DIY Magnetic Poster Hangers

Time needed: 2 hours

This project only took us about 2 hours (excluding the time it took the paint to dry). It's pretty quick and easy!

1. Cut your lattice strips to length, if needed.

   We wanted our magnetic poster hangers to be 6-feet long, but we could only find 8-foot strips in stock. So we used our compound miter saw to cut them to length. We stacked them up and wrapped painter's tape around them so that we could cut them all at once. The painter's tape keeps them from sliding or shifting.
   
   * TIP: If you don't have a compound miter saw, you can use a hand saw and miter box to cut your lattice strips OR have them cut them to length at the hardware store (yep, most Home Depot and Lowes stores have cutting stations for this purpose).
   
   

2. Decide on your magnet spacing and placement.

   First we figured out the horizontal spacing of the magnets. Because I planned on hanging my colorful wall calendar on our magnetic rails and each month is 16″ wide, we decided to space our magnets so that each month would make contact with at least 2 magnets.
   
   Once we decided on how they should be spaced, we drew a line down all 6 of the lattice strips so that our spacing would be consistent as we drilled the holes for the magnets.
   
   Then we decided on the vertical placement of the magnets–we chose to place ours on the lower 1/3 of the lattice strip and marked all the pieces of wood accordingly.
   
   REMEMBER, your magnets will have to match up perfectly on both the front and back rails so take your time on this step.
   
   

3. Drill the holes for your magnets.

   After you have carefully marked where your magnets will go, drill the holes using a Forstner bit that is just slightly larger than your magnets. You want to drill the hole deep enough so that the magnets sit flush (or nearly flush) with the surface of the wood. Be careful not to drill all the way through the wood! Most drills have depth gauges you can set to keep you from drilling too far if you don't want to just eyeball it.
   
   

4. Glue your magnets in place.

   We used DAP Rapid Fuse All-Purpose Adhesive to glue all of our magnets in place. Take your time with this step! All magnets have north and south poles. Opposite poles are attracted to each other, while the same poles repel each other. So you have to make sure that your magnets are facing the correct direction so that they will work properly!

5. Smooth out the rough texture of the lattice strips.

   The lattice strips were perfect for this project and I love that they are inexpensive. But the surface of them is pretty rough (as you can see from the photos above). So I applied DAP Plastic Wood-X with DryDex Dry Time Indicator wood filler to the rough areas. It's my favorite because it goes on pink and dries to a natural, wood finish, so you know when it's ready to sand! 
   
   
   Then I sanded everything smooth.

6. Paint or stain.

   I only painted the front of our rails because I'm kind of lazy, lol. Because I wanted my magnetic poster hangers to blend in with my wall, I used the exact same white paint that we used to paint the walls in my office–Pure White by Sherwin-Williams. But you could certainly stain them or paint them any color you want.

7. Hang your magnetic poster hangers.

   I used these picture hanging strips to hang mine up, but you can attach them to your wall with nails or screws if you prefer. I used my laser level to make sure everything was straight and level.

8. Add your posters or art and enjoy!

   I realized that it’s pretty much impossible to simultaneously hang 6 feet worth of posters/art at the same time with only two hands so I used a tiny amount of sticky putty in the top corners of each calendar to temporarily hold my calendars in place while I got the top rails on. It worked like a charm.