A plain wall with a round clock and two small framed prints hung as a group

How to Hang Things on a Bare Wall

A bare wall is the last thing people deal with, usually because getting it wrong means holes in the plaster. It is easier than it looks if you do the thinking before the drilling.

1. One big piece beats five small ones

A single large clock or one big frame reads as confident. Five small things scattered about read as leftovers, and they are five times the holes. If you only do one thing to a bare wall, make it one large piece, centred, with plenty of space around it.

A large round wall clock hung alone on a wide plain wall above a bench
One large piece with room around it. The empty space is doing as much work as the clock.

2. Lay it out on the floor first

If you are hanging a group, arrange it on the floor below the wall until it looks right. Take a photo. Then measure the gaps and copy them onto the wall. Rearranging on the floor is free; rearranging on the wall is a bag of filler.

Keep the gaps even, somewhere between 5 and 10cm, and treat the whole group as one shape rather than a scatter.

Frames and a clock laid out on the floor with a tape measure before hanging
Arrange on the floor, photograph it, then copy the gaps onto the wall.

3. Hang it lower than you think

The most common mistake is hanging too high. The middle of the piece should sit at about eye level, roughly 145 to 150cm from the floor. Above a sofa or a sideboard, leave about 20 to 25cm of gap so the piece and the furniture read as one group rather than two.

4. Match the fixing to the wall

  • Plasterboard: use proper plasterboard fixings for anything with weight. A nail alone will pull out.
  • Masonry: drill, plug, screw. A hammer and a nail will not do it.
  • Renting or unsure: adhesive strips are fine for light frames, but check the weight rating and press them properly.

Measure twice, mark with a pencil, check it with a level. Two minutes of care saves the filler.

5. Leave space around it

The empty wall around a piece is part of the arrangement. Filling a wall edge to edge makes a room feel smaller and busier. One considered group, breathing room around it, and the wall is done.

If you are looking for the piece itself, our wall collection is where the clocks live.

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