How to Arrange Plates on a Wall - 5 Easy Steps

Wall plates and decorative bowls are a great way to breath some life into your walls and add a little bit of character to your home.

But how do you go about choosing woven bowls or African wall plates for your walls?  And then how do you arrange wall bowls and plates on a wall to look nice?

How to Arrange Wall Plates & Wall Baskets

1. Pick a color pallet
2. Vary the size of the wall plates / decorative baskets
3. Get as many bowls and plates as you’d like
4. Try arranging the plates and bowls on the floor first
5. Tie it in to your home - consider adding in some wall plants, art, or pictures

 Pick a Color Pallet –

Don’t be scared, you don’t have to be a Picasso or an interior designer for this, all we’re saying is choose one or two colors, and make sure there's at least one of those colors on each plate. It doesn't have to match exactly, and it's OK if there’s some other colors on there too, just make sure there’s some common color theme tying everything together. Here’s some examples to show what we mean. 

pink color pallet:

blue color pallet:

natural and black color pallet:

There’s lots of colors to choose from, and you can totally bend/break this rule and still have your wall look great, so don’t overthink it, go with what you’d think looks good and have a little fun!

Vary the Size of the Wall Plates / Baskets

The great thing about these decorative plates and woven bowls are that they’re unique, and the more you can bring that out, the better it will look. This means that while three bowls all the same size will look good, three bowls of different sizes will usually look even better. This is especially true if you're working with a larger area and incorporating a bunch of wall baskets; the more variance in size the better. Here’s an example:

How many bowls should I get?

Get as many bowls as you’d like! – We’ve seen walls with everything from a single bowl to upwards of dozens, and they all look great! If in doubt, go with an odd number, its usually ensures an arrangement that looks nice. If you’re trying to fill a specific space, the vast majority of plates are in the diameter sizes of 6”, 10”, 12”,  14”.

Arrange The Decorative Bowls and Wall Plates on the Floor First (or use cardboard / paper  cutouts)

Once you have your plates and bowls, arrange them on the floor or other open area first. You’ll probably move them around a bunch of times before finding an arrangement that you’re set on.

 If you’re having trouble visualizing them on your wall, you can always cut out paper or cardboard the same size as the plates, and tape that paper to the wall to see how it looks up there. This will give you a real clear idea of exactly what it will look like, and you can use these to help line up where to put the nails or screws into the wall.

If you still need some help figuring out how to put them up in a way that looks good, we've shown some common arrangements you can copy at the bottom of the article.

And while you’re considering some arrangements, we have a pointer for you…..

Tie the Plates and Bowls into Your Home – Add Pictures, Art, or Plants

Don’t get us wrong, plates by themselves are a great way to liven up your walls, and almost always look great by themselves; but incorporating some other items will also help tie these plates into the rest of your house and make the flow more consistent.

Adding plants into the mix brings life into your room! We recommend Modern Botanical, they are USA based company that creates real wood wall planters and wall propagators, and they just straight up look amazing.

Another good option for plants are these cool hand made clay wall planters for tillandsia made by Carter & Rose. We love them because these plants are super hardy and don't require any soil, great for those of us who don't have green thumbs and want the bare minimum of responsibilities as far as plant care goes :).

Other things you can incorporate into the mix is art, tapestries, wall decor, or personal photos. 

 

FAQ:

How to hang wall plates and wall baskets

• All our plates come with loops woven into it for hanging, so you’re good to go!
• Just hang them on a nail or screw that’s properly secured into the wall.
• If you bought plates somewhere else and they don’t have a hanger loop woven in, here’s some wall plate mounts you can get from Amazon.

 Where Can I Buy African Wall Plates or Bowls?

• Here's a link to all our wall plates and woven bowls! We offer free shipping on all US orders. 

 Where are your plates made? Who makes them?

Our woven plates and bowls are handmade in Africa!  We carry Kazi and Amsha brands who partner directly with the weavers on the ground. Both support fair trade, with weavers typically making 2-3x what they can make selling their goods in their local market.

What are some common plate arrangements / What are good arrangements for my bowls?

The possibilities for arrangements are endless, but here’s some common Bowl Arrangements based on how many bowls you have:

1 plate: "Put Next to Other Decor":

2 wall plates: "Big Brother - Little Sister"

3 wall plates: "The Lopsided / Tilted Triangle":

4 wall plates: "The Diamond Design":

5 wall plates: "The Imperfect X":

6 wall plates: "the Fast-Forward Icon >> " :