After I took down a row of framed photos, my living room wall looked like it had chickenpox. Fifteen nail holes, each one a tiny dark dot. I had a tub of spackle and a bad memory of trying to patch holes before, so I put it off for weeks.

It turns out small nail holes are the easiest drywall repair there is. The whole wall took me under an hour.

Use Spackle, Not Joint Compound

For nail holes, a lightweight spackle is the right tool. It dries fast, shrinks almost nothing, and sands easily. Joint compound works fine for big jobs, but it is overkill here and takes longer to dry.

The Process

1. Wipe the dust off each hole
2. Scoop a little spackle onto a putty knife
3. Press it into the hole, dragging the knife flat across the surface
4. Let it dry, usually thirty to sixty minutes
5. Sand lightly with fine sandpaper
6. Touch up with paint

The key is to fill the hole completely and scrape the excess off in the same stroke. If you leave a bump, you will sand for ten minutes. If you underfill, you will see the hole again after painting.

Skip the Paint if the Color Matches

On my wall, a tiny dab of spackle dried white and blended in well enough that I skipped painting altogether. If your wall is a light color, test one hole first. Dark walls need paint.

Anchors Need a Bigger Patch

If the hole has a plastic anchor stuck in it, pull the anchor out first with pliers. Then the hole is usually small enough for spackle anyway. For anything bigger than a quarter, use a drywall patch kit instead.

I patched fifteen holes in about forty minutes. My wall looks like the photos were never there.