Invisible Picture Wire Saves the Day

Do you ever have one of those “anything is better than nothing” moments?

Any seasoning at all would be better than having to eat one more bite of this bland food.

A few lunges while I brush my teeth is better than no exercise today!

This mint stuck to the bottom of my purse is better than having no mint and bad breath! 

Using my husband’s deodorant is better than not using any deodorant at all! Added perk – I can enjoy the manly smell of ‘arctic ice’ coming from my armpits all day long. 

I had one of those “anything is better than nothing” moments as it relates to my bedroom a couple of weeks ago. I haven’t done much to this room, besides clean, since we moved in. Paint color, window treatments (aka mini-blinds), etc. are all the same.

The view from my bed is of this wall.

The wall above that thrifted dresser had been blank since we moved in.

Have you ever heard such a sad tale?

Anything on this wall would be better than nothing. That’s what I told myself.

But still, I hesitated.

It’s a big wall and I didn’t have anything to hang there that was the correct scale. And you know I need to overthink these things before I spend money on new art.

I did have a mirror I found in our attic though.

Its finish was pretty close to the dresser’s finish.

You can’t even tell it’s missing a part on the bottom after I touched it up with a little stain.

Well, you can now that I spilled the beans!

However, the mirror wasn’t the right scale for the space, so I wasn’t going to use it there.

Then I came back to “anything is better than nothing.”

I’ll admit, this mantra works for me because I’m not a perfectionist. I’ll also eat that mint stuck to the bottom of my purse and use my husband’s deodorant in a pinch because I’m not a germaphobe. So, there’s that.

But you know what?

This too small mirror IS better than nothing. I’d rather look at it than a blank wall. It has also been practical for getting dressed in the morning. As an added bonus, having something there has helped me better visualize what else this wall needs. That’s forward momentum and it feels good!

It also doesn’t hurt that I didn’t have to add any holes to the wall to make this “anything is better than nothing” experiment come to fruition. Picture rail and invisible picture wire for the win!

Did you notice the “invisible” picture wire that I used to hang that mirror? Well, if you didn’t, now you will!

Also, I don’t hang my denim jacket on that coat rack. That’s where I hang the laundry that needs to be ironed. Aren’t you happy I’m sharing all my secrets today?!?

Let’s face it, I may be willing to open myself up to criticism by posting pictures of a too small mirror on the internet, but I’m not willing to post pictures that include a bunch of wrinkled shirts and pants. I have my limits.

Or maybe there IS a teeny tiny smidge of a perfectionist in me trying to escape.

Nah! That couldn’t be it.

P.S. One more secret to share. That coat rack in the above picture is a DIY and it survived the move to Ireland, but it didn’t survive the move back. We discovered all the long hooks had snapped off at some point during transit. That’s been more than a year now and I still haven’t replaced the hooks.

P.P.S. I’ve used two different types of invisible picture wire. This one from Home Depot holds art up to 20 pounds and this one from Amazon holds art up to 10 pounds. They both work equally well and are inexpensive ($2 – $5), but the one from Home Depot is a better value.

If you don’t have picture rail, you can still use invisible picture wire to hang pictures from a nail or hook. Sometimes regular picture wire can leave a mark on the wall where it rubs against the paint. The invisible picture wire doesn’t do that.

I couldn’t possibly say it enough, but thank you for reading this blog! You guys make it all worth it. Here are some other posts you might get a kick out of. 

Peg Doll Place Cards – great kid activity for Thanksgiving

Travel: Barcelona with kids 

DIY Sheet Metal Map

Turn a tub/shower into a closet without damaging the tub/shower

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