Decorating Guides
DIY: The Secret to Hanging a Plate Collection
Save your walls! Here's how to get your art grouping right
Hanging a group of plates is pretty easy if you have the right tools and a helper. When you do it yourself, getting the spacing right can become a finger-whacking, wall-scarring fest. It does not have to be this way. Read on for the secret to creating the perfect arrangement – of plates or any other wall art – from Mandi Smith T, co-owner of Interior Staging Services in Birmingham, AL.
“These plates were my mom’s first china pattern when she and my dad were married 46 years ago,” Mandi says. When their house was struck by lighting and burned, the plates were no longer usable (up close they are cracked throughout and stained in spots), so she made art out of them. After attaching each plate to a regular spring-loaded plate hanger, “I hung this series by myself on a Sunday afternoon.”
Anyone who’s hung a grouping on a wall has at least one tale of misaligned art work, bruised fingers and banged-up walls. It doesn’t help, Mandi notes, that many groupings include artwork with different hanging mechanisms on the back, different wire lengths, or side latches and no wire – all of which can effect the height of a piece, making it a chore to get the placement right.
Next, the 5-step solution.
Here’s how to have an unforgettable accent wall
Next, the 5-step solution.
Here’s how to have an unforgettable accent wall
1. Grab some leftover newspaper and trace each plate or framed piece onto the paper and cut them out. Use your paper cutouts to figure out the proper layout of the series. Experiment with your grouping on the floor to work out the arrangement you like best.
3. Once all the nails are in place, you can remove the paper cutouts and place the plates on their nails. Ta da!
A large platter anchors a collection of cream and ivory pieces.
Check out these budget-friendly ways to do up your walls
Check out these budget-friendly ways to do up your walls
A carefree, asymmetrical arrangement animates this colourful collection.
A group of white plates gathered in the middle looks like an exuberant extension of the bouquet on the table.
Looking to do an unconventional accent wall?
Looking to do an unconventional accent wall?
A trio of mismatched plates is the perfect size and shape for this corner by the stairs.
Circles love to play with lines.
Take a cue from your plates to come up with a shape for your grouping. Here, four oblong platters form a larger oblong shape.
Read more:
9 Of The Best DIY Projects On Houzz
Tell us:
What are your plate-hanging tricks? Share them in the Comments below.
Read more:
9 Of The Best DIY Projects On Houzz
Tell us:
What are your plate-hanging tricks? Share them in the Comments below.