How to Artfully Display Four Decorative Plates

Hanging decorative plates can spruce up any wall.

Hanging decorative or collector's plates in your home is a great way to spruce up a room and display your personality. Plates can be very delicate and should be hung with great care. There are special plate hangers available at your local craft store that will safely hold your plates to the wall without damaging them. These floating hangers give your plates the appearance of floating while being securely held in place.

Things You'll Need

• Stud finder
• 4 plate hangers
• Pencil
• Hammer
• Nails

Instructions

1. Select the wall you would like to display your plates on. Try to choose a wall that is not already filled with other artwork. Accent walls are a great choice for plate hanging, as they are usually not painted the same color as other walls in the home. Depending on the colors in your plates, displaying them on a solid background color can really make them stand out as pieces of art.

2. Locate the studs on the wall using your stud finder. Make a light mark in pencil to indicate stud locations. Plate hangers must be hung on studs to ensure they do not fall off.

3. Choose a hanging pattern for your plates. A standard straight line may look really good in your room, but consider staggering your plates at two different heights to spread out the look of the hanging design, or hang your plates in a straight, vertical line to create a tall feel to the decoration. You could also create a square or diamond shape using the plates as the four corners.

4. Hold a plate hanger up to the wall at the stud locations and mark the nail hole in the hanger with your pencil. Do this in all four locations.

5. Place nails in the four positions that you marked.

6. Hang the plate hangers on the nails.

7. Hang your plates in the hangers. Do this by getting three of the four edge hooks of the hanger on the plate. Stretch the plate away from the fourth hook. The arms of the hangers stretch to allow you to do this. Once stretched far enough you will be able to hook the final arm on the plate. The plate hanger will now securely hold your plate in place.

8. Step back from your plate decorations to determine if any adjustments need to be made.

References

• Decorative Plates; Jim Harran and Susan Harran; Oct 2007