This DIY plate rack is the perfect simple solution for displaying your favorite decorative dinnerware and serveware when not in use and adding interest to a blank wall in your dining room or kitchen.
This DIY plate rack is one of my favorite wall-decor solutions that we’ve added to our home. It serves as a storage rack for a few favorite dishes that I want to keep on display throughout the year, and I also love to decorate it with different plates and bowls for different seasons, or whenever the mood strikes.
This plate display is made up of a type of wall-mounted narrow shelf that’s meant to be a photo holder for framed pictures and prints, but it functions perfectly as a plate holder for dinnerware and platters, and I love the traditional look it adds to this plain wall in the dining room of our old farmhouse. Whether you’re looking for more storage in a small space in your home or for a beautiful way to fill a blank wall, a single plate rail or a whole plate ledge wall like I’ve done, might be the perfect solution for your home as well.
See more of this space in our home: Timeless Farmhouse Dining Room Update
Upgrading Our Dining Room With a Plate Shelf
First of all, here’s how the wall in our dining room looked about ten years ago before I added the plate racks. As you can see, one of the reasons why I’m so adamant that white-painted walls are the way to go for me and my home is that I’ve already done the whole dark, moody paint thing. It was fun to have that dark, dramatic stairwell, but I’ve gotten it out of my system.
Anyway, back to the plate wall. I’ve always loved the look of plates as decorations on walls and this is a particularly practical solution because it allows you to switch a plate or platter out instantly without having to fuss with plate hangers and hooks or nails in the wall. If you’re in the mood for all-white pieces one day and then want to show off a collection of vintage blue and white plates that you found at the flea market the next, it can be done with very minimal effort. I’ve switched it up often for different holidays, but this collection of beaded cream-colored dinnerware is what I come back to most often because it’s such a calm, relaxed look while still feeling a cohesive grouping.
The picture ledges I used to create my plate rack are from IKEA. In my opinion, they’re pretty much the experts on these thin wall shelves and they’ve carried quite a few different styles of them over the years. This pretty shelf style that I have has been discontinued, but they do have several other styles currently that I think would make great options, even though they don’t have the same look of traditional molding that these shelves do. This style was called “Virserum” if you ever want to look it up.
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Details to Consider Before Beginning This Plate Rack Project
When I first added these shelves to the wall, I made sure to buy shelves that were longer than the width of the wall so I could cut them down a bit and create a really custom fit because I securely attached them to the wall, which definitely adds to the traditional, built-in look. I measured several different dinner plates, trays, and platters that I owned to determine how far apart each tier should be from the one below it to make sure that I’d always have enough space for most standard-size dishware.
On top of being a very easy, simple-to-install project, it’s also a very affordable one. If you were to try to build each shelf for this dish holder yourself, you’d most likely find that your lumber costs would be much more than just buying these pre-made shelves.
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Other Uses for a Plate Shelf in Your House
If you’re short on space, this can also be a great decorative kitchen storage solution. My plate racks are quite shallow, but some of the newer versions, like this bamboo option, seem to be designed with more versatility in mind and would work perfectly as a kitchen organizer. On top of storing plates, you can also add bowls to thinner plate storage shelves like this. Some of the new options are also designed to accommodate mugs, barware, and glassware. If you used an extra cup or a small caddy to store silverware, utensils, and flatware in an upright position, you could store all of your dinnerware right on a wall to save valuable cabinet space for less beautiful items.
If you’re a collector, these ledge shelves make a perfect display holder for collections of items like bakeware, candles, or vintage vases.
These photo rails can also be used around the perimeter of a room to define the top of a section of board-and-batten paneling. Doing this would create a surface around the entire room to display plates and framed paintings, but it would also look lovely and decorative when you wanted to leave the shelves empty for a simpler look.
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Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.