Gallery walls once felt fresh and eclectic and individual, but seeing the same sort of designs repeated ad infinitum across social media has made it all seem a bit rehearsed.
A new take on the gallery wall was inevitable, and the most stylish examples we've seen of late have all been designed around the humble plate.
Cheaper to build and significantly easier to arrange, plate walls do away with rigid frames and grid-like layouts for more relaxed and unexpected compositions.
Choosing plates that work together
The joy of building a plate wall is that its contents can come from your own cupboards, or indeed an hour spent at an antiques fair, which makes the whole thing considerably cheaper than a wall full of art.
You don't need a matching set, and in fact a mismatch looks much lovelier – just aim for shared colours or motifs between them.
If you're just starting your collection, vintage pieces by Spode, Wedgwood and Royal Worcester bring a bit of provenance with them, while Etsy is a fertile hunting ground for sweet, hand-painted designs.
Getting the arrangement right
There's no correct way to arrange a set of plates, but all good styling hinges on balance.
Anchoring your display with your largest plates at the base and side plates and saucers trailing off towards the top is a dependable formula. Odd numbers tend to arrange more naturally than even ones, unless you're doing a loose grid, which is both smart and easy to get right.
Be liberal with your spacing – plates concentrate colour and pattern onto a small surface, and crowding them together can quickly become too cluttered.
If you're adding them over a threshold (doors, archways etc.), simply line up a few of modest size – large plates can feel precarious hanging overhead.
Where to put your plate display
Kitchen: The kitchen is an obvious home for a plate wall, so it’s worth looking for less predictable spots – filling the gap beside a window or oven, or clustering a few above a sink.
Bathroom: A small group of two or three plates above a bath or around a mirror adds pattern to a room that's often left plain, and the smaller scale of most bathrooms means you don't need a large collection to make an impact.
Bedroom and living room: In bedrooms and living rooms, plates work best as a small accent rather than the main event. Cluster a few above a bedside table, taking them up and over one corner of a headboard, or use them to fill any leftover space around or alongside a fireplace. In larger rooms, a looser arrangement is better suited to the scale.
Quick tips for a plate display that works
- Test the layout on the floor first, then transfer measurements using masking tape as a guide
- Use a spirit level for the anchor plates in a grid layout, then let the rest follow more loosely
- Plate hangers with spring-loaded coils or adjustable straps hold pieces securely without marking them. It's safer to buy hangers rated above your plate's actual weight, not just at it
Plates too pretty to eat from
Emma Bridgewater Wallflower 8.5-Inch Plate
Rachel Edwards is the Style & Interiors Editor for Country Living and House Beautiful, covering all things design and decoration, with a special interest in small space inspiration, vintage and antique shopping, and anything colour related. Her work has been extensively translated by Elle Japan and Elle Decor Spain. Rachel has spent over a decade in the furniture and homeware industry as a writer, FF&E designer, and for many years as Marketing Manager at cult design retailer, Skandium. She has a BA in French and Italian from Royal Holloway and an MA in Jounalism from Kingston University. Follow Rachel on Instagram @rachelaed
