I use screws, usually drywall screws, to hang things on my walls.

Carla in Sac

Diane

I've hung huge elfa shelving with plaster anchors and 2" screws, and even lag bolts that go into the space behind the lathe. Plaster is incredibly strong; our utility room shelves probably have 500 pounds of stuff on them and they're suspended from 6 lag bolts.

For things like pot racks etc., i used smaller plaster anchors. If I'm lucky, I'll hit the lathe, too. I've never been able to accurately locate the studs.

For pictures and lighter things, I've had pretty good luck just tapping the hangers in. There's a special kind (perhaps the Oooks mentione above) that has coated nails with knurled heads to (in theory) avoid cracking.

Still, for anything over 10 lbs., I'd use an anchor. Oh, and for drill bits, you need a specialized plaster bit. It will dull ordinary bits in a minute. Pre-drilling is always a good idea. for the little hangers you could use a 5/64ths bit.

For deep holes that go through the plaster and lathing, you may need one type of bit to get through the plaster and another to get through the wood lathe.

Any carbide tipped masonry bit will go through plaster like butter and last a long time.
The problem is they are often difficult to find in sizes below about 1/8 inch.
A plain old steel twist bit (even the cruddy soft Chinese drill bits) will for a while before the edge is shot.
They are so cheap it is almost not worth buying the carbide unless you have a number of holes to drill.
Having a 1/4 inch masonry bit for molly bolts and plastic anchors might be worth the trouble.

I have used plain old common nails (8d works well) in a drilled hole (drill slightly downward) for many years for typical light weight pictures (anything up to about 10-15 pounds).
Heavier pictures get a pair of molly bolts (be sure to get some long enough for plaster), while mirrors get fasteners into the studs.
Mirrors and other heavy objects may require a ledger strip (1x2) fastened to the studs and then hanging fasteners into the wood if the studs are not aligned at the correct location.
Note that if you use two anchors for a heavy item that is also using wire the anchors do NOT have to be centered correctly behind the object.

We do have a few walls that have been replaced with drywall and I actually prefer the plaster walls to hang things on! Drywall just feels so soft to me!!

Also - for all wall types - I saw this on one of the hgtv shows: to easily find the hook on the picture hook once on the wall, place a straw on the hook. Then take the picture wire and place it behind the straw until it reaches the hook and then remove the straw. Soooo much easier than trying to use your hand blindly behind the picture you are trying to hang to find the hook!

Aqmodra: attach the brackets to the window casings. There is going to be a stud behind the casing extending from floor to ceiling to frame the window...could screw into that above the casing.

are?

It is a name for the trademarked 'Drywall' gypsum.

Do you have 2 coat plaster? It uses gypsum boards as the base.