Build a DIY industrial plate rack to showcase special plates on your wall! You only need 2 supplies costing under $10 and 6 easy steps to complete it!
This simple industrial plate rack has been a long time coming. I'm so glad I spent a few hours turning items I already had on hand into a pretty, one-of-a-kind piece of wall decor! Even if you need to buy everything, it'll cost you less than $10.
The other night I took a few quiet minutes for myself to enjoy this gorgeous new book from the amazing Melissa Michaels of The Inspired Room. I've followed her blog for years and love her simple ideas about "loving the home you have."
She explained that some of her best decorating happens at the last minute, in a rush. She has a plate wall in her dining room that she hung right before a dinner party one night. In other words, she didn't overthink it, and she loves it!
It got my wheels turning about the 3 plates tucked in my decor closet that I bought about 3 years ago to start a wall display of my own.
The only problem was I never bought any more, and I just shuffled them around the closet. I had thought about hanging them right on the dining room wall, but one plate matches the wall color, so that would look silly. I needed a backdrop.
A couple of minutes on Pinterest later, I found this tutorial from Shanty 2 Chic. And bonus! I already had some of the materials. YAY!
Clearing out decor closet clutter + using up materials on hand + a quick, beautiful project = a million-dollar winner in my book!
I did have to run to the store for the carriage bolts, but those were under $1 each. I also had to go back out for Gorilla glue after I turned the house upside down hunting for the bottle I was sure I had. I'm sure it'll turn up now that I have a new bottle. (Some links are affiliate links, which make it easy to find things and help keep this blog running. See my full disclosure policy here.)
OK, here's what you'll need:
- Carriage bolts (mine are 2″ long)
- 2 x 12 x 8 board (I had an 8-foot piece sitting in my garage since building a farmhouse table for a friend a couple of years ago. I'm thinking I need to make another one for a Christmas gift!)
- Gorilla glue
- D-ring hangers
- Self-drilling drywall anchors (if you can't hit a stud in the wall)
- Tools on hand: miter or circular saw, sander & drill
Steps to Make a Plate Rack
1. Decide on Your Board Size
Figure out how long your 2 x 12 board needs to be. I laid my plates on the board, measured the spacing between them with my level, then marked where to cut.
2. Cut the Board to Length
I trimmed my board with my miter saw, but a circular saw would work, too.
3. Sand Any Rough Edges
Next, I sanded the board to smooth the rough edges and remove any markings. Be sure to sand with the grain. I prefer this square-style orbital sander over a round one, since it's less likely to leave sanding marks that will show up once you stain it.
Be sure to wear proper eye protection! You don't want dust in your eyes! As a matter of fact, you should wear them while cutting the board, too.
4. Apply the Stain
Now it's time for staining! I love Minwax's weathered oak stain and use it on most of my projects. It's the color of my farmhouse table, which sits in the same room as the plate rack, so they'll match. How perfect!
Tip: I keep a box of disposable rubber gloves in my garage for any stain or oil-based paint. They've come in handy more times than I can count.
5. Add the Bolts
Once the stain is dry, drill holes for your bolts. I placed all of my plates back on the board and made custom markings for each one, since mine are all different sizes. If your plates are the same size, you can simply use a tape measure to figure out where the bolts go.
I wrapped tape around the bit to mark where to stop drilling. I only wanted about half an inch of the bolt sunk into the wood, leaving 1 1/2 inches sticking out to hold the plate.
Then I glued the bolts in place with Gorilla glue. Be careful, though, and keep an eye on them for a while after you add the glue, because Gorilla glue expands as it dries. Mine oozed out around the bolts, and I had to wipe it up. Had I left it alone, I would have ended up with unsightly white glue rings around each bolt. Not cute!
6. Attach the Hanger to the Back
The glue dried overnight, and then I hung it up with D-rings and self-drilling wall anchors (I love those things!). I wanted to drill into a stud, but the studs sat on either side of where I wanted the plate rack. I've hung plenty of large, heavy items with these anchors, and they're fabulous. I'll never use anything else!
Now you just add the plates! I stuck a little velcro behind the top of each one so they wouldn't slide off, just as an extra safety precaution.
And there it is! My pretty industrial plate rack. Now I don't have to shuffle these plates around the closet anymore. I can admire them on my wall.
The white and turquoise plates came from Anthropologie.
I found the dogwood plate on eBay years ago. I bought it because, growing up, my grandparents had dogwood trees in their front yard.
My Grammy would tell me the story of the dogwood tree again and again. Somewhere I still have a newspaper clipping of that story, with her handwriting addressing it to me.
Gosh, it feels so good to tackle a project again, and to finally have a DIY industrial plate rack for displaying my plates. I love it!
And in case you think my house is spotless, I kicked all the toys out of sight so you wouldn't see them in the pictures. #reallife #lifeofablogger
Hehe! Nobody wants to see that on Pinterest, but it's my everyday life with the kiddos.
Okay, so your assignment this week is to pick up a project you've been meaning to tackle for a long time. It may be simple or big, but just start. It'll feel so good, I promise! Then come back and comment to let me know.
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