Hanging Plates on the Wall

by | Jan 21, 2014 | Decorating, My House, Secret Weapons | 63 comments

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Many of you have noticed the plates hanging on my walls throughout my home.  If you haven’t noticed, plates, platters and lids are pretty much my go-to wall art.  It all started because I could find plates at yard sales and thrift stores…sometimes for as low as 10 cents a piece.  I ended up with enough plates to feed a small army, so I started hanging them on the walls.  I first hung plates in the obvious place…the kitchen, but when I needed something to hang in the bathroom of our townhouse, I opted for an arrangement of silver plated platters.  (They looked so good against the rich navy walls!)

I always have a stack of plates and platters in my home, so when I’m moving things around, the plates are often the first thing I pull out to fill a space or round out an arrangement. When we hung our flatscreen TV on the wall and it looked alone and huge and black in the middle of the wall, I decided to arrange ironstone and blue and white plates around it to make it work a little better in the room.

I also have a lot of narrow, awkward walls in my house that a row of plates is perfect for.

When I starched the fabric on the wall in my bedroom, I immediately wanted to break it up with an arrangement of ironstone plates.

I know some people don’t like plates on a bedroom wall.  It doesn’t make sense to them.  But I’ve looked around and I’m not the only one to do it.  So, if you like plates on your bedroom wall, go for it!  If you don’t, don’t.

So, I’ve also been asked how I hang my plates.  There really isn’t a single answer, because it depends on the plate, platter, lid, etc.  I’ve used wire hangers and the velcro command strips mostly, but I’ve also rigged up all sorts of MacGyver-esq plate hangers with florist wire, duct tape, glue guns and anything that will hold a plate in a pinch.  When I want to decorate, I want to decorate and the absence of a plate hanger isn’t going to stop me!

I’ve also used the fabric hangers with the adhesive on one side that you wet and apply to the plate.  I don’t like those as much, because they are tough to remove and sometimes I move my platters around and use them for serving or in a stack.

I think your wall art should be an extension of the things you like to collect.  There is so much impact in a grouping of small hand brooms, mirrors, pretty frames, clocks, cutting boards, framed linens…whatever your thing is.

My favorite thing to collect is ironstone and that is very evident in my home…

…even on the walls!

PS – There’s a big MMS Milk Paint giveaway happening over at the MMSMP blog today

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    63 Comments

    1. Angela

      I love the plates everywhere in your home and when I collect a few more I’m going to start hanging some also.

    2. Sally

      I love your plates, I have over two hundred hanging, they are my wall art!

    3. Paola Norman

      I love your hanging plates, esp. in your bedroom and in the corners of your home. I think they bring an extra touch to the already existing beauty.

    4. Tara

      It’s so fun to see your ironstone displayed in so many unique ways! Thank you for always inspiring me!

    5. Wendybayer

      I hang plates & platters & trays everywhere too, and for all the same reasons listed. I’m glad I’m not the only one rigging up hangers with duct tape, ribbon, hot glue & pop tabs- lol!

    6. Peggy

      We used to have small plates hanging…. they were the plates of my childhood, purchased when we lived in Germany. Some were quirky, while others were commemorative, and others still were ones that just tickled a fancy. Now that we removed everything from the walls and are starting over, well the plates are going back up on the walls.

      I have to admit I simply love your ironstone on the walls! And it makes me even happier to discover that you just use what you have in order to hang your plates, lids, & platters!!

    7. Kathy Chavez

      Really like the clean lines added by the hanging plates rather than artwork which could distract by adding too much for the eye?

    8. Kathy

      I have hung plates for years. In the bedroom too! It started with a stack I inherited from my grandmother. I still have the plates and they have made an appearance in every home I’ve had. I also have enamelware hanging in arrangements. I think of them all as a forms of artwork. I love your different arrangements…… awkward, narrow, stacked, and artfully arranged!

    9. Margo

      Love your generous giveaway! This is my entry and I love reading your blog.

    10. Shannon

      I love how you’ve arranged the plates on the walls. I could never bring myself to hang a plate… 🙂

    11. sandi m

      Love all you wall plates.
      Yup, I have plates in a bedroom, too. To me they are decoration and can be hung wherever ……

    12. sandi m

      ps – the time clock on this blog IS correct!!

    13. Suzan

      I especially love the hanging lids. Great way to use something that doesn’t have a mate. I rarely see lids so I have a lot of serving pieces that should have lids and don’t. I must be looking in the wrong places!!

    14. Gloria

      My daughter and I have started plate hanging. Love it!
      So excited about the MMS give away! This is my entry. Already enjoy the blog , FB and Pinterest.

      Enjoy this snow day with the boys and your Hubby! he is faithful and continues to use you and yours to encourage others. Will continue to pray for you all.

    15. Heidi

      I like the idea of plates on the wall, but I’m always worried about cleaning them and one potentially falling off the wall. Crazy, I know!

      http://jax-and-jewels.blogspot.com

    16. Mollie Culpepper

      LOVE all the different spots you hung the plates and lids! I think my favorite spot is in the corner in your living room, it just adds so much to that little spot without it being too much! I am also a collector of ironstone, there is so much you can do with it, it is definitely my go to decorating piece!

    17. Mollie Culpepper

      P.S. I did all four of the requests! SO excited about this giveaway!

    18. Tara

      I have used plate hangers, but found I did not like seeing them at the tops and bottoms of the plates. But, more than I did not like seeing them, I did not like paying for them! Did not like paying a couple of cents for the plate and paying more for them. So, I used Gorilla Glue, the picture thing that you nail into the back of pictures (the little longer strip that has zig zags on it), and glued those to the back. They worked! You can see the example of my wall of plates in my dinging room at http://wp.me/p3WJB8-ba.

    19. Dijana

      THANK YOU for this post. I have often used plate stands to display a pretty plate but as of recently I want to venture into hanging some pretty ones around the house too! Personally, I collect cafe au lait bowls and love to just stack them in, say, ombre effect for that visual punch. Even my husband has embraced my bowls and will occasionally get me a pretty one when he comes across.

    20. Melissa Adams

      I’m always nervous to hang anything on the walls… I need TUTORIALS please….. as I have several plates I’d really like to hang, just so afraid I’ll do it wrong and they’ll fall off and shatter! HELP….

      • Melissa

        Hey Melissa too! I recently found a fairly easy way to map out and hang the plates. Take paper bags and place your plates face down on the disassembled bag. Trace each plate and cut out it’s shape. Mine are all circular, but different sizes and colors. Lightly Scotch tape shapes to desired wall. Play with layout to decide which works best. If there’s a fave plate or certain ones to be more front and center play with how to best showcase those 1st. I have a mound of vintage tourist plates with a myriad of color and graphics and plan to spread them across my office wall in a wave-like pattern. The twist is that I plan to implement those fave plates in key areas of the wave-meaning-I have to play with my layout too. If using colored plates, for extra ease, color the cut out with the strongest color on the plate in mind. Pinterest is a good place to see more layouts, but MM”s our also cool options-love the ones with tone on tone. Just Google plate racks online for where to purchase. Then clip on the racks & hang like you would a picture-with extra care to heavier pieces. There are various options for hanging w/o racks-with mounts and ribbon for added pizazz. Most of mine came with the racks attached, so I’m using those. Hope this helps!

    21. Karen

      Love your paint!

    22. tina

      Marian – I have a question. I am curious as to lamps! The other day when you showed the family room and living room, I don’t remember seeing any lamps. I forgot about it till the pic above. I do see lamps in your bedroom, but do you not like lamps in your other rooms?

      Just curious, I love lamplight (instead of overhead lights) myself, so I guess that’s why I noticed.

      tina

    23. Maggie S

      I love the shot of your family room –the new sofa is perfect!!
      Just a touch of something different that makes the room look wonderful (and it seems to match the wood top on the TV stand)

    24. BrocanteuseRose

      I love this idea! I have platters I have collected, now I think I will put some on the wall.

    25. Loribeth

      I’m one of those people who doesn’t understand the plates in the bathroom or the bedroom. I always think they look nice in other people’s homes, but when I’ve tried to do it in my house, it just didn’t work for me. Of course, if I had a collection as large as yours, I might think differently!

    26. Janeen

      I could have written your blogpost! I’ve been decorating with plates and other dinnerware pieces for over 30 yrs. And like you, I often start redecorating by rearranging or adding plates first. I favor the older “flowerdy” designs by Homer Laughlin, but use blue and white in our bedroom.

    27. Brandi @ Nest of Bliss

      I love all of the plates you showcase on your walls. I am just starting to pick up the odd plate here and there. I would love to see a tutorial on the different ways you hang them – I have no idea where to start!

    28. Katy

      I come from a long line of plate hanging ladies. Seeing hanging plates or blue and white transferware instantly takes me back to my childhood. I also love silverplate trays hanging…and silverplate in general. There is just something so perfect about ironstone, transferware, and silverplate. Think I might be preaching to the choir on that.

    29. Elizabeth

      I have used plates as a reasonably priced manner of decoration for many years. Have you ever tried placing them on edge at the border of a garden, slightly embedded in the dirt, and called it “my dish garden.”

    30. Joye Outlar

      Marion,
      Is there either a physical place or online place(like facebook) where you sell your painted furniture???
      I only live in the Lancaster, PA area, so not far from you. I have been to Luckets Store,
      but the Gettysburg area is much closer. I’m looking for a couple of pieces and admire your
      painted furniture. Thanks for your response.
      Joye

    31. Gina

      I love plates and platters hanging too. I only started hanging them a few years ago inspired by your use of them, and I’m sure others too. I use the yellow disc hangers. 🙂

    32. Dianne

      Your plates on the wall are an inspiration. I’ve always hung plates on the wall; in every room! They are easy to change out and you can find them very inexpensively. I’ve also found so many that seasonally I use a variety of plates and stack them on a side board and use them for sandwiches, dessert, or whatever. Recently I served dessert on them and my guests commented how nice they were (all different) but in the blue and white tones. Thanks for all of your ideas.

    33. Linda Parent

      Love your blog, your style and your authenticity…

    34. Lynn Dumouchel

      Love your plates even on you bedroom walls , I wouldn’t of thought of that but it looks great.
      P.s. entered your contest thanks for giving us a chance to win.

    35. laura@live-love-scrap

      I love every last one of them! You’ve got me looking around all my walls to see if I have room to hang plates. . . 🙂
      By the way, you have a BEAUTIFUL house!

    36. jan

      I want to know how you starched your bedroom wall… gorgeous!

    37. Melissa

      I use to be a major hater of plates on the wall. But since then, I have done a 360! Better to showcase all those inherited, collected and-possibly-miss matched lovelies where all can admire, than stuffed in a closed cabinet or box in the garage. I have a series of vintage tourist plates that folks use to pick-up when traveling out of state or country. Mine are all Americana and I adore the “kitchy” and quirky nod displayed from that a era. I plan to use the technique I described in my reply to Melissa Adams and stream them across the wall that way. I have to mention that I just love your blog, posts, message, and design esthetic….to twist a popular passage from the movie As Good as it Gets….you make me want to be a better home designer. Thanks for all you bring to the design and repurpose fan’s table! ;}}}

    38. Linda Evans

      omg, plates on the wall are gorgeous !!!!!!!!!!!!! simple, beautiful, what more could you want.

    39. Jo

      Grew up in the era when ‘plates on the wall’ meant the dainty china hand painted flowery ones…now love the solid and honest look of ironstone. Thanks for the guidance into a wonderfully different design potential.

      Small caveat on the duct tape/hot glue hangers….hung 8 antique plates on a north-facing interior wall and 3 survived……massive amount of glue and tape could not complete with temperature change and Mr. Gravity…….live, weep, learn…and try something else !

    40. peggy Watson

      Had a good howl when I read the title of today’s post…
      had just texted a friend that I was rethinking my plan to become a professional plate hanger. Ha. 20extra holes and an hour later, they are up! Arranged very pretty over our bed…hmm, wonder where I got that idea! ❤

    41. jaelyn simmons

      Love everything you do!!

    42. Beth

      You have a beautiful collection; each piece having its own unique story and history. Whereas you like white inronstone, I like color and love my unusual collections of turreens.

    43. Bara

      One wall of my bedroom had 3 doors in a row. One a closet, one to the bathroom and one to exit the room. I never was happy with anything I hung between the 1st & second and between the second & third doors. One day years ago, I tried 3 blue and white dishes above each of the doors. Between the doors I hung blue and white with a plaster angle sconce holding an English tuber rose plate. It unified the wall, I loved it then and still do to this day. Yes, plates can work in the bedroom, they a pieces of art on china as is a painting on fabric.

    44. Mimi

      Marion and friends, I use
      Flatiron Disc Invisible Plate Hangers
      by J&Y Crossman
      to hang my plates. You can find them on amazon.com and I also found some at Hobby Lobby in Phoenix. They consist of circular disks with a hanging ring. You moisten the glue on the disk and affix it to the back of the plate and let dry overnight. They are not reusable but are easy to remove. I turn the plate face down and pour a little water in the depression where I have stuck the plate hanger and let it sit for a few hours. The hanger loosens and then I clean off any remaining adhesive with water. They come in various sizes for hanging small to large items. I have been using them for over a year now and haven’t had any fail me.

    45. Kris Botti

      I, like you, have plates hanging around my house, including over my headboard in the master bedroom. Several years ago I was experiencing a sleepless night, so I starting counting plates in my head (instead of sheep!) to help me fall asleep. The only problem was, I questioned my final tally & had to get up out of bed to look around the house to see if I’d forgotten any! It’s my go-to sleep aid now because I know how many there should be when I’m done!

    46. Janet

      Wow, I love the look of your plate collection.

    47. Carole

      I’ve been handing plates in multiple rooms for years……my favorites: blue/white transferware, all white ironstone, and any old plate I find that attracts me (especially if it has blue in it). I have one resting on a Victorian towel rack with a mirror on it painted white (I placed a blue and white Swedish plate in front of the mirror portion) Looks charming and unexpected. Love the way your house has evolved.

    48. Dixie

      I think I’m going to start a new blog for myself called “The Copy Cat Queen”. Yesterday, I hung my heifer head (encircled by a boxwood wreath) in our farmhouse renno… And finished hanging my mother-in-laws plates! Mine aren’t the white ironstone that you love and collect… But I’m thinking about starting a collection! I used the European discs to hang my plates… They say you can remove them(soaking) and reuse them… Mainly, I won’t use the array of plates mostly found in the attic and the barn.. So a more permanent solution was fine for mine. I just love the timing of your post as it reflects into my world. Blessings. Dixie.. Aka… The Copy Cat Queen…

    49. beth treaster

      Love reading all your post…have a few plates on my wall…you’ve inspired me to hang more. Hope your son is doing ok.

    50. Kate

      Love your decorating. It’s refreshing to the soul. Is ironstone a brand name??? I’m not familiar but I like it. Thank you.

    51. Gloria

      Love it

    52. Alison

      I’ve been hanging plates or anything else that could be hung on the walls for years. I enjoy reading your posts and wish you continued success. This is my entry.

    53. Linda Leyble

      Love all your plates and how you’ve used them. I have a lot of plates – antique Quimper plates from France. When my kitchen was blue and white – they went beautifully. But since I changed my colors…not all of them go. But I love how you incorporated your ironstone and platters with your plates. I have to re-assess!

      Thanks for your post…made me think. And that’s why we blog, right?

      Linda

      PS…thinking of your son today. Hope all is well

    54. Kathy Saldana

      I have hung plates for years…probably longer than you’ve been alive…..ironstone is my love but I don’t find as many here in Texas as you do up north….some of your finds are fabulous…especially your soup tureens….I haven’t one yet but I’m going to keep looking….and it has to be a bargain. Going to Pa in the fall….will look some more!

    55. Lee

      Your plates look fabulous, I love plates and have a collection from all over the world. I used to buy a plate from every country we visited, Italian, French etc usually decorative in blue and yellow designs. I haven’t hung them in this house as it is so small and have them stacked away but when I get my kitchen re-done I might hang a few there.

      Hope your feeling more settled now and easing back into a normal routine 🙂

      Lee

    56. Kate

      I just wondered if one of your boys has ever knocked a plate off the wall? My 11yo knocked a plate from the wall by stretching and not watching where he was. It broke and so, now I’m a little paranoid about anyone getting too close to my plate wall. I notice some of yours are pretty low.

    57. JaneEllen

      This is my entry for your give away. Hope this is right place to enter. If I ever won something I’d most likely faint, never have in 73 yrs.
      Love all your plates, why have them if you’re not going to get to see/enjoy them? Great way to display. Love the blue/white with ironstone. When I open your posts I like to check out your displays. I use the plate hangers from HL that stick on, other plate hangers tend to scratch the plates. I like to put some hot glue around the edges that come over top/bottom of plate. Just renew the glue when it wears off. Glue helps to keep hanger on plate.
      Hard to find ironstone here, it gets grabbed up at thrift stores, same as silver plate. I was looking at a really nice silver plate piece few months ago at Goodwill in Grand Junction, explaining to hubs about the mark on back. A woman was standing there listening, grabbed piece right out out my hands and took off with it. From then on I was very careful how I spoke about a piece I was interested in. Last few months, no nice silver plate pieces at all anywhere, too bad as I sure like how they look on my shelves. I like to put pretty soaps in one in bathrooms.
      Hope all going well with your boy, he’ll adjust to diabetes before you and his Dad do.
      Happy week

    58. Rita Donato-Edwards

      HI Marion,
      Love your blog, you love ironstone as much as I do. I think this might be a problem though, it looks like ironstone prices are going up on ebay. Oh, no!
      Rita

    59. Cindy

      LOVE the plates on the wall… they look great every place you’ve put them! I thought it was funny that you said you wouldn’t let not having a plate hanger stop you… I love that!

      Cindy

    60. Andrea

      I’d love to know how you adhered the fabric to your bedroom walls! Is there a previous post on this?
      LOVE all your plate decor, too! We recently moved and I haven’t re-hung mine yet…this gave me the inspiration I needed!

    61. Linda Connell

      I would like to know if it is possible to hang vintage glass lids on the wall. I have a collection of all different sizes and would love to display them some way.

    62. Yvonne

      Well this is a great idea. Never across in my mind to use plates as wall art. And it turns out it can be a very beautiful wall decoration. I really love the look of decoration in your living room. Gorgeous! I believe your tips here is very useful for others. Maybe you also want to see other delftware plate collection as your wall decoration, can be through aronson.com/in-depth/the-blue-in-dutch-delftware; there you will find other interesting collections.

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