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October 22, 2012

Make Your Own Plate Hangers & My Dining Room Plate Wall

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I’ve been wanting something fun for the big blank wall in my dining room. Something colorful, something cheap. I wanted a plate wall. I excitedly told Adam my idea…and he seemed confused.

Adam : “A plate wall? Like dinner plates, on the wall?

Me: “Yes.”

Adam : “You mean like grandmas have in their house?”

Me: “Ummmm….well, yes…kinda.”

Adam: “Okayyyyy, but if I come home tomorrow and you’re wearing a muumuu I’m gonna nix this whole idea.”

I promised him I wouldn’t be wearing a muumuu, but then I got to thinking about it… a muumuu actually sounds really comfortable. But a promise is a promise, right? For now anyway…

It’s easy to find plates in thrift stores, not so easy to find plate hangers. I looked for a month and never found a single one. I went online to buy some (okay, 24) and was shocked to find that they are almost $4 a pop. Eeek, that’s almost $100 in plate hangers! That’s an insane amount of money, especially considering the plates only cost me about $15. Then I ran across these newfangled plate hanger thingy’s…you glue them to the back and they don’t show. Great…except that they are only slightly cheaper than the wire ones. So I turned to Google, and it lead me to this tutorial from In My Own Style on making your own plate hangers with glue and paper clips. DUH! So easy…and so cheap.

In the tutorial she used hot glue to secure her paper clips to the plates, but says it works best for lightweight plates. I had some lightweight plates, but I also have some monster sized, super heavy plates. So instead of using hot glue I bought this Gorilla Glue, since Gorilla Glue has never let me down.

forever trustworthy gorilla glue

I put some glue on my plate, slapped the paper clip on (after bending it a little), and let them dry. I came back about half an hour later to find this…

paper clip wall hanger

The glue went crazy and bubbled up so much the paper clip wasn’t even close to touching the plate. After a few good slings over the bed I decided that they were secure, though they didn’t sit flush on the wall because the glue was so thick.

I ended up using a butter knife to remove the glue and clips from all 24 plates.

Then I read the directions, where it said to apply the glue SUPER THIN because it expands as it dried. Go figure…one of these days I’ll learn my lesson and read the directions first.

So I started over. I applied the glue SUPER THIN, didn’t bend the paper clips at all…and it turned out perfect and sat completely flush on the wall. The best part is that I made 24 plate hangers for about a dollars worth of glue and paper clips!

plate hangers using paper clips and gorilla glue

UPDATE – I just gave you terrible advice! The Gorilla Glue ended up not working at all… CLICK HERE to read my follow-up post and learn what you should use to make plate hangers. 

Next it was time to put them on my wall. We just finished installing and painting our plank walls, so I was feeling protective and wanted to avoid peppering them with holes. So I thought ahead and tried to decide on my plate design before putting them up.

plate wall progress

While trying to find some inspiration I came across this wall and loved the swoopiness of it.

plate wall inspiration

So I tried some swoopiness of my own….

plate wall design idea

And I hated it. It didn’t look swoopy and awesome, it looked like a giant backwards moon. (I know the moon goes both ways…it just looked backwards to me.) So I took it all down and puttied and painted all the holes I had made. Blah.

After much more plate arranging I decided a few things..

  1. I had too many dang plates.
  2.  Swoopiness was not going to work on this wall.
  3.  Everything I was doing looked too uniform and planned.
  4.  I had been working from the top down and working from the inside out would make everything better.

So I hung my biggest plate right in the center of the wall and worked out, being totally thoughtless and random. I stopped when I liked it and only ending up using about 2/3 of my plates. Perfection.

perfect plate wall

unique wall decor

dining room decor

 I love when I finally get to the decorating stage of a remodel. This room has needed some color for a while and I think the plate wall is a fun way of doing that. Plus it only cost about $15. This whole dining room has actually been pretty cheap so far. Just in this picture we have an $18 custom screen door, $100 plank wall, $100 bay window rod and curtains and a $150 DIY farmhouse table and bench. That’s what I call a thrifty remodel!

Design

Filed Under: Decor & Crafts, Dining Room, DIY Decor, House 1, Projects56 Comments

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Comments

  1. [email protected] says

    October 22, 2012 at 8:53 pm

    Love this! It looks great! You better stay away from the swooping!

    Reply
  2. Karen says

    October 22, 2012 at 9:03 pm

    Looks great. Great job.

    Reply
  3. Carlene @ Organized Clutter says

    October 22, 2012 at 9:12 pm

    I love plates on the wall and have plates on the wall. You did good!

    Reply
  4. Courtenay says

    October 22, 2012 at 9:17 pm

    Oooh! I love it! I would totally have passed by half of those plates that you have up there, but together they really work!

    Reply
  5. Jan Elizabeth says

    October 23, 2012 at 3:34 am

    That looks great, Ashley! Everything looks better on that plank wall, hey? So gorgeous.

    I think one reason that Pinterest photo looks so good (I have it on my Pinterest, too) is the piece of furniture which sort of anchors it and provides a nice contrast. But I actually did like your swoopy version as well as the non-swoopy one.

    I have a set of plates I inherited from my parents. They are really lovely, the English countryside, one for each month. The only thing is when you put them together they do look a bit old fashioned and a bit busy. When we move, maybe I’ll try some swoopiness or else divide them up maybe? Or maybe put some plainer plates among them. You’ve given me lots of ideas!

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      October 23, 2012 at 2:48 pm

      Yes the furniture makes it purposefully swoopy and that is definitely needed. Plus that piece of furniture is awesome in general. Are you all moved into your new place?

      Reply
  6. Ellie says

    October 23, 2012 at 3:53 am

    Click “like”.

    Reply
  7. Brenda says

    October 23, 2012 at 5:19 am

    Your plates look beautiful! A perfect spash of color – I love it!

    Reply
  8. Inspire Me Heather says

    October 23, 2012 at 5:56 am

    That looks so good Ashley! I’ve always wanted to do a plate wall too and I’ve been admiring that swoopy photo for ages! Thanks, I’m Pinning your pretty planky plate wall!

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      October 23, 2012 at 2:46 pm

      That swoopy photo is great…I think the furniture is needed though, or else its swoopy without an anchor. That was my downfall!

      Reply
  9. Kim in Michigan says

    October 23, 2012 at 6:26 am

    Thanks for the tips on hanging the plates! it looks great! I have been collecting all kinds of plates, for hanging on my privacy fence in a corner of a garden. The glue i tried just would not hold. So i will give this a try for next year!

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      October 23, 2012 at 2:44 pm

      Plates on a fence is a great idea! I love the look of putting indoor stuff outside and outside stuff inside.

      Reply
      • Kim in Michigan says

        October 23, 2012 at 3:41 pm

        i have found great plastic colorful plates at various cheap shops around town. if they fade, i just spray paint them and they look like new again!

        Reply
  10. Dorris says

    October 23, 2012 at 7:05 am

    The plates look fantastic! I’m so bad at putting eclectic things together. I also love the plank wall and whole dining room!

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      October 23, 2012 at 2:42 pm

      Thanks Dorris!

      Reply
  11. Donna Woods says

    October 23, 2012 at 7:43 am

    WOW!! It looks great. But, I liked the swoopy moon also.

    Reply
  12. bekah says

    October 23, 2012 at 8:48 am

    Haha love it! It looks great! I am not even kidding – I have a pile of plates on my counter that I was going to hang today!!

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      October 23, 2012 at 2:42 pm

      Good luck, I hope you put less holes in your wall than I did!

      Reply
  13. [email protected] The Running Doc says

    October 23, 2012 at 9:20 am

    Such a fun way to add color to a kitchen or dining room! I’m going to have to start a plate collection so I can do this one day once August and I buy our own house!

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      October 23, 2012 at 2:41 pm

      August’s Megan! I didn’t know you had a blog! I’m going to go and cyber stalk you now… Hopefully one day I will get to meet you in person :)

      Reply
      • [email protected] The Running Doc says

        October 23, 2012 at 4:18 pm

        Haha, yes, I am August’s Megan. :) I’m so glad August told me about your blog because I love all the stuff you and Adam have done. And yes, hopefully one day I will get to meet the infamous “Adam and Ashley” that August always talks about!

        Reply
  14. the cape on the corner says

    October 23, 2012 at 9:54 am

    i think it was semi swoopy, but i can see how you got moon. love your collection of plates, and you must tell us if everything stays intact! i’d be scared that paperclips wouldn’t cut it!

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      October 23, 2012 at 2:41 pm

      I pretty sure those plates aren’t going anywhere, but If they do I’ll let you know!

      Reply
  15. Lois says

    October 23, 2012 at 1:11 pm

    I have never thought to do this with gorilla glue and I always have this on hand for working with furniture. Gotta pass this along to my dil who plans to hang plates on her kitchen wall!

    Reply
  16. Ashley says

    October 23, 2012 at 2:39 pm

    I liked how they ended up! I like the idea of the using the gorilla glue and the paper clips!

    Reply
  17. [email protected] says

    October 23, 2012 at 6:52 pm

    Love your cheap DIY version!

    Reply
  18. Angela @TheNotSoFunctionalHousewife says

    October 24, 2012 at 9:44 am

    I love how your plate wall turned out! Great tip on the hangers!

    Reply
  19. Julie says

    October 24, 2012 at 11:12 am

    I used that same tutorial! Isn’t it awesome what you can do with some glue and paper clips (or safety pins)?

    Love your wall – you’re right, the swoopiness was too much with the linear plank wall. I like the random pattern much better.

    Reply
  20. Peggy says

    October 24, 2012 at 3:01 pm

    I love this. Please link it to my linky party & anything else you have to share. It just went live a little early :) Thanks, Peggy. http://diycraftyprojects.com/2012/10/whatcha-work-up-wednesday-5-linky-parties-are-back.html

    Reply
  21. [email protected] beautiful life says

    October 24, 2012 at 5:24 pm

    Great job! It’s exactly what that wall needed…Sometimes when you don’t try hard and just go with it, those turn out to be the best projects!!

    Reply
  22. Michelle at Faith, Trust, & Pixie Dust says

    October 25, 2012 at 10:46 pm

    Hi Ashley, This turned out great! I have seen the inspiration photo as well & have always wanted to do it, but I didn’t know about the paper clip method – BRILLIANT!

    Warmly, Michelle
    Faith, Trust & Pixie Dust
    PS – I made the same mistake with gorilla glue the first time!

    Reply
  23. Laura @ The Turquoise Home says

    October 26, 2012 at 11:39 am

    I love this! I plan on doing something similar in my dining room. I just need plates! And I love your cheap DIY plate hangers. I may have to steal that for my own plate wall. Thanks for sharing!!

    Reply
  24. Trisha says

    October 26, 2012 at 4:31 pm

    I love the placement – the wall turned out fabulous. Your husband’s response sounds like something mine would say :)

    Reply
  25. Val @ Home Made Modern says

    October 26, 2012 at 10:16 pm

    I’m such a fan of plates as art and this is one of the best I’ve seen. Good for you for knowing when it was too much and editing. It looks awesome!!

    Reply
  26. Tania says

    October 27, 2012 at 8:42 am

    It looks really nice… I liked the swoopy, backwards moon too… but the way you have it now looks better on your wall, you’re right!

    Tania

    Reply
  27. [email protected] says

    October 27, 2012 at 9:30 am

    I love your plate wall ashley!! btw – do you have a new header? looks great!
    Would love if you came and linked up with us. We’re giving away one free week of ad space for one lucky feature! Hope to see you there!

    http://www.oneprojectcloser.com/the-humble-brag-link-party-4/

    Reply
  28. Beth says

    October 27, 2012 at 2:54 pm

    the plates are perfect together!

    Reply
  29. Beth @ Aunt B's Kitchen says

    October 28, 2012 at 1:09 am

    Nice idea. I like the homemade hanger idea. Thank you for sharing it.

    Reply
  30. Mel says

    October 29, 2012 at 1:34 am

    Ashley that looks so good, thanks for sharing the plate hanging, I think this might work with tiles which is something I was looking for, stopping by from cure for the common cold

    Reply
  31. Angela says

    October 29, 2012 at 6:32 am

    I really love your plate wall! Using a mix of plates, colors, patterns really makes it so fun and eclectic. I have a small plate wall in my dining room and the plates are totally hung up with glued on paper clips, too. ;)

    Ange;a

    Reply
  32. Teri Larsen says

    November 1, 2012 at 4:24 pm

    Your post described the exact thoughts that have gone through my head – over the past several years! I’ve been wanting to create a plate wall in my dining room, too, because I just love the mix-n-match appeal of different colors and textures. And, because it would be a fun and inexpensive way to use random thrift store finds. But, WOW are those plate hangers expensive! Much thanks for the tutorial on creating my own…now to get those plates and get to work. :)

    Reply
  33. BeColorful says

    November 2, 2012 at 8:28 am

    I’ve got to say that you are braver than I am. I would envision all of those plates falling and breaking – probably in the middle of the night. :D But seeing how well yours have worked and how great your displays look, I am definitely willing to give this technique a chance.Thanks for sharing on beColorful.
    p

    Reply
  34. [email protected] says

    November 5, 2012 at 10:01 pm

    I think it turned out great! I love the punch of color and the whimsy it adds. And I’m totally stealing the paper clip idea – especially since my little mirror in my new bathroom gallery wall fell OFF in the middle of the night last night and scared the bejeezus out of me! Gorilla glue, not hot glue – lesson learned!

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      November 8, 2012 at 7:29 am

      If one of them falls in the middle of the night it will freak me out for sure! I don’t think those paper clips are going anywhere though, thank goodness :)

      Reply
      • Kim says

        July 19, 2014 at 1:57 pm

        Have they stayed up a year and a half later? I have 9 plates to hang, and do not want to spend $3 each on hangers! But I’m scared of the glue not holding up.

        Reply
        • Ashley says

          July 19, 2014 at 4:19 pm

          Did you see my update post? https://wildfireinteriors.com/2013/01/sometimes-i-give-terrible-advice-a-plate-wall-update/

          After I redid them with the E-6000 they have been great, nothing crashing to the floor!

          Reply
  35. Alice says

    November 29, 2012 at 9:42 am

    Love the plates! Art can be found in so many functional items; plates being a wonderful, inexpensive gallery. I did something similar in my office/workoutroom/extra laundry “basket” ;-) some time ago and had a lot of fun with it.

    Reply
    • Ashley says

      December 3, 2012 at 8:08 am

      Lol, I love your room description…so beautifully honest :)

      Reply
  36. karina says

    December 17, 2012 at 6:00 am

    holy shit i love u

    Reply
  37. [email protected] says

    March 12, 2014 at 8:18 pm

    So… I’m literally googling images for a plate wall right now… and saw your post. And have 2 things of gorilla glue epoxy in our front hall to use for my plates. :) Going on Amazon now! :)

    Reply
  38. Debby Wallace says

    October 16, 2014 at 11:38 pm

    Just wanted you to know that I did my dinning room wall with silver serving trays of various sizes and shapes. It looks amazing. I used the paste on plate hangers in various sizes and weight capacity. I love the look but created a silver polishing frenzy every couple of months when I can’t stand the tarnished look anymore. Plates would have been a wiser choice for me because I’m creative but lazy when it comes to polishing silver!!!!

    Reply
  39. Jerrie says

    January 23, 2016 at 7:39 pm

    I think your backward moon is almost perfect–which is it,s problem. It is the lack of a few out-of-kilter plates that bothers me. Think of flower petals wafting gently in a breeze, then think of them slammed against the wall (figuratively speaking).

    Reply
  40. sue ellen says

    January 22, 2017 at 9:39 pm

    Thank you for the tip! I have always use the icky, ugly metal plate hangers until I saw your suggestion! ps I knew about the gorilla glue issue prior, same thing happened when my hubby glued something for me. lol

    I’m one of those also who just runs ahead so excited about creating and doesn’t quite think the directions are that important, until later . LOLOLOLOLOL

    Reply

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Ashley - Wildfire Interiors
Welcome to Wildfire Interiors! I’m Ashley, and I think you should love where you live. Small budget or big budget, color-obsessed or neutral lover, trend follower or trendsetter, and whether you know anything about design or not…we can all have homes that make us smile. Read more…

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