Decorate Your Walls With This Easy Plate Hanger DIY

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Have you ever decorated your walls with plates? Despite loving the idea of this design concept and the unique interest that it can bring to a space, I have never actually taken the leap to add a few decorative plates to my walls. But recently, after packing away our Christmas decor, this little corner of our living space was just begging for some love. Although the slanted roofline was calling for a staggered gallery / wall collage of some kind, I didn’t want to add more art in this corner seeing that our large hanging gallery wall full of art is right across from it in the same room. But, after some consideration and unique finds at our local antique store, I began exploring the idea of adding plates to the space instead! And wow, I am so glad I did! They add such a cheerful accent to our previously quiet corner. So, if you’re like me and are considering adding a few plates to your walls but don’t have any plate hangers on hand, check out this super easy plate hanger DIY to make your plate gallery dreams come true!

Plate Hangers

When it comes to hanging plates on the wall, there seem to be a million ways to go about it! Whether decorating around art, mirrors, architectural accents or creating a gallery wall all by themselves, decorating with plates can bring a variety of interest to your space through 3D forms, unique textures, colors and patterns. So, how do you hang them?

Traditional Hangers

Traditionally, it has been common to use plate hangers that wrap across the back of the plate and hook around each edge. These hangers don’t actually attach any hardware to the plate itself, allowing the plate to be taken out of the display and used as a functional piece once again.

Adhesive Hangers

As these plate hangers do peek out from around the edges of the plate (and occasionally are a little rough on the plate edges), there also are adhesive plate hangers. These come in both disk and tab like forms to that attach to the back of the plate and can be removed at a later period. The adhesive hangers are totally invisible, as they become concealed behind the plate and do not wrap around the edges. Either way, each of these plate hangers are awesome options for hanging decorative plates without removing the option of using it for functional purposes in the future.

Plate Hanger DIY

Since the plates that I found antiquing are purely for decorative purposes and I was looking to accomplish this project fairly quickly, I opted to create my own plate hanger DIY with items I already had on hand instead of purchasing one of the options mentioned above.

After discovering that the back of my ceramic plate already had a built-in plate hanger, I decided to create a similar idea with a bit of string, felt and hot glue / strong adhesive that would mimic how a piece of artwork is hung, allowing me to level and center the piece on the wall.

Plate Hanger DIY :Steps

Step 1 – To start, flip your plate over and mark the center of your plate with a small mark at the top.

Step 2 – Next, cut two pieces of felt about 1” x 2” each. Place a dot of hot glue or strong adhesive (like a super glue fit for ceramics) at each end along the midpoint of the plate. Place down your felt rectangles. Make sure that the glue only covers half of the rectangle as the loose part of the rectangle will be folded over in a later step.

Step 3 – After you have glued the felt, double over the string and measure out a portion that extends above your center plate mark in step 1. The plate will hang above the back lip to be as close to the wall as possible, so you want to be sure that the string reaches just barely above that lip.

Step 4 – Glue the base of the string to the felt. Next, add glue on top of the string and fold over the felt half that is not glued down. The string is now secure between the felt and is attached to the plate!

Step 5 – To give a better appearance and add even more security, cut 2 slightly bigger pieces of felt and glue them over each felt / string connection point. Wait for the glue to dry, then your plate is ready to hang!

Step 6 – Add a command hook or nail to the wall, then hang your plate and center it on the string. If your plate leans out from the wall more than you would like, add a touch of glue further up the string to glue it to the plate, therefore reducing the amount of slack in the string. This slack normally helps to center the plate on the wall without having to be as precise, however once the string is creased from where you like it hung, you can remove the plate to reduce some of this slack. The additional glue spots do not need to be felted down as they simply are to reduce the slack and not to create strong connection points. Let dry, rehang and enjoy your new wall decor!

Final Thoughts

This plate hanger DIY was such a fun afternoon project and I have LOVED the impact it has made on our previously subtle corner. I really don’t know what took me so long to hang plates on my wall! What a fun little transformation with materials I already had in my cabinet. Do you have plates you are dying to hang or a few you aren’t really sure what to do with? Or maybe you are looking for wall decor beyond typical art? Try these out! Whether using the DIY approach like me or traditional plate hangers, hanging plates can be a perfect way to display family heirlooms, china pieces, or unique travel finds. So, what do you think? Do you like using plates as decor? Let me know in the comment section below and be sure to share this post with a friend who loves a quick DIY!

Happy DIY-ing!