Hanging & Care — Acrylic Glass
Everything you need to get an acrylic glass piece onto your wall, and how to keep it looking the way it did on day one. Keep this page bookmarked — it does not expire.
What comes with your piece
- Four aluminium standoffs, four screws, four wall plugs
- The piece itself — undrilled
The standoffs clamp the work along its edge and hold it 16 mm off the wall. Nothing is drilled through the acrylic, which is why the edge stays clean and light travels behind the piece.
Two standoffs carry the piece — one centred on the top edge, one centred on the bottom edge. The other two are spares, and worth using at 80 × 160 cm.
You will need a drill, a pencil, a tape measure, a spirit level and a screwdriver. Nothing else.
How high to hang it
The single most useful rule: the centre of the piece belongs at eye level, around 145–150 cm above the floor. That is where galleries hang, and it is where a work looks composed rather than stranded. High ceilings do not change it — people do not get taller in tall rooms.
Above furniture, the piece relates to the furniture instead:
- Above a sofa: leave 20–30 cm between the top of the backrest and the bottom edge of the piece. Less and it looks stuck to the sofa, more and the two stop belonging together.
- Above a sideboard or console: 25–35 cm of clear wall. If objects stand on the sideboard, measure from the tallest one.
- Above a bed: 20–25 cm above the headboard.
- Above a dining table: here eye level applies again — people sit, but they also walk past. Around 150 cm to the centre works in both states.
On width: a single piece sits well at roughly two thirds the width of the furniture beneath it. Wider looks accidental, much narrower looks lost.
In a stairwell or a hallway you pass through, hang slightly lower than you think — you see the work in motion, from below, rarely standing still in front of it.
Before you drill
Mark the outline of the piece on the wall with masking tape and live with it for a day. It costs nothing and settles the question of height far better than holding the piece up for ten seconds.
Check what is behind the wall before you drill. In older buildings, cables often run vertically above sockets and switches.
Hanging it
- Measure the height of the piece and mark two points on the wall, vertically above one another: one for the top edge, one for the bottom edge, both centred on where the piece will sit.
- Check the two marks with a plumb line or a spirit level held vertically — if they are not exactly above one another, the piece will sit skewed and a clamped work cannot be nudged straight afterwards the way a picture hook allows.
- Drill both holes with a bit that matches the enclosed wall plugs — same diameter as the plug, never larger — and insert the plugs.
- Screw both standoff bases to the wall.
- Open the clamps, set the piece into them, top edge and bottom edge, and tighten by hand. Firm is enough. Overtightening puts stress on the acrylic and gains nothing.
- Step back before the last turn and check it reads level to the eye, not only to the spirit level — walls and ceilings are rarely straight.
Two people make this considerably easier from 75 × 100 cm upwards. The larger formats weigh 8 to 15 kg. In plasterboard, use cavity anchors rated for that weight rather than the standard plugs.
Where not to hang it
Direct, permanent sunlight is the one thing worth avoiding — as with any coloured artwork. Bathrooms and unheated spaces with condensation are not ideal either. Everywhere else is fine: the material is stable at normal room temperature and does not mind central heating.
Cleaning
Acrylic is softer than glass, so it is treated differently.
- Dust with a dry or barely damp microfibre cloth, wiping gently in one direction.
- For fingerprints, breathe on the spot and wipe — that is usually enough.
- Never use glass cleaner, alcohol, acetone or anything containing ammonia. They cloud the surface permanently.
- Never rub dust off dry with a paper towel or a rough cloth. Dust is abrasive; that is what causes fine scratches.
Done this way, the surface stays as it is for decades.
If something goes wrong
If a piece arrives damaged, send a photo the same day, before you get rid of the packaging — it will be remade free of charge. For anything else, write through the contact page.