Design and Redesign

Almost a year ago, I blogged about wanting a plate wall in my dining room after seeing the ones done so nicely in the pages of Country Living Magazine.  Initially, this glamour girl painting from Hobby Lobby resided here on the wall.

After a trip down TJ Maxx's clearance aisle, I found a variety of plates for $2 each.  I thought to myself, "Wow, this would be a great start to that fabulous plate wall."  My initial attempt included a symmetrical design, maybe too symmetrical. 

I didn't love it and neither did the wall.  One day, I came home to find only three lonely tea cups remaining...

Every plate had fallen off the wall.  I guess my "glue-a-paperclip-to-the-back-off-a-plate" trick (like I saw on someone else's blog) did not work very well.  I actually took this picture after I cleaned up the mess.  Surprisingly, many plates were still in tack. I only lost two in battle between the wall and the clips.

Almost a year later, here is what the plate wall looks like today.  I like it. I'm much happier with the product.  It's not so predictable.

I purchased two shelves from the Christmas Tree Shop for $8 each and topped them off with the $2 TJ Maxx plates.

I layered some frames for interest.  The gold frame actually came from an old piece of artwork we had in our college house.  The argyle piece was a blank wooden frame from Michael's that I "Mod- Podged" with scrapbook paper.  I filled the inside of the frame with a complimentary pattern of paper.

Lastly, I topped off the shelve decor with this lovely owl, who was a gift from my mother. I believe he came from Home Goods.

I am much happier with this look.  Sometimes all it takes is design and redesign!

This project is also available on C.R.A.F.T.'s Making Monday Marvelous.

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What Not to Do

What not to do when hanging plates on the wall...

I was inspired to hang plates in my dining room after seeing beautiful collage walls on many blogs.

Exhibit A:

the pretty girl painting & wooden wagon

My beautiful party girl painting did not seem to fit with my living room and kitchen decor. I purchased this painting when I first became a homeowner and no idea what my living spaces were going to turn into.  Needless to say, pretty girl had to go to the closet where she will retire until a new, more appropriate space presents itself. I also purchased the little wooden wagon at TJ Maxx last season.  This did not seem to work in this space either. The wagon has now relocated to the patio.

Exhibit B:

cheap plates

I found these plates in the clearance section of TJ Maxx for $2 each. I thought that was a decent investment for a plate wall that was going to look fabulous.

Exhibit C

the process

To begin, I traced the shape of each plate onto tissue paper so I have mock shapes to tape to the wall. This allowed me to get a visual of what the plates will look like before putting holes in my wall.

I also tried arranging the plates in several different patters on my floor to see what pattern will look the best.

 

 

I recently read on a blog that you could hot glue paperclips to the back of plates for FREE plate hangers. I decided FREE was definitely the way to go so I used this method. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of this process.

Once I settled on a pattern and adhered paperclips to the back of the plates, I taped the tissue paper shapes to the wall before I start nailing.

Exhibit D:

 the plate wall 

Here is a picture of the plates actually nailed to the wall.  Instead of using a center piece, I decided to go with teacups. 

Looking at the wall now, I'm not really excited about the strong symmetry.  It may be too uniform for my taste.

Exhibit E:

project fail

 I went out of town last weekend and came home to find all of the plates on the floor.  Some even broke.  I guess the FREE plate hanger method of hot gluing paperclips to the back of the plates does not work. 

Lesson learned: invest in plate hangers.

On another note, I'm looking for ideas on what to fill my basket with for the spring. My basket is currently filled with pine cones. 

Any affordable ideas are welcomed!

Please comment below.

 

Thanks for stopping by today!

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