If you’re like me, you start out as an artist wondering how you’ll ever fill an entire blank canvas. Once you’re over that hurdle, the next question soon becomes: How do I store all my paintings safely? How do I keep them separated, so the frame of one doesn't poke through the canvas of its neighbor?
As a glass artist, I used dish and lid racks to hold my smaller glass pieces. But paintings pose a slightly different challenge: Most dish racks are too small for most canvases. I was afraid that a canvas might lean against a wire divider and get marred or stretched out. For a while, that problem could be solved with large pieces of cardboard to protect the paintings, but as my canvases got larger, I had to come up with a different means of storage.
One day, as I browsed the housewares aisles in a local store, the idea hit me: Why not try mounting a pot lid rack on the wall and use it to hold up my paintings? I figured out what I needed:
a. A pot lid rack whose wire dividers were completely vertical, instead of at an angle. Here's a photo of what I mean:
b. The wires of the rack had to be rigid and sturdy, but most of all smooth and non-tarnishing so they wouldn’t harm the canvases. I found that chrome ones fit the bill. Wires coated with soft rubber work well, too. The photo below shows what I found. You can probably find something similar with a bit of searching:
c. the spaces in between the wire dividers had to be wider than my deepest canvas. I found one with 2-inch gaps, shown at right:
Then, how to hang it? My helpful hardware guy led me around the store until I found what I needed:
d. “C” clamps (in plastic) that would anchor the pot lid rack to the wall (The ones I got are made by Rubbermaid). You'll need a minimum of 5-6 clamps per rack. Make sure that your clamps are big enough to hold the wire of your racks.
e. 3/4" wood screws that would fit through the holes in the C clamps (2 screws per clamp).
f. a vacuum to clean up plaster or wood shavings and dust from drilling.
A long-handled screwdriver, a good level, a motorized drill with a proper bit, a pencil and a strip of tape rounded out the equipment I needed. A helper would be very useful. Below is a photo of what the C Clamps (item d.) and the wood screws (item e) look like:
First, I suggest you measure the space you have available and purchase enough racks to fill that space. (If you have the room, leave a 2” gap between each rack as you mount it. This provides a free space to store another painting).
Take a rack and hold it with the top facing you and the bottom pressed against the wall. Pick a height that will hold the size paintings you want to store—It has to fall just beneath the top of your shortest painting, and be somewhere in the top half of your largest painting. If you have a wide range of sizes and enough wall space, you could mount some racks lower to hold small to medium pieces, then mount a group higher to hold large ones. The general idea is to have the rack mounted near or slightly above the top third of the painting. Have a pencil available and move the rack around until you have it where you want it, then make a mark on the wall even with the horizontal wire that’s resting against the wall.
Cut a long strip of masking tape and press it lightly across the wall along that line you drew. Rest your level along the top edge of the tape and make sure the entire length of tape is level. Then press the tape firmly so it will stick.
Take your first rack, hold it against the wall even with the top edge of the tape, and place a C clamp over the horizontal wire approximately midway in the gap between two wires. Using your pencil, draw a dot right through the holes in the plastic of the C clamp where the screws should go. Repeat this so that you have dots for where a minimum of three clamps can go on the top, (you'll add a minimum of two more on the bottom later). Double-check to make sure your line of dots is level. Remove the tape, place the rack down and get your drill. Here's a photo of how the clamps fit on the rack, which should help you understand and follow the directions below: Drill holes where you’ve made your dots. Remember that you’ll need two holes for every clamp. Your first goal is to screw in just the top screw for each of the three clamps running across your rack's top edge. (The screws on the inside of the rack are harder to reach, hence the usefulness of a long-handle screwdriver, and a helper.)
Take a plastic clamp, put a screw through JUST the top hole per clamp. Don't drill them all the way in yet.
Turn the clamps sideways for just a minute. You'll want to rest the rack against the wall just under the clamps.
Then you can gently lift the bottom of the clamp and swing it over the wire of the rack. (see the photo at right):
Pick up a second screw for each clamp and with your long-handle screw driver, screw it about 2/3 of the way in.
Repeat for the other top two clamps. Now your rack should hang by itself from the wall.
Once your rack is hanging from your top three clamps, adjust it so the wire dividers are straight up and down by holding your level against it as shown in the photo at left.
Then repeat the process of marking holes for the clamps you’ll mount along the bottom wire. You can swing the rack up and out of the way, which will make it easier for you to drill the holes (having a second person helping would be great). Attach the bottom clamps like you did the top ones, then shift and tweak the entire rack so that all the wires are perfectly vertical. Press the rack against the wall to keep it from moving, and finish tightening all the screws.
If you’re mounting more than one rack and have the wall space, leave a 2” gap between racks which is a “free” space where you can store one more painting.
When your racks are secured, finish by vacuuming the walls and surrounding area to keep the drill dust from attaching itself to your paintings. Voila! A no-muss, affordable way to keep your paintings stored safely.
Keep scrolling down to see photos of three mounted racks before and after I added the paintings:
ONE LAST NOTE: This design is meant for light use. If you're planning to cram in as many paintings as possible that will be moved often, I suggest either mounting the racks on wood (or wood supports behind walls), or to use longer screws with "jackets" that will anchor them more sturdily in plaster walls.
Thanks a bundle for this
Posted by: Linda | 11/11/2020 at 04:40 AM