How to Hang Posters Without Damaging Your Walls UK — 5 Methods That Actually Work

No nails, no damage, no lost deposit — everything you need to know about hanging posters in a UK rental or any home, from a Camden Market print studio

The UK Renter's Problem

About 35% of UK households rent. Most rental agreements specifically prohibit damage to walls — which, depending on your landlord's definition, can include anything from a nail hole to a Blu-Tack stain. The result: millions of people in the UK living with bare walls because they don't want to risk their deposit, when they could have a beautiful poster display without touching a nail.

We print and sell posters from our Camden Market studio, so we think about this constantly. Here are the five methods that actually work for hanging posters in a UK rental or any home — from completely damage-free options to the professional approaches for your own home.

Method 1 — Command Picture Strips (Best for Most Situations)

Command Picture Hanging Strips (3M) are the gold standard for renter-friendly poster hanging in the UK. They hold posters and lightweight frames firmly to smooth plaster walls, peel off cleanly when you leave, and leave no mark when used correctly. They're available at B&Q, Wilko, Amazon, and most hardware shops.

How to use Command Strips for posters: Clean the wall area with a dry cloth first. Attach one half of each strip pair to your poster (or frame back) and the other half to the wall. Press firmly for 30 seconds, then pull the poster away from the wall and wait one hour before pressing it back for final adhesion. This is the step most people skip — and why they sometimes fall. One hour. Then press back. For an A3 unframed print, two strips (one at each top corner) are sufficient. For an A2 or larger framed print, use four.

Method 2 — Poster Putty (Best for Very Lightweight Prints)

Blu-Tack, UHU Tac, or any poster putty is a good option for very lightweight, unframed paper prints — A5 or smaller. It's completely damage-free on smooth walls, repositionable, and costs almost nothing. The limitations: it's not reliable for larger prints (A3 or above) because the print can bow or peel away from the wall over time, especially in warm rooms. It can also leave a faint grease mark on some painted surfaces.

Use small balls of putty at each corner and the midpoint of each side. Don't use too much — it makes removal harder and increases the risk of marking. On rough or textured walls, putty holds less reliably; use strips instead. If your landlord has specifically prohibited Blu-Tack (some do, particularly for freshly-painted walls), use Command Strips instead.

Method 3 — Washi Tape (For a Decorative Effect)

Washi tape is a Japanese masking tape that comes in hundreds of patterns and colours and is specifically designed to be removable without damage. Some people use it just to hold their print to the wall; others use it as part of the display — taping around the border of an unframed print to create a decorative frame effect that looks intentional rather than practical.

Washi tape holds very lightweight prints (A5 and below) reliably on smooth surfaces. For larger prints, combine it with Command Strips on the upper edge for stability. Available at Paperchase, Hobbycraft, Amazon and most stationery shops. Particularly popular for creating decorative print collages.

Method 4 — Framing + Proper Picture Hooks (For Your Own Home)

If it's your own home and you're not worried about nail holes, framing your prints and hanging them on proper picture hooks gives the most stable, polished result. 98types prints are available in A6, A5, A4 and A3 — all standard frame sizes available from IKEA, Wilko, B&M and most high street shops.

What size frame for 98types prints? A6 fits a 10x15cm frame. A5 fits a 15x20cm frame. A4 fits a 20x30cm frame. A3 fits a 30x40cm frame. These are all standard IKEA frame sizes (the RIBBA range from IKEA is the most popular and the most affordable — from £2.99 per frame). The 20x25cm framed option with black mount is also available directly from 98types for A4 prints.

Method 5 — Lean It (The Design Trick Nobody Talks About Enough)

Leaning a framed print against the wall — on a shelf, a windowsill, a mantelpiece, a console table, or directly on the floor against the skirting board for a large format — requires no installation whatsoever and is currently one of the most popular approaches in interior design. It looks deliberate. It looks like a gallery. And you can change it whenever you want without touching the wall.

This works particularly well for: a large A3 or A2 framed print on a mantelpiece, propped against the chimney breast. Two or three smaller prints leaned at different heights on a wide shelf. A single oversized print leaned against a feature wall. The constraint is that the print needs to be framed to lean safely and look polished. Unframed prints on shelves can curl.

What Size Prints are Best for Renters?

Renters tend to get the most visual impact with A3 (30x40cm) as the maximum size — large enough to make a statement, light enough for Command Strips. A mix of A4 and A3 across a gallery wall is the optimal renter's combination: enough visual weight to look deliberate, light enough for completely damage-free hanging.

All 98types prints — film posters, music lyric prints, game art — are available in A4 and A3, dispatched same-day from Camden Market on 260gsm museum-grade paper. From £3. Buy 3 get 1 free. Your walls shouldn't have to be bare just because you rent.