While following designers that I love, looking through magazines and flipping through books I am seeing such a trend of bringing back traditional design and incorporating more ‘things’ into your home. Incorporating more color and patterns, layering textiles and accessories, and filling your walls. As someone who has been preaching ‘layer! texture! pattern! antique! thrift!’ for a while, I for one, am thrilled.
One of my favorite ways to add a touch of this lived in / traditional look is to hang plates on your wall. Plates are something that you probably already have sitting in a china cabinet, and if not you can buy them affordably at a thrift store. If you have the urge to grab a hammer and nails to fill your walls (but have no art), plates might be a great place to start. To give you a jump start, I’ve gathered a few ideas of ways to use plates on your walls.
- Hang them in a gallery. Collect as many plates as you can, in a similar style but in different shapes and sizes. Begin with the larger plates and platters, evenly distributing them on the wall to make sure that your gallery is well balanced. From there fill in with smaller plates.
- Hang them vertically on a small wall. If you have a small wall that has always been hard to fill, try hanging a hand-full of plates vertically. This is particularly pretty in a kitchen, where odd wall space often exists.
- Hang them above doors or windows. The space above doors and windows is so often overlooked, but a beautiful place for a small plate!
- Hang them above art. I love stacking art, and nothing is more beautiful than a silver tray or pretty plater above a painting. It adds color, goes with any subject, and gives dimension.
Your plates can be hung in any room of the house and will instantly give your home a warm and relaxed feel. I am a big proponent of using and enjoying even the finest things in your home, china included. If you aren’t going to eat off of it, hang it! What a nice way to appreciate something beautiful.
