I've seen many people online recommending the 3M adhesive hangers that claim not to take the paint off the wall upon removal. However, I used the 3M Picture Hangers with Command Adhesive at my last apartment, and it not only removed the paint, but part of the drywall as well. Unfortunately, I don't have any recommendations as to what you should use - I just moved into a new apartment and haven't hung a thing on the walls because I don't want another mishap.

{{!gwi}}
I used double sided adhesive pads to hold my framed chaulkboard to the side of the island. I think they were a bit old and didn't have adequate holding strength. One afternoon we heard a tumble and it was on the floor.

Not wanting to pound nails into the new cabinetry, I put a few blobs of hot glue in the top corners and it seems very sturdy now.

The "chaulkboard" is actually just a piece of foamboard painted with chaulkboard paint. The only real weight comes from the frame.

For smaller items, there's some kind of putty you can use--Fun Tack sound familiar?

I have used the command adhesive hooks for a number of years all over the house, and never had them strip off paint, let alone drywall.

One thing that is important is how you remove the adhesive. You need to pull straight down and essentially 'stretch' it off the wall. You don't pull up on it as if you were removing a piece of tape.

Sticky-tac or fun-tack as mentioned is an alternative for very light things.

The other way to plan things out before committing to a nail or hook there is to cut out the shapes of the items (and label them so you don't get confused - LOL) from newspaper or brown paper bags. Use those pieces taped up on the wall with blue painter's tape to plan out placement before you hang the actual items. Then once you have your plan, you can nail or screw the hangers right through the paper. If you choose to use the command hooks, of course you will have to mark with a pencil and then remove the template.

I have used the method that les mentions - traced around the item on kraft paper and stuck that to the wall and lived with it for a bit. Be sure to mark on the kraft paper where the hanger is, so that you can put a nail exactly where it's needed. It works really well. If you wanted to go crazy with it you could make a color photocopy of it and put that up to really make sure it works before committing.