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My New Plate Wall and More Shopping Adventures

I have been searching the land for the perfect plates for my plate collection. Hunting through antique stores, scouring garage sales, eyeing the clearance rack at Target for that perfect piece…

Ok not really, here’s what happened; I rearranged everything in my house while I was supposed to be on a “staycation” leaving myself with an enormous empty wall in our dining area. Hmmm, what to do, what to do? As Oprah would say I had an AHA moment – (which I’m sure are supposed to be reserved for more important life decisions or jumping on couches ala Tom Cruise, but you know how serious I am about home decor…) a plate wall would be perfect!

Plate wall - thelilypadcottage.comThe problem being I’m an instant gratification kinda person (which is why I love spray paint so much) and when I decide I want a plate wall, I mean I want it done now (“I want it now! I want it now!” Like Veruca Salt in Willy Wonka, well without turning into a giant grape…and yes I’m trying to see how many random references I can add to this post…) I don’t want to have to scour the earth for the next 6 months for the perfect plates.

Hanging Plate Wall - www.thelilypadcottage.comBeing the crazy person I am, I got the kids dressed, hauled them into town (which means surviving a 35 minute car ride, such was my level of commitment to my plate wall) and proceeded to hit every possible store that might have my perfect plates. I hit 5 stores in all, it was a little like Super Market Sweep (is that obscure reference number 3?) I grabbed anything and everything that was in the right colors and tossed them in my cart, figuring I could sort it all out later.

A plate wall

Running thru the dish department is always a good idea with my 5 year old and 2 year old in tow, miraculously we managed not to break anything, but at one point I turned around to find my 5 year old “drinking” out of a wine glass and my 2 year old little man sipping daintily from a tea cup. Yikes! Time to get out of here, I got home and had 4 bags worth of china (extremely “fine” china as I didn’t pay more that $4 for any one piece).

Plate and Antique Break out the hammer and nails! True to my laziest DIY-er ever self I didn’t plan anything out. We don’t need to talk about how many nail holes are now in the wall…shhhhh!

Dining Area Decor - www.thelilypadcottage.com

I’m sure at some point I’ll replace/add more plates – and now I’m on the hunt wherever I go, but for around $50 and 3 hours I’m pretty happy with how it came together…now to return the rejects…

No soup for you! Yeah, no that has nothing to do with anything except the Mr. and I saw Jerry Seinfeld do stand up last week and I feel like I needed one more obscure reference to round things out nicely :)

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73 Comments

  1. This is such a cool idea, but with how rambunctious my kids can be I’d be constantly worried about one (or all) of them getting knocked down. I suppose maybe it’s a decor idea that should be saved for when your kids are a bit older… ;)

  2. Please help me out — your plate room….where did you find your pillar candlesticks? I cannot find chunky ones I like as much as yours anywhere! They are all too boxy or too skinny. Ugh!

  3. I just stumbled upon your blog and I LOVE IT! Your plate wall is gorgeous and I totally know what you mean about stopping at nothing to get a project done! Been there done that! And just to straighten out the obscure reference thing, it’s Violet Beauregard that turns into a blueberry. (” Violet! You’re turning violet Violet!” ; ) Veruca Salt goes down the garbage shoot! Love the references none the less! Makes me smile!

  4. Totally got every obscure reference… yes! And, stopped by because I love the plate wall and love your colors. Plate wall has been on my to-do list forever now! And I just went through Goodwill today with a 5 and 3 year old… I think I got a few extra wrinkles. You’re a brave lady!

    1. I knew Grape didn’t sound right! I just remember her being big and purple and one of my favorite parts of the movie when I was little :) Thanks for setting me straight!

  5. I love your plate wall! I have one too but it took me a little longer to put it together. I’m impressed with your speed and guts (dish shopping with little ones!) Maybe I’ll put some photos of mine up soon. It’s not as pretty as yours, though! :)

  6. I am so smitten with plate walls, and I am LOVING the colors you chose! I’m an instant gratification type of girl, too. Makes me want to run to Target and Michaels during my lunch break today :) This is so pretty. Thanks for the inspiration!

  7. I have been pinning plate walls for a long time – so of course I had to come see yours! I can’t believe you found all of these in one day, with the kids in tow! Love. Love. LOVE!

  8. I would say your method worked out beautifully. Love the plate wall and it’s random style, great colors for your room. I would say YOU nailed it literally.
    Happy Weekend,
    Kathysue

  9. Your wall is awesome, I am in love with the colors used. They are so relaxing but yet have so much personality! Thanks for linking up to the Inspiration Gallery this week :)

    Mandy @ The Hankful House Blog

  10. Kelly, this wall is GORGEOUS! I’ve been thinking of doing the same in our dining room. We have wainscotting halfway up the wall with a dark coal looking colour on the walls. I would love to do this very same thing and you sound so much like me. I’d spend a day putting it together and then viola…there it would be, in all of it’s glory! Where do you get those plate hangy things?

    Great post and love your humour,
    Crystal

    1. Oh that sounds gorgeous Crystal! The plate hangy thingys are from Michaels, but you can get them from Amazon too.

  11. Love it! I am about to post the plate wall I’ve been working on… its a collection piece! I love that new color- and HOW do you keep your kids from wrecking that gorgeous room? Mine would be swinging from the chandeliers. :)

    1. Thanks! Oh mine have tried, but they pretty much leave the dining room alone – they’d rather jump on our trampolines,er, I mean our white couches :)

  12. Kelly, I really enjoyed your story of you running around to find plates for this project. I can just imagine seeing your kids was funny and nerve wracking at the same time. I was out of breath by the time you were done. The plates you chose are truly lovely and I think you did a great job, even if there are a lot of nail wholes, just don’t point them out. LOL!

    Cynthia

  13. So pretty Kelly! I had plans to do a plate wall for a project a bit back, but didn’t. I still have a huge stack of random thrift store white plates. Hehe! I might need to do something with those…….

  14. I LOVE this. I am working on collecting the perfect plates for my plate wall too,. hitting the flea market every Sunday. Can’t wait til it call comes together. So excited now that I see yours put together.

  15. No plate wall for you, out! Are you sure you want to take back the rejects? You know you may decide to make the wall bigger or do a smaller one somewhere in the near vicinity or something. Aren’t I the devil? LOL! I love the plate wall and al of the beautiful plates you were able to find! Beautiful colors and patterns! I am like you. When I get an idea in my head it practically drives me crazy until I get to work on it! I’ll even dream about working on it! That reminds me – I need to get working on one soon! It’s like therapy! Thanks for sharing! Hugs, Leena

  16. What do you use to hang plates? I’ve had the plates all ready for weeks and not gone out to purchase correct hardware!

  17. You’re hilarious. I love your plate wall and I’m so impressed that you were able to find some many awesome plates all in one day! Great job :)

  18. Wondering if you could tell me your paint color for your dinning room? Love the color and I am looking for a blue color
    to paint my living room and kitchen. thanks so much for your time!!!

  19. Looks beautiful! Glad you hopped on the plate wall train!! Your need for instant gratification will be met even if you end up growing tired of it; you can just take em down and have a gorgeous dinner party!!!
    Xoxo

    Bethany

  20. LOVE the plates – what were some of the stores that you found these at??? I want!!!!

  21. Beautiful plates! I had to laugh — you are just like me! (Whenever I want to get something done, I have to get it done ASAP!) How did you hang your plates on the wall? Did you use plate hangers? I’ve never hung plates before, but I’d love to!

    1. Michaels sells plate hangers for a few bucks each, you can also get them on Amazon but naturally I couldn’t wait for the shipping ha :)

  22. They look so pretty!! Great job collecting & curating. Can I suggest the best plate hangers ever…LEEDS. Read the post on my site. You can get them at the Container Store or on line. They are adhesive so you don’t see the metal hooks. They really work!
    Kelly

    1. Hey Kelly, I know I saw those on amazon but I just couldn’t wait for the shipping ha! Maybe I’ll switch them out someday…

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