Put away that measuring tape, friend. My clever husband showed me a hack that changes everything. For years I’ve wanted a record wall such as this. It surpassed all my expectations when we finally did one. Malcolm, the designated « hanger of things » , hung them before I could even take photos of how he did it. What a guy, huh?

So I’ll just have to describe it. There’s really not a lot to it. Malcolm didn’t want to measure, which for most people would yield horrendous results — like me 🙂 Ours isn’t perfect, and I love the character it brings to our living room.

Step 1: Pick out your favorite records you want to display. Malcolm chose some we love and some we don’t listen to often but he loved the album cover. Keep in mind what kind of aesthetic you want – all black and white; all rainbow or records in ROYGBIV; a neural, low contrast pallet, etc. Also, Colm didn’t select any heavy ones.

Step 2: Lay it all out on the floor or a large object nearby that resembles the scale of your wall. Finalize what you want, where and how many. Don’t be afraid to play around. That’s the fun of DIY, no?

Step 3: Find a plastic record sleeve, the ones used so price tags don’t damage the cover. If there’s any extra plastic around the edges, like if you included a 45, fold those around the edges and tape them tight to the record. Tape the top too for ease later.

Step 4: Take your roll of blue painters’ tape, get a new piece going but do not cut yet. Stretch the tape to the other edge of the record, and cut as close to the plastic’s edge as you can. Now you should have a piece of blue tape on the top edge of the cover. Eyeball (guess with yo eyes) where to place the two Velcro strips, about an inch wide each. Mark those on the tape.

Step 5: Peel off the tape from the plastic. Start in the top left corner of the wall, and place the tape approximately where you want your first row and column to start. This is the trickiest part. You might have to unstick and restick. But the tape can take it, so get it where you want it.

Step 6: Rinse and repeat (steps 3-5) moving across the row horizontally as you add tape for the other albums. Then add your columns.

Optional: If you’re worried about getting it right, you can do the same for the length of the cover, tape running vertically. You would then have two sides to help visualize.

Step 7: Cut two one-inch pieces of your Velcro. We had extra laying around, but you can use any method you’d like to secure them to the wall. You could even buy record shelves for this purpose on Amazon or your friendly neighborhood small business. It looks great, but we decided to forgo them and save money.

Last step: Mark the wall with a pencil right above your marks on the tape. Affix your Velcro strips over those marks and to the back of the record using the directions on the back of the package of Velcro.

Et voilà! Now, know that I haven’t done this technique on my own yet. But it looks so simple, I can’t wait to see what else we can hang with this method. Project no more bare walls!

xMae