Install Guide

These hang differently than framed art, and the difference works in your favor: there is no bracket to attach to the panel. Nothing to screw into the steel, nothing to align on the back, nothing to get crooked.

The bent edge around the panel is the hanger. It hooks down over a clip on your wall and sits flat.

How it works

Every edge of the panel is bent twice — back toward the wall, then straight down. That second bend forms a hook that runs the full width of the panel. The Z-clip on your wall turns up to meet it.

Gravity does the rest. The hook drops over the clip, the panel pulls tight to the wall, and it can't lift off without you lifting it.

What ships with your panel

Z-clips — flat aluminum brackets with an upward-facing channel. You mount them to the wall. The panel's hooked edge drops over them.

• 32" and 40" — one clip
• 44" — two clips
• 60" and 72" — three clips

Wall anchors are not included. The right anchor depends entirely on your wall, and a generic one in the box would be the wrong one about half the time. What to use is below.

What you'll need

• Drill
• Level — a real one, at least 2 feet
• Straightedge, for panels 44" and up
• Tape measure and pencil
• Stud finder
• Anchors or screws suited to your wall (see below)
• A few flat washers, in case you need to shim
• A second person for 60" and 72"

Pick the right anchor

Panel weights, approximate:

• 32" — around 12 lbs
• 40" — around 18 lbs
• 44" — around 23 lbs
• 60" — around 39 lbs
• 72" — around 56 lbs

Studs are always the best answer. A 2.5" wood screw into a stud will hold anything we make.

When a stud isn't where you need it:

• Drywall — heavy-duty toggle bolts, rated well above the panel weight. Not plastic cone anchors. Not adhesive strips.
• Plaster and lath — toggle bolts, and drill slowly so you don't crack the plaster face.
• Brick, block, or masonry — masonry screws into the block, not the mortar joint.

Anything 44" and up should hit at least one stud. On 60" and 72", at least two of the three clips should. A steel panel coming off a wall is a bad afternoon.

Hanging it

1. Decide where the top edge goes. Hold the panel against the wall, or cut a paper template to the panel size and tape it up. Live with it for a minute before you commit.
2. Mark the top edge in pencil.
3. Measure the drop. Look at the back of the panel and measure from the top edge down to the inside of the hook. That's how far below your pencil mark the clips go — the panel hangs from the clip, it doesn't rest on top of it.
4. Draw a level line at that height. This is the step people skip and regret. On multi-clip panels, every clip has to sit on the same line or the panel won't seat flat.
5. Space your clips evenly along the line, keeping them in from the panel's outer edges by a few inches so they stay hidden. Where possible, slide them to land on studs.
6. Check the wall is flat — 44" and up. Hold a straightedge along your level line across the whole span. Plaster, older walls, and drywall over uneven framing often bow slightly, and you won't see it by eye. If there's a low spot, slip a flat washer or two behind that clip as you screw it down so all the clips end up on the same plane. Skip this and a long panel will rock on whichever clip sits proudest and stand off the wall at one end.
7. Mount the clips with the open channel facing UP. If the channel faces down, the hook has nothing to catch.
8. Hang it. Lift the panel, tilt the top slightly toward the wall, and lower it until the hooked edge drops over the clips. You'll feel it seat.
9. Check level one more time. The panel can shift slightly side to side on the clips, which is useful — nudge it until it reads true, then step back across the room and look again.

Getting it right

Height. Center of the panel around 57 to 60 inches from the floor for a wall on its own. Over a sofa or console, leave 6 to 10 inches between the furniture top and the bottom of the panel.

Level matters more here than on framed art. The bent frame reads as a hard horizontal line, and your eye will catch even a slight tilt against a ceiling, a countertop, or a window frame.

Light it from the side if you can. These are built around the shadow behind the cutouts. Light raking across the face makes the piece; light straight on flattens it.

Common mistakes

• Clip channel facing down. Nothing to hook. Check before you drill.
• Clips not on one level line. The panel rocks and won't sit flat.
• Ignoring a bowed wall on a long panel. Same result as an unlevel clip — the panel rocks on whichever one sits proudest. Shim the low ones with washers.
• Measuring to the top of the clip instead of the hook depth. Panel hangs lower than you marked.
• Plastic anchors on a 44" or larger. They will pull out. Not immediately — eventually.
• Clips too close to the panel edge. They peek out from behind it.

Taking it down

Lift straight up and off. That's it. The clips stay on the wall, so if you move the panel to another room you only need new anchors.

Stuck?

Email hello@libertyforgemetal.com before you drill a second hole. Send a photo of your wall and the panel back if it helps. We'd rather answer a question than hear about a repair.