirror needs to be on the wall.
D – A (then divide by 2) = E
E = Where the bracket needs to be to make the mirror central to the wall.

Stick with me!

Using a tape measure and a level measure…
Horizontal = E from the outside of the wall inwards on both sides
Vertical = F (from the bottom up)
Where these two measurements meet, is where you need to drill your holes for the screws.

How you doing?

You should have two X marks the spots on your wall. And hopefully not a ton of pencil lines everywhere.

Step 3

Make sure you choose a screw that is long enough to take the weight. I choose a 70mm long screw which was 7mm wide across the head. You will need a matching wall plug (70mm wide and a 70mm) and then a 5mm and a 7mm masonry drill bit.
Put the drill on the hammer setting. Insert the 5mm bit and drill a hole that is 70mm long (you can see measure this by how far the drill bit is in the wall).

***Be careful the drill bit can get very hot after use***

I drilled a smaller hole first. This is because the drill can wobble about (if you are weak wristed like me) and will make a hole bigger than you need. Making an ‘investigative’ hole first prevents this from happening.
Next, drill swap over the bit and drill with the larger one to drill your perfect hole.
 

Step 4

Push the plug into the hole, then gently tap it in with a hammer to make it flush with the wall. Next using an electric screwdriver, screw your screw in. Do this both sides.

Step 5

Hang your mirror. BOOM!
If you can get your head around the maths, there’s nothing stopping you from fixing everything you own to the walls.
Hope you have found this helpful. In the meantime, here is me doing my best Charlie’s Angels impression in my jumpsuit – complete with power tool in hand.

Oh and don’t worry, I’m going to blog about that amazing mirror very shortly. I love it.
Have a great day.

** Disclaimer. I was gifted some of the products for review. All photos and opinions are my own.