DigsMagazine.com | lounge: HANGING BY A WIRE page3

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a home + living guide for the post-college, pre-parenthood, quasi-adult generation

03.05.2001

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big decorating dreams. tiny little budget. don't be a wallflower! jump on over to the discussion boards and get decorating help.

other recent LOUNGE articles:
o open house: desert digs
o travel decorating on the cheap
o what goes where?
furniture arranging 101
o Easy Corner Shelves
o Stain Rx
o Hang-up Help
o Cluttered place/ Spartan Space
o Make a Duvet Cover
o Roommates from Hell
o Build a Bookcase
o Fix-up a $1 Lamp
o Style & Stylishness
o The Great Roommate Search
o the Dining Chair Slipcover Debacle
o Post-Posters

hanging by a wire
by Tasha Moss | 1 2 3 4 5
continued from page 2

Installing the hardware
5. Drill a hole at your pencil marks [photo 2]. Make sure that the size of the drill bit corresponds with the size of the plastic anchor. If the anchor is 3/16", use a 3/16" drill bit. If you're unsure of the anchor size, use your judgement. It's better to drill a hole that's too small and work your way up than it is to drill a hole that's too big!

6. Push an anchor into each hole, tapping them into place with a heavy blunt object (a hammer or the back of your drill works well).

7. Twist your screw eyes into the anchored holes you've just made [photo 3]. It gets a bit harder as you tighten, but you want to get them in as far as possible to make sure they're sturdy. Line up the eyes (the circular part) vertically.

Setting up the wire
8. This is the trickiest part of the whole process— measuring to attach the wire and turnbuckles. A turnbuckle works by allowing you to adjust the tension on the wire. You have to plan for this adjustment when you’re making measurements. Start with the measurement between the screw eyes (where your original pencil marks used to be). That was 72 inches in my example. Measure the length of each turnbuckle when the eye is about halfway extended (which allows for the adjustment I mentioned).

9. Time for a little basic math. Say you found each turnbuckle was 4 inches long. Subtract the combined length of both turnbuckles from the length between your screw eyes. In my example that would be:

72 inches (length between screw eyes) – 8 inches (combined length of 2 turnbuckles) = 64 inches

64 inches will be the length of the wire stretched across the wall.

still more this way ...

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