<p>I know most dorms do not allow you to drill or make holes in the walls, so we have plenty of the 3M command hooks for light items and tacky stuff for posters. My daughter has a favorite framed picture from home that may be about 15lbs that she really would like to have at school. What else can we use to hang this picture? I guess I could use three of the 3M hooks but was looking for other ideas. She also has a great mirror that we got free with a purchase; it would be a nice addition to a dorm room if we could hang it.</p>
<p>You can buy rolls of a double-sided adhesive. My son used that to hang items on the (cinder block) walls in his dorm last year.</p>
<p>Many dorms don’t mind if you make holes in the walls, either. It depends. Some dorms have a hanging rail from which you can hang a wire to special picture hooks at whatever height you want.</p>
<p>If you do make holes, an easy way to repair them is with toothpaste. This only works if the walls are white, though.</p>
<p>Reminder from a silly Californian: don’t hang a framed-with-glass picture or a mirror directly over the bed. Those things come loose in earthquakes and can do serious injury. </p>
<p>I know this matters almost nowhere else in the country (although there <em>are</em> earthquake faults in many places other than CA, just not very active), but I shudder whenever I see it anywhere: my instincts have been honed. Hang the mirrors and framed pictures somewhere else in the room and the Californians visiting you won’t have a lump in their stomach. And the sleeper will be a little safer. (Besides, sometimes whatever you used to hang the thing just gives way, earthquake or no, so maybe it’s not such a silly thing after all…)</p>
<p>The 3M Command strips come in different “strengths”—make sure she chooses one (it says on the package front) that can handle a 15# picture. Another thought----is the favorite picture (assuming it isn’t a personal photograph) available in any other format? If you go to allposters.com or another poster site, can you find it there?</p>
<p>Get the 3m command strips. they work perfectly.</p>
<p>Pokey, I am so glad you asked this question because I have the same exact one. I know about two sided adhesive tapes and all but that is more for posters, not framed pictures. My older child was able to hang framed pictures last year because her dorm room had this tracking at the top of the wall with hooks from which you could then hang picture wire. But I have no clue and even doubt that my second daughter’s new dorm room will have this. Besides smaller framed things, both my girls have a very large frame (about 28 x 42 inches…the size of a very large poster frame) that I want them to be able to hang. For graduation for each of them, I culled through thousands of photos of their lives from birth until graduation (we take lots so this in itself took days). I chose about 220 of the most significant moments and trimmed these way down and made a montage of all of them that was framed in these large poster frames. I have wondered how my second D would be able to hang this along with some smaller things she bought. </p>
<p>So, what is a 3M Command Hook and how does that differ from someone else’s suggestiong of 3M Command Strip? Can someone describe what this is? I have to go look for these. Sounds like this is the best option for the big frame I described? Actually same thing if they get a full length mirror…would this work?</p>
<p>Susan</p>
<p>There’s a full length mirror that hangs over the back of a door, Susan. I’m not sure if I saw it a Bed, Bath and Beyond, or some such store, but I suspect a google search would help you locate it if interested.</p>
<p>soozie, it basically is a 3m command strip that has a plastic hook that attaches to it. i have ten framed pictures (up to 11x14) hanging on my walls here in my room with the 3m hooks. mine are hanging up with these… <a href=“http://www.3m.com/us/home_leisure/command/products/decoratingclips.jhtml[/url]”>http://www.3m.com/us/home_leisure/command/products/decoratingclips.jhtml</a> i’m sure you could find a more heavy duty one to hang something that is heavier. here’s a link to others. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.3m.com/us/home_leisure/command/products/index.jhtml[/url]”>http://www.3m.com/us/home_leisure/command/products/index.jhtml</a></p>
<p>at school we used the more heavy duty ones to hang our surround speakers on the walls.</p>
<p>Here is the link for assorted 3M products. The large hook only holds 5lbs; don’t know if I use two if 10lbs. will be too much. My husband is taking his tools along with assorted pictures hooks, molly bolts, and other screws and bolts. He will be in all his glory if he gets to be Mr. Fix it for my daughter and her roomates. If it is allowed to be attached to the wall, he will make sure it never falls, earthquake or not!</p>
<p>I am checking to see if another company might make a similar product to 3M that can hold more weight.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.3m.com/us/home_leisure/command/products/index.jhtml[/url]”>http://www.3m.com/us/home_leisure/command/products/index.jhtml</a></p>
<p>fendergirl- we posted at the same time!</p>
<p>yeah, that’s funny. i noticed it too.</p>
<p>Thanks both of you…I will go take a look. Pokey, my hubby was in his glory being mister fix it up man too when we moved D1 into her room last fall. He was computer tech guy too. However, he was not very happy with one shelf/cart thing my D had bought that had to be put together and he kept losing or missing pieces and said “never again”. I’m going to look into those hanging options. </p>
<p>Regarding the mirror…I am aware of the kind that go over the door (believe me, I have now done two kids at B B B and LnT two years in a row and have seen it all.) But for D2, I read that her dorm closets have NO doors on them (weird). I wasn’t sure you could use that sort of thing on the actual door to the room so she held off so far on buying that. Plus so far she mostly got her own personal stuff. In about a week, we are going shopping again with her roomie who she knows and is from our state to look at any mutual type items. Thanks again…I will look at your links.
Susan</p>