How can I make this hook work with hollow wall anchors?

Question

I am looking to hang some fairly light objects (3 lbs max) from the ceiling of my kitchen through a couple of hooks like the one in the photo. Unfortunately, my kitchen has a "false ceiling", lower than in the rest of the apartment. that does not touch any joist.

My go to solution, toggle bolts, does not work in this case for incompatibility with the thread of the hooks. I tried a couple of standard plastic anchors, also shown in the photo, but unsurprisingly as I started screwing the hook, the plastic anchor started rotating with it.
I am wondering what those more experienced recommend as the best approach:

1. Use some product to increase the friction between the plastic anchor and the drywall. The main issue here seems to be the location on the ceiling, which eliminates any liquid, or at least those not viscous enough to stay in place for the time necessary to dry. In case, what is the best candidate: some type of glue? DryDex DAP? Or?

2. Reduce the applied torque by getting a plastic anchor with a larger "hole". Those I've been trying have an opening diameter of 6mm that matches the minor diameters of the hook thread whose major diameter is 8mm.

3. A better solution. My initial idea was to get hooks with machined threads that fit a toggle bolt, but could not find one with a suitable size and shape.

The first two pics show the cramped kitchen and its ceiling, lowered by 10.5". As it can be seen, space is a commodity very much in demand as the wall on both sides of the window can't be used for hanging because it doesn't extend beyond the span of the cabinet doors.

The hanging place I tentatively chose is the red X between the window and the central light, 10" from the former, 30" from the latter and just clear of the cabinet door. What I want to hang from two 2 hooks is a pressure cooker lid that weighs 3.3 lbs but has an annoyingly big handle 1.5" large and 1" thick which requires a hook larger than any of those that I saw compatible with toggle bolts.

The sad looking collage below shows a bunch of grainy & out of focus pictures of the space above the ceiling positioned in a drawing that in its intent represents a map of the terrain as seen by the borescope standing above the hole, with north chosen as pointing to the windows. Metal rails run east west along the window and delimiting the space of the electrical light and some brackets can be seen in places where nothing can be hanged.

It is the non-usability for my goal of any of the available support structures that led me to model this portion of the ceiling as an infinite drywall plane floating in space, even though I am not fully convinced of their existence myself.

Answer 1

First, recall that drywall doesn't float. It must be supported somewhere. The support might not be wood framing, though. Metal "hat channel" and other profiles are also commonly used especially in commercial construction (like an apartment). A magnet may help you find the fasteners; a stud finder may help you find the structure. Also, drywall is wimpy. Anchors work in shear but IMHO there's no such thing as an anchor with good pull-out strength. Toggle bolts, or supporting structure behind the drywall, are your only hope against pull-out.

The structure might not be in a place that's convenient for you or it might be unsuitable for the type of hook you want to use. In that case you're still back at square 1: how can I hang anything here by the drywall alone?

A possible answer to that is to use some intermediate support like a block or strip of wood. With multiple toggle bolts you can easily mount wood to the drywall. Your large lag screw type hooks will easily install to the wood. You can choose the wood species, finish, and shape to be as simple or ornate as you wish. It could look something like this pot rack, mounted directly to the ceiling rather than suspended. (photo: amazon.com)

Answer 2

TL;DR Get Hooks WITH Toggles

Hooks with toggles are definitely the way to go. Any kind of "anchor" will be gripping just a very small amount of drywall. A toggle rests on top of a lot more drywall (or plaster or whatever) so it can safely hold a lot more weight - 3 lbs. should not be a problem at all with decent toggles.

Something like this semi-random example from Amazon:

They are available in a wide variety of styles and sizes.

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Based on updated information added to the original post, a typical ceiling hook will not be large enough. I suspect that is because the nature of a toggle-bolt ceiling hook is that it can hold a few pounds safely - perhaps as much as 20 pounds - but not something like a bicycle. So the typical use of such a hook is for plants, lights or other relatively lightweight items. Since this is an item with a large handle but not all that heavy, the solution is to use a pot hook together with a toggle-bolt ceiling hook. There are plenty of pot hooks with a small side and a large side. The small side hooks over the ceiling hook and the large side holds your pot lid (or other bulky item, within overall weight constraints).

Answer 3

No garage hooks

The garage hook in your photo is designed to be screwed into wood, or into very large anchors in concrete. It cannot be used in drywall.

No wood canopy

Only use a wood strip along the ceiling if you want the visual of a fancy thing attached to the ceiling, like an ornate chandelier canopy or a pool table light hanging from an elaborate corniced ceiling box. Otherwise, it's a lot of extra work for nothing, doesn't look good, and you don't need it.

Use wing-nut eye bolts PLUS pot hooks

Responding here based on a comment that ordinary ceiling hooks are too small for pot handles.

Find toggle wings and eye bolts with matching thread, for example: M6 toggle wings , M6 x 2" eye bolts.

• They don't come in a set, you have to buy the bolts and the wings separately. The wings may come with ordinary bolts that you throw out. You can buy small quantities at a hardware store. They don't have to be M6, they just have to have matching threads. The bolt needs to be long enough, and the long ones tend to be fat so the objective is to go to the hardware store and find the best matching set of an eye hook that is long and thin, with a toggle wing that has a matching thread.

Then attach a pot hook. Exactly what you want! The asymmetric design prevents it from falling off the ceiling hook, and makes it easy to hang a pot handle. There are many designs.

Gratuitous Small Kitchen Ideas

You say your kitchen is "small" and you have a dropped ceiling. Depending on the budget:

• $ Demolish the ceiling to open up the room. Install beautiful low-profile LED lighting. Use the top of the cabinets for storage. Attach hooks to the real ceiling.
• $$ Install a ledge around the other walls at the height of the cabinet top for further storage
• $$$ Install a taller window
• $$$$ Ok I know when to stop

Answer 4

A: use anchors that are with a suited to larger screws, the thread on your hook is too big for those anchors.

B: reach into the false ceiling (eg thropugh where a downlight or vent is fitted) and place pieces of 1/4" plywood or sheet metal pre-driled and threaded to accept the hooks

Answer 5

The hook you are showing is for wood, studs.

For drywall I recommend

You screw them in then screw in the hook.

It wont turn anymore since it is already screwed.

However for ceiling I recommend Hooks with toggles

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