The Best Drywall Anchor for Wall Decor, and How to Remove It

A metal expanding anchor, for almost everything decorative. The best drywall anchor for wall decor is the one that grips behind the board rather than squeezing against it, and that rules out the plastic plug that arrives in most boxes.

Removal is the other half of the question, and the answer depends on which type went in — some come out, some are cut flush, and some are tapped through into the cavity.

The Houseland modules hang on keyhole hangers, so the anchor stays in the wall while the shelf lifts off it.

The best drywall anchor for wall decor, by type

For a light wall piece or a decorative shelf, metal expanding anchors are the sensible default: strong enough, forgiving of screw depth, and they leave a modest hole.

Spring toggles are the step up when the load is real, at the cost of a bigger hole.

Why plastic plugs are the wrong default

A plastic expansion plug works by being compressed against solid material. Plasterboard is not solid material, so the plug spins in the hole or pulls straight out.

They are supplied because they suit masonry and cost almost nothing, not because they suit the wall most people have.

The failure is also sudden. A plug holds until the moment it does not, usually when somebody knocks the shelf rather than when it is loaded.

Replacing them costs very little and it is the single highest-value change in most shelf installations.

There is a second reason to change them that has nothing to do with strength. The Houseland modules hang and lift off their fixings, so the anchors stay in the wall for years while the shelves come down for repainting or rearranging. An anchor that loosens each time the screw is disturbed turns a two-minute job into a repair, and a metal one simply does not.

Taking an anchor out without tearing the wall

1. Self-drive plastic: unscrew it anticlockwise with a screwdriver. It comes out like a large screw, leaving a hole to fill.
2. Metal expanding: do not pull. Drive the screw back in a few turns, then tap the whole thing through into the cavity with a punch or the screw itself.
3. Spring toggle: unscrew the bolt and the wings fall into the cavity. Nothing to retrieve.
4. Plastic plug: if it will not tap through, cut it flush with a sharp blade and leave it.
5. Anything stuck: cut flush rather than lever. Levering takes the paper face of the board with it.

Nothing left inside a cavity causes any harm. A torn hole in the board face causes a repair.

From the shop

Honeycomb Shelves, 6-Piece Natural Pine Hexagon and Ledge Wall Set

A 6-piece natural pine set: three hexagons at 13.8, 11.8 and 9.8 in wide and three straight ledges of 19.7 in. 3.5 in deep with 0.6 in board, sanded pine under a clear matte lacquer, keyhole hangers, up to 5 kg (11 lb) per piece.

View the 6-piece pine honeycomb set — dimensions & current price

Filling the hole afterwards

Scrape the edges flat first, so nothing is standing proud around the hole.

Push filler in with a knife rather than smearing it across, so the hole is packed rather than skimmed, and leave it slightly proud because filler shrinks.

Sand flat with fine paper on a block, not with your fingers, which dishes the surface.

Spot-prime before painting. Skipping primer is what leaves a dull patch showing through the topcoat.

Large toggle holes may need filling twice, which is normal — the full sequence is in taking shelves down and making good.

Time the repair for the day the shelves come down rather than the day you hand the keys over. Filler needs to dry before sanding, and paint needs to dry before anyone inspects it, so a hole filled in the morning is a wall finished that evening — while one filled at the last minute is a patch that still looks like a patch.

Choosing by what the piece will hold

A light panel or framed art: two metal expanding anchors.

A decorative shelf with a few objects: the same, spaced as wide as the hangers allow.

A shelf with books: studs, or a batten across two studs. Anchors are the wrong tool here rather than the wrong size.

Anything a child could pull on: studs, without argument.

The deciding factor is direction rather than weight: a loaded shelf pulls the top fixing outward, and that is where anchors are weakest — when anchors are enough covers the threshold.

Number of fixings matters as much as type. Two anchors spaced wide apart resist rotation far better than three clustered close together, because the leverage that pulls a piece off the wall acts around the top fixing. Where a piece offers hanger positions near its outer edges, use them rather than any nearer the middle.

Board thickness, which changes the answer

Anchors are rated for a range of board thicknesses, and one designed for thicker board will not open properly in a thinner wall.

Most modern plasterboard is around half an inch, but older work, ceilings and some partitions vary.

Find out by drilling one hole and probing with a bent wire until it catches the back face. It takes a minute and it decides which packet to open.

In a dot-and-dab wall — board glued to masonry — there is a shallow cavity and solid wall behind, so a long screw into the masonry is stronger than any anchor spanning the gap.

Ceilings are the exception to every rule here. An anchor rated for a wall is being asked to work in pure tension when it is in a ceiling, which is the weakest direction of all, so nothing decorative should hang from a plasterboard ceiling on an anchor alone.

Anchors and keyhole hangers

Keyholes need the screw left slightly proud, which is a problem for anchors that only stay tight when the screw is fully driven.

Metal expanding anchors and toggles both tolerate it, because they grip the board independently of the screw.

Self-drive plastic anchors often loosen when the screw is backed off, which is exactly the adjustment a keyhole requires.

Check the anchor still feels solid after setting the screw depth. If turning the screw back a quarter turn makes the whole fixing move, that anchor is the wrong type for the job.

One habit worth building: after setting the screw depth, hang and lift the piece three or four times before loading it. If the anchor is going to loosen, it will do so during those first cycles rather than later with objects on the shelf.

What I would do

Two metal expanding anchors per piece, pan-head screws, and the plastic plugs from the box kept as spares for masonry.

On removal, tap them through rather than pulling, fill once, prime, and paint.

And keep two spares with the shelf. The anchor that gets used at the next house is otherwise whatever is in the drawer, which is how a well-hung shelf ends up on a bad fixing.