How do I hang heavy items?

You can't use normal picture hooks to mount heavy items, and you don't always want to mount items directly onto the wall. So, how do you safely mount heavy items? A French cleat is the easiest and most practical way to hang heavy items onto walls. You can use this type of mounting for a headboard, wall-mounted cabinet, shelves, heavy art, or similar.

HERE'S HOW:

1. Use a length of pine that is approximately 20cm shorter than the width of the item that you wish to hang. As an alternative, you could cut two or three shorter lengths to make up the total. The height of the pine should be not less than 10cm. Bear in mind that you need to clamp and cut the section into two pieces, and smaller heights will be difficult to cut.

2. You now have two sections that easily fit together. One section is screwed to the back of the item to be mounted, and the other section to the wall using wall plugs and screws.

3. To mount the item simply slip the top section of the French cleat onto the bottom section for a secure mounting.