How to hang square plates on the wall?

Purchase plate hangers with plastic grippers that will hold the plates in place without causing damage. Attach a hanger to each plate and put the plate on a flat surface, like your kitchen counter. Then gently bend the back of the hanger to help the plate rest flush against the wall, not lean away from it.

• Step 1: Arrange your plate layout. Determine how many plates you'd like to hang and how they look best.
• Step 2: Trace the plates onto paper. Use a pencil to trace outlines of each plate on a large piece of kraft paper.
• Step 3: Tape the templates to your wall.
• Step 4: Hang the plates on picture hangers.

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'The selection of art is an intensely personal and often costly process,' says Emma Sims Hilditch, founder and creative director of Sims Hilditch, who is something of a plate wall expert. 'For those looking for a more economical and slightly different way to fill a blank space in a room, then a plate wall is a great solution and is easier to do than you might think.'

Below, Emma demonstrates the simple process in easy steps – including her tips for getting the process just right.

'When choosing the plates, try to select a range of sizes and a variety of origins,' says Emma. 'Plates which carry meaning or a message are great additions to the design as they help it to become a meaningful part of the home.'

Follow her instructions below – and see Emma's video on hanging plates (opens in new tab) for more tips.

See: 5 tips for displaying china – plate wall inspiration, plus more ways to create a beautiful arrangement

'Use a tape measure to work out the dimensions of the plate wall first and arrange the plates accordingly on the floor,' says Emma.

It's useful to mark with pencil or tape the central point of the plate wall. This is where you will hang your first plate. It can also be helpful to use low-tack masking tape to mark out the boundaries of the plate display on the wall – and to repeat the exercise on a table or the floor to ensure the plate display you are planning will fit comfortably into it.

'Draw a rough sketch of where the plates will be positioned and record the measurements on paper,' says Emma.

Use this as a guide to arrange the plates on the table or floor within your taped boundaries – and adjust it until you are happy with it.

'Once the plates are arranged, measure the distance to the top of each plate starting from the highest point down, with the topmost plate being ‘0’. Then mark these measurements on the wall,' says Emma.

Draw around each plate on to separate pieces of paper and cut them out to create templates. Stick each template to the wall in the arrangement you have planned on the floor. Now stand back and adjust the arrangement until you are happy with it.

'Try to stick to the measurements as a guide at this stage, but remember that this is an artistic process which may be deviated from slightly to add creative flair!' says Emma.

See: Cottage decorating ideas – charming ways to get a characterful look

'Before hanging, clean the back of each plate where an adhesive disk with a hook will be applied.'

Ensure you clean the front of the plates, too, so that your display isn't marred by fingerprints.

'Prepare the disk (‘The Original Invisible Plate Hanger (opens in new tab)’) by applying water to the back and rubbing it with your finger for five to 10 minutes. Stick it on the underside of the plate and leave it for 24 hours to bond.

'Once the plates are ready, find the center point on the wall and use the measurements/templates previously recorded to place a hook point where each plate will be positioned, before finally hanging them according to the design.'

Hanging plates with Command Strips (opens in new tab) means that you don't need nails or screws and you can remove or rearrange the plate display without damaging the wall. However, it does mean that the bottom of the plates needs to be flat to the wall – and plates with a lip underneath won't be able to be displayed with Command Strips – although Command Hooks should work if the plate has a hole for you to be able to attach to the hook with string threaded through it.

Assuming you can use them, clean the back of the plates thoroughly, stick the adhesive strip to the wall and another to the plate then press together until you are happy they are attached.

Have you ever wanted to hang plates on a wall but didn’t know where to begin? There is definitely a right way and a wrong way of doing this. Even though it may seem or look like an effortless job, you need a plan of action before you begin. So, the wrong way is no plan of action at all. There is more than one right way. Here is my tried and proven tutorial for how to hang plates on a wall.

I’m sure that we have all used these particular plate hangers at one time or another. Needless to say, they can be very damaging to china plates.

The very best alternative that I have found are these wonderful adhesive plate hanger discs from England. They are more expensive, but definitely worth the price. There is absolutely no damage to the plates at all – even vintage china! Also, the discs are removable with absolutely no damage at all to your plates.

Doesn’t this look so much better than the wire plate hangers? The plates appear to be floating on the wall.

So the mystery of how to hang plates on a wall is solved. Hopefully you found this information helpful and you can create a gallery wall of plates in your own home. We would love to see a photo!

Look, we all love a good gallery wall. But in the same maximalist spirit that moves me to constantly find new places to wallpaper, I've often thought, "what else could I hang on my wall?" While art is a necessary staple of any home, that art doesn't have to be confined to paintings and prints in frames—there are plenty of other objects to add to your decor. Take, for example, plates.

People have been hanging plates on walls for essentially as long as decorative plates have existed. After all, with the fine craftsmanship and detailed painting on Limoges and other porcelain, these pieces are just as much works of art as useful serving pieces. From England to France to the American South, tabletop lovers have long hung plates on the wall both as a form of decoration and, sometimes, a clever storage option.

No one knows this better than John Derian, designer, shop owner, and decoupage artist extraordinaire. He has earned a cult following for his decorative plates, featuring repurposed motifs from vintage books and prints. Too pretty to eat off, Derian's plates make the perfect fodder for a decorative wall. So, when his company generously sent me an array of plates after I moved into my new apartment, I set out to create a plate wall of my own. Here's how I did it.

Don't have a stash of plates lying around? Try tag sales or Etsy for sets of inexpensive dinnerware you can use for this project.

Find the bare wall (or section of wall) where you want to hang your plates, and measure out the width and height of the area you want to cover. This will be the canvas for your wall art.

Using your measurements as a guide, lay out your plates on the floor or a surface the correct size, moving around until you get an arrangement you like. Tip: If you're using plates of varying sizes and shapes, vary them throughout, but keep larger pieces towards the bottom so the arrangement doesn't feel top-heavy.

Using blue painters tape, translate the arrangement on the table or floor to the wall. I find it easiest to start by measuring the placement of the center piece, then working out from there for the others, mapping out the distance between each plate and its size to get a mock up on the wall.

The big difference between framed art and plates is that art—since it's created to hang on a wall—usually comes with a wire or hanger. Plates, obviously, do not. That's where your new best friend comes in: plate hanging wires. Get the kind with springs, so they'll hold your plate tightly, and with coated edges, so they won't crack or chip them. The wires come in various sizes for every kind of plate, and most come with hooks and nails to hang them on. Attach the wires to the plates.

Now it's time to hang! For each plate, measure the distance from the top of the plate to the wire that will catch on the hook behind it, then nail a hook into the wall that same place on your taped outline of the plate. Tip: If you live in an older building and your walls tend to shake a lot when you hammer into them, nail in all the hooks before hanging all the plates.

Even the best DIYers make mistakes, and despite your measuring, something might look a bit off when all is said and hung. If so, don't be afraid to adjust, swapping plates or moving the hooks a bit—your plates will likely cover any extra holes!

And voilà! Now you have a new kind of wall art.

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