$2 DIY Poster Hanger: Update your Family Photos as Often as you Want

Update your family photos as much as you want with little cost using my $2 DIY poster hanger tutorial! No power tools required!

Why does updating your family photo prints have to be such an investment!? Don’t get me wrong, I love photo canvases, wood photo prints and all of the other cool ways you can print your favorite family photos, but they are quite expensive! Also, what do you do with the old ones? I only have so much wall space! Which is why I came up with this poster hanger solution!

When photos are hanging in a main focal point of your home (aka above the couch), you are going to want to update those photos every once in a while, right? I wanted to hang large portraits from our wedding above our couch, but I’m going to want to update these photos as our family grows.

Well, I think I’ve finally come up with an ACTUALLY GOOD solution that is affordable, interchangeable and stylish! I figured out how to make my own DIY poster hanger and it only cost me $2!!

This post is all about how to make your own $2 DIY poster hanger!

Pin this DIY Poster Hanger For Later

Materials for this DIY Poster Hanger

• Poster Photo Prints – I printed mine at Walgreens
• Unfinished Trim – Get it cut to the width of your poster (Lowes cut mine for me)
• Sand paper – I skipped this step
• Stain -I skipped this step too
• Twine
• Command Strips
• Something to hang photos like Command hooks

Instructions for How to Make this DIY Poster Hanger

Order Poster Prints

Printing posters is a heck of a lot cheaper than printing an enlarged photograph. When determining the size of your poster(s), consider the space you are hanging them on. I double-checked my wall and measured it before ordering my posters and ordered 3 large 24” by 36” posters from Walgreens photo and picked them up the same day. I would also recommend checking out MPix if you’re not a Walgreens photo fan! I’m honestly not that picky about my photo quality. No matter where you order your prints, be sure to check for coupons before placing your order. I lucked out and got all three posters for 75% off!

Buy and Cut Lumber at Lumbar store

If going to the hardware store is the hardest step of this DIY, you know it’s going to be an easy one! For my posters I used this unfinished trim I found at Lowes, but you should be able to find the same size board at any lumber store.

Did you know that both Lowes and Home Depot will cut your wood for you? They do and it’s free! It’s the best and it also means you don’t need any power tools for this project! Knowing the width of my posters are 24″, I had the Lowes employee cut 6 (you will need 2 per poster and I was getting enough for 3 posters) 24″ pieces for me. If you want your wood to be wider than your poster, have them add an inch to the total width.

Sand and Stain Lumber (I skipped this step)

I am currently digging the color of natural or unfinished wood, so I decided not to stain the boards. I am also skipping the sanding process because I wasn’t worried about getting splinters since they are going up on the wall. However, now is the time to sand and stain if you choose to do so with your project.

Check out my DIY Bench Tutorial for my sanding and staining tips.

Don’t have stain? Make some by mixing acrylic paint and water – more details in this tutorial.

Add Twine to Hang Poster

To hang your posters, loop two separate pieces of twine a few inches away from either end of the top board. See the photo above on how I easily looped the twine around the boards. I started by creating a “u” shape with my twine, laying the board on top, then threading the ends of the twin through the bottom of the “u” and tightening the loop around the board. Then tie both of the pieces of twine together in a bow or knot and double knot them for extra strength.

If you have a drill, you can drill two holes in the top of the board and thread your twine through that way too. Make sure to create a big enough knot so the twine holds the board and doesn’t slip through the drilled holes.

Add Command Strips

We are almost done! All we need to do now is apply our command strips and this DIY will be complete. Since my boards were on the larger side, I used 6 strips per board (3 pairs “clicked”/velcroed together). Check the rating of the command strips you are using to see how many they recommend for your project.

Click a few of the command strips together, peel off the liner of one side and stick them to the back of the board. Then peel off the other liner and press the board onto the top of the poster. Hold this position for a few seconds and then repeat the process for the bottom board.

Using Command strips is what makes these DIY poster hangers so interchangeable!! You just need to snag a few more command strips when updating your photos – just for the photo side, not the board.

Per their instructions, wait 1 hour for the adhesive to build before hanging your poster(s).

Hang Posters

You are ready to hang your posters for all to see! I hung mine with command hooks for now, until I find a cuter solution. Now, when you decide to replace your photos, you can do so easily by replacing the posters with new ones! All you will need to do is order new images and add new command strips!

Want some other cheap and easy DIYs? Be sure to check out my DIY photo transfer here, DIY personalized pillows here, or a cute hanging rope basket here!

Free Decorating Guide

Want some more decorating inspo? Snag my FREE decorating guide to help you make your home a space you can be proud of! This guide take you through my simple process of decorating.

Click here for your FREE Decorating GUIDE

Share your DIY Poster Hanger

As always, thank you for following along with me in my creative journey. Be sure to tag me and use #meagannicholedotcom when sharing your DIY Poster Hanger! Thanks for stopping by MeaganNichole.com! This post was all about how to make your own $2 DIY poster hanger!

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