Vintage plate wall.

For quite a while, I’ve been searching for something for a big blank wall in my kitchen/dining area…

I originally planned to do Anna White’s $10 ledge with some photos and plates, but I already have my photo gallery wall in the next room. After a bit of thought, I decided to try my hand at a plate wall.

So we’ll cut to the chase, here’s the before & after…

And now for the process. I bought some random plates at various local thrift stores for less than a buck a piece. I bought two from Home Goods for about $7 total, and two were given to me generously by my great aunt. I plan to keep my eye out for more plates to add to the arrangement, but for now it works for me!

I searched online for different methods of hanging plates without the generic 4-prong wire holders. I read here, that E6000 glue is strong enough to hold plates on the wall. It was about $4 and I have tons left over. I don’t like the look of the wire plate hangers {not to mention they’re expensive for being just wire} so I figured it was worth a shot trying the glue and safety pins…

I glued safety pins to the back of the plates and let them dry for a few days. Mine actually dried for a week or so because I didn’t have time to attack the wall… I put glue on both materials – the safety pin head and the plate – then let both dry for 2 minutes. After that, I attached them to each other and added more glue.

Once they dried {and I had more time to actually tackle the project}, I traced each plate on some paper to determine the proper placement on the wall…

…all while wearing my 17 lb. sick baby…

I originally wanted to wrap the plates onto the adjoining wall with the windows too, but my husband apparently isn’t a big fan of asymmetrical designs, so I nixed that route and went with a more centralized arrangement.

After lots of moving and re-taping the paper templates, I finally settled on a placement.

I then traced the safety pin top’s location onto the template and hammered a nail there. {I should probably note here that I’m not a super precise person. I don’t care if things are perfectly spaced, so this method worked just fine for me. No tape measure needed!}

I started with the center plates and worked my way out so I could adjust them as needed…

The pup was less than interested, but I like how they turned out! {Pay no attention to the light or the unpainted door; they’re still on my to-do list.}

I wanted to use this tin bowl that I received from my other Great Aunt, but it didn’t quite match the others’ style. I like it on my table any way. :)

I love the look of the plates without seeing any wire hangers!

So far none of the plates have fallen off the wall, and the hangers feel really sturdy. You can barely see the nails from the side, only if you look really closely…

I think they match my vintage-ish curtains {diy’ed here.}

And my instagram collage….

I’m really pleased with how it turned out! What do you think?

 

Project linked to: Hope Studios, Sugar Bee Crafts, Ladybug Blessings, New Nostalgia, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Crafty Confessions, C.R.A.F.T, Someday Crafts, Trendy Treehouse, Sew Much Ado, Polkadots on Parade, Gingersnap Crafts, The NY Melrose Family