I have been hanging my pictures in different places lately, which means that the bare wall behind my desk frequently changes layout. I was looking for a way to hang/rehang them without putting a ton of holes in my wall, and I'm pretty happy with the solution so far:
I picked up some extruded aluminum t-track, knobs, and vinyl coated wire with crimps from Amazon. The t-track had a bunch of screw holes pre-drilled in it, so I was able to screw it into the ceiling as it was. Then I ran a loop of wire around a knob, crimped it in place, and cut the wire long enough to hang to the floor. Finally, I added a couple of loops in each wire, which were held in place by looping a wire back through one of the crimps. Leaving it un-crimped allows me to slide the loops up and down the wire. Now, instead of moving picture hangers, I slide the knob along the rail to adjust my "x" axis, move a loop of wire to adjust my "y" axis, and then clip a picture hanger on the loop instead.
The track is still pretty visible, especially with the knobs in it. It doesn't bother me enough to change it, but you may want it to paint it to match the ceiling if you were doing this. I'm also considering adding a light bar/shade across the front, which will block the track/knobs from view. That's a project for another day, though
The knob, with the wire crimped on it. These are originally made to go in t-tracks on a woodworking bench (where they would hold a project piece in place).
The track attached to the ceiling. I'm only using wood screws into the sheetrock, so I probably wouldn't trust it to hold too much weight. I might lay a 2x4 or something similar in the attic if I was doing this again. That said, it's been solid for the past couple of months.
The finished result.
I picked up some extruded aluminum t-track, knobs, and vinyl coated wire with crimps from Amazon. The t-track had a bunch of screw holes pre-drilled in it, so I was able to screw it into the ceiling as it was. Then I ran a loop of wire around a knob, crimped it in place, and cut the wire long enough to hang to the floor. Finally, I added a couple of loops in each wire, which were held in place by looping a wire back through one of the crimps. Leaving it un-crimped allows me to slide the loops up and down the wire. Now, instead of moving picture hangers, I slide the knob along the rail to adjust my "x" axis, move a loop of wire to adjust my "y" axis, and then clip a picture hanger on the loop instead.
The track is still pretty visible, especially with the knobs in it. It doesn't bother me enough to change it, but you may want it to paint it to match the ceiling if you were doing this. I'm also considering adding a light bar/shade across the front, which will block the track/knobs from view. That's a project for another day, though
The knob, with the wire crimped on it. These are originally made to go in t-tracks on a woodworking bench (where they would hold a project piece in place).
The track attached to the ceiling. I'm only using wood screws into the sheetrock, so I probably wouldn't trust it to hold too much weight. I might lay a 2x4 or something similar in the attic if I was doing this again. That said, it's been solid for the past couple of months.
The finished result.