I come to you this Monday morning completely spoiled. My husband gave me the day “off,” so I…
SLEPT until I was done sleeping.
Laid on the hammock and read a novel
Met a friend for antiquing and fro yo
and…
Decorated.
Because that’s what I love to do. I took the morning to rework the infamous, controversial plate wall. Here’s a sneak peek at how it turned out:
More about the completed plate wall in this post, but first I wanted to show you my {incredibly cheap, very silly} little plate-hanging hack that allows you to display plates without the visible hanging hardware.
But if you’re hanging melamine (light-weight) plates… get yourself some hot glue, heavy paper and flat thumbtacks.
Then hot glue the paper onto the back of your plate. Using a big piece of paper with lotsa glue is more sturdy, obvs.
But you have to leave some of the paper loose on top so you can pull it down and stick your thumbtack through.
Then just press your thumb tack back through the paper. You can almost make out the sharp part of the thumb tack sticking through the paper here.
Then you just take that plate and stick it right into the wall.
You can kinda see that little red thumbtack if you look behind the plate, see?
It’s much less damaging than a nail, and cheaper than a disc hanger. See? Incredibly cheap and very silly.
Hi, I'm Kelly. Glad you're here! This little blog is where I chronicle our efforts to fix up our beaten-down home on a tiny budget. We're not there yet, but here's a peek at the view along the way...
Very pretty flowers!! nice job to the hubs:)
I just finished a gallery wall so I think I am ready to attempt some plates in the kitchen, thanks for the tip!
Great idea! I'm gonna have to try this!
Very nice, simple solution. I'll have to try it.
Oooh pretty flowers! Fresh picked are the best. Can't wait to see the final non-grandmaish plate wall reveal in all its infamy! 🙂
Please tell me how you did your arrangement. Did you just eye-ball them? Did you lay them out on the floor first?
I love it!!!!
Thanks!! I laid them all out on the floor until I got an arrangement I liked, but then went I actually started hanging them on the wall, I changed it even then.
Where do you buy those disc hangers? I’ve never seen that before! I have the beginnings of a plate wall, but I’ve always used those awful spring plate grabby systems.
I bought all the disc hangers from their website here: http://dischangers.com/order.php. They’ve held up great so far!
they sell them at hobby lobby in the frame area also.
Another great idea! I LOVE your wrap around plate wall btw.
Karah
I saw this wall and it inspired to me to do my dinning room wall. I’ve started mine, but had to put it on hold to find some of the discs. I found them at Hobby Lobby. My question is what type of paper did you use for the lighter plates? I was thinking of index cards, doubled up … do you think this would work??
Yes I think that’d be perfect! You know how some magazines come with certain pages that are thicker than others, like a thin cardboard? That’s what I used. I bet index cards doubled over might even be better. I’d love to see pics of your wall when you get it done! Good luck!
Brilliant! I was wondering how you hung all those plates! Thanks!
Your house is so pretty and you have given me a lot of ideas for my house. Any tips on removing the popcorn ceilings?
Yes! I did a post about removing popcorn ceilings. It’s pretty messy, but actually much easier than I expected (and SO worth it!). You can see that post here: http://viewalongway.wpengine.com/2011/04/how-to-get-popcorn-ceilings-out-of-your-life/
Kelly, this is genius! Paper behind the plates… who would’ve thought? I am totally going to make a plate collage in my home and use your hanging tricks. Now, I guess I’ll need to start collecting different and interesting plates for the project… Oh joy! Another reason to hang out at Home Goods *swoon*.
So, if someday you actually wanted to use the plate would the glue come off??
It probably depends on the plate, but I have been able to peel it off successfully in the past.
Had no idea you could do this! Awesome Tip!
Jenna @ Rain on a Tin Roof
Love, love all your great tricks to decorate without breaking a budget I don’t have. You are one clever gal so think I’ll be subscribing to your blog. Found you thru 52 mantels. What a score. Two wonderful blogs for one. Love your home also, very nice. It just never fails to amaze me about so many talented people on blogs. I’m inspired every time I get online, now that’s fun to me.
Happy Easter & spring
fantastic idea! i love the idea of plate walls but i’ve forever been intimidated by hanging the plates. not so scared any more 🙂
LOVE the wall color. May I ask what the name is?
Thanks! It’s Benjamin Moore Brittany Blue.
Oh my goodness. I’ve been wanting a great Life Hack for hanging plates and YOU gave it to me.
Brilliant. If my wall ever looks as good as yours I’ll be lucky, but thank you for the tip!
Where do I get the disc hangers you used for heavy plates?
Ebay or amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-keywords=disc%20hangers&linkCode=ur2&sprefix=disc%20han%2Caps&tag=viealotheway-20&url=search-alias%3Daps&linkId=VZPYZ4MUURBHLP3O
I wish I had seen the way you hung those plates a few days earlier my Dad is in a personal care home and so far whatever I had put up didn’t stay up and it was damaging the wall at least there is less chance of damage your way, love all the work the two of you have done so much talent keep it up Great Going !!!!!
I use saw-toothed picture hangers secured to the plate with Aleen’s Tacky Glue. I let it dry for 24 hours and hang it on the wall. I’ve never had one fall off the wall yet.
Love the wrap-around the wall plate idea!
Is that a Dayna chair from Ballard Design? It looks like it, as I also have it, however, I had mine stained a light/medium brown and the seat covered in coordinating fabric with a lumber pillow (extra material) to go with my family room. It turned out great and was the perfect chair for a small space. I must have looked at hundreds of chairs and found nothing better. I wanted something light and kind of airy, not a huge fabric covered chair. I waited a long time until I came up with the perfect solution, definitely worth the wait! Will send a picture if you would like to see the transformation.
Or you could try what I did. Epoxy glue a soda can ring-pull to the back of the plate and then just hang it on the wall using a picture hook. The glue’s super strong and should hold a porcelain plate no problem. Worked for mine – they’re still hanging over a year later. EASY PEASY!