Blimey, that takes me back. I was in this tiny, damp-floored flat in Clerkenwell years ago \u2013 you know the type, all exposed brick and dreams \u2013 and I\u2019d just splurged on this gorgeous, heavy wool tapestry from a market in Marrakech. Felt like a proper treasure. Got it home, buzzing, then realised I\u2019d no earthly clue how to get the thing on the wall without it looking like a sad tea towel or tearing a chunk of plaster out.<\/p>\n
Right, textile weights first. You\u2019d think heavier is better, yeah? More substantial, hangs nicer. Well, sometimes. That Marrakech piece was a proper heavyweight, like 800 gsm or more. Felt like holding a small carpet. That kind of weight needs respect. It hangs with a beautiful, dignified drape, no flimsiness, but crikey, it demands a serious hanging method. A bit of double-sided tape? Don\u2019t make me laugh. It\u2019d be on the floor before you could say \u201cbargain\u201d.<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the middleweights. I\u2019ve got a lovely linen blend one from a studio in Edinburgh, maybe 300-400 gsm. Much more forgiving. You can actually fold it in a suitcase! These are your go-to, really. They\u2019re flat enough to show detail but have enough body to avoid looking like a sheet of paper. They won\u2019t fight you as much.<\/p>\n
Lightweights, like silk or thin cotton\u2026 tricky blighters. I bought a beautiful printed one from a pop-up in Shoreditch. Felt like a fancy scarf. Gorgeous, but it showed every lump and bump in the wall. Hung it with a subtle rod through a sleeve at the top, and it just looked\u2026 anxious. Always seemed to be trembling. Better for a temporary, arty vibe than a permanent statement.<\/p>\n
Which brings us to the hanging palaver. My big Moroccan lesson? A proper curtain rod or a decorative wooden pole with sturdy brackets is your best mate for the heavy ones. Distributes the weight. I used a chunky oak pole from a reclamation yard in Peckham. Slid it through a tunnel hem on the tapestry \u2013 felt dead professional. For the middleweights, those clever little tapestry clips with teeth can work a treat if your fabric\u2019s got a sturdy woven hem. But test it on a scrap first! I learned that after putting a nasty little pull in the corner of my Edinburgh piece. Felt sick, I did.<\/p>\n
For a super-clean look, especially with lighter pieces, you can get a thin strip of wood, staple the top of the tapestry to it (gently!), and then fix the wood to the wall. Hides the fixings, gives it a gallery feel. Saw a stunning example in a friend\u2019s place in Bristol, made all the difference.<\/p>\n
Oh, and the wall itself! Plasterboard\u2019s a nightmare if you don\u2019t hit a stud. For anything with real heft, you\u2019ve got to find that timber. I\u2019ve got a little stud finder that beeps like a demented robot \u2013 worth its weight in gold. For lighter methods, those heavy-duty adhesive hooks can be surprisingly good, but only on perfectly smooth paint. Any texture and they\u2019ll let go in the middle of the night with a sound that\u2019ll stop your heart.<\/p>\n
Honestly, it\u2019s a bit of a dance between the fabric and the fixings. My golden rule now? Before I even buy a tapestry wall hanging, I run my hand over the hem, feel the weight, and ask myself, \u201cRight, how are we going to get you up there?\u201d Saves a lot of swearing and Polyfilla later. That Marrakech one? Still up. Ten years on. The bracket\u2019s solid, the pole\u2019s straight, and it looks like it\u2019s always meant to be there. Got a tiny moth hole in one corner now, but that\u2019s just part of its story, innit?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Blimey, that takes me back. I was in this tiny, damp-floored flat in Clerkenwell years ago \u2013 you kno…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home-decor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/floordecorhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/floordecorhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/floordecorhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floordecorhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floordecorhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/floordecorhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":849,"href":"https:\/\/floordecorhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98\/revisions\/849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/floordecorhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floordecorhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/floordecorhome.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}