DIY Silver Tray Wall

Many of you asked about how I hung the silver trays on my dining room wall from my Christmas Tablescape post, so today I’m going to share with you how I created it! I’ve seen a few variations of this done before, and always loved the look of it. Vintage, yet elegant, and full of character. Creating a gallery wall with plates is much like creating a gallery wall with photos.

*This post contains affiliate links for your convenience, which means I make a tiny portion of the sale with no additional cost to you whatsoever.*

I’ve had luck finding vintage silver trays at secondhand stores and yard sales. Many of you said you had them lying around in boxes, well now it’s time dust them off, and get those pretty silver trays up on the wall! 

To get started, you will need some plate hangers! If you aren’t familiar with these, there are a few different types you can use. I use the wire spring-type that have 4 little hooks on the end. I use a small nail in the wall to hang them on, using the triangle part on the wire hanger. They look like this :

Small | Medium | Large | Platter | Adhesive Disc

They come in different sizes, depending on the size plates you have, and attach right to the back. I suggest getting a few different sizes and seeing which ones fit best. You can also get the adhesive disc plate hangers, but I’ve never been patient enough to use them lol, because they need to adhere for 24 hours. However for certain plate types I’m sure they work best. 

To get started, I hung my largest trays first. I hung the largest rectangle tray on the bottom, but left a little room for a smaller tray underneath, and then my largest circle tray directly over it. Now that I had my starting point I worked my way around it.

I hung two similar sized round trays on either side of my large rectangle tray for some symmetry. Since no 2 trays are alike, I held them up on the wall first to see which ones felt like they fit better next to it. Since my large round tray above it wasn’t as wide, I placed the trays next to it that had a little more interest. This helped balance my overall display. 

Don’t worry about getting it exactly right. I always go for an overall feel, and will often times enlist the help of an innocent by-stander to hold up some plates while I take a step back and look to get a feel for how it looks. I typically lean towards my symmetry with plates than I do with frames, just because it feels a little more balanced to me, but there really is no right or wrong way to do it. Just have fun, and create something beautiful you love!

Want to grab some plate hangers of your own. Click on the sizes below to grab the ones you need!

Small | Medium | Large | Platter | Adhesive Disc

Stay in touch!

Instagram / Pinterest / Facebook

Have a design question? Visit Doucette Design Co. for all your design needs!