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A vintage quilt hanging above the sofa. An oversized painting plucked from a flea market in the dining room. A purposeful salon wall touting memories and mementos. In a time when microtrends move at a blink-and-you’ll-miss pace, returning to storied, personal ways to outfit your home feels like a quiet resistance to all the digital noise—a way of creating a haven that embraces storytelling. In other words, a space that won’t look copy and pasted from social media or quickly dated. Maybe it’s filled with age-old materials like silver or a colorful wall-to-wall carpet—it’s yours and you want it to feel that way.
One way to honor a decorative tradition of the past while telling your own story? A hanging cluster of decorative plates—otherwise known as a plate wall. This time-honored arrangement, made up of plates varying in sizes, mounted to a wall, first gained popularity in the 17th and 18th centuries, particularly in countries like France, the Netherlands, and England. Back then, they were a symbol of status: these curated collections said, “I travel, I collect, I have taste.”
They were the home decor equivalent of a vacation photo album. “Plate walls are a way to showcase creativity and also create a unique display of personal memorabilia—places visited, objects picked up along the way,” shares Olympia Irving of tableware brand Carolina Irving Daughters. Adds Lauren McGrath, of New York-based interior design studio Studio McGrath: “Plate walls have a warm and nostalgic feel to them, and people are looking for ways to make their spaces feel incredibly personal, which vintage and collected plates definitely do.”
Throughout the years, collectors often peppered their walls with hand-painted blue-and-white pieces—ranging from Dutch delftware to prized pieces from the Ming Dynasty—layering artistry and global influence into a single display. But over time, as styles shifted and mass production came into the picture, they began to read a little less Grand Palais and more grandma’s house.
Now, interior designers are bringing them back—albeit in thoughtful and contemporary ways, or as personal design statements with depth. “They offer a rare mix of impact and intimacy,” says Alice Russotti, co-founder of Porta. “They can fill a wall with presence and personality—without the cost or formality of traditional artwork. People are always looking for ways to express themselves at home, and plate walls allow for that through the tactile, personal nature of curating and arranging each piece.”
“It’s about the choice and the story behind the plates,” says designer Clare Vivier, who has plate walls in both her homes. “The ones I have in our L.A. house are from Kneeland Co. and they are vintage Michoacán plates—a nod to my Mexican heritage. And in our France house, we have Malicorne plates, which are local to the Loire Valley region.”
Jennifer Perez of Italian dinnerware brand Ivo Angel, who recently installed a plate wall in her new Cortona shop, agrees. “I think the comeback of the plate wall is really about the movement to surround ourselves with meaningful pieces and to evoke memories of places and experiences,” she shares. “Living in Italy, I see plate walls in many Tuscan homes and villas and while they certainly carry a sense of nostalgia, they also continuously tell a story.”
Designer Stephan Jones of Stock Studio recently completed a project where he stacked four mid-century ceramic plates by Guido Gamboni, each representing a different family member. “There are lots of great vintage ceramic plates out there, and using them as decorative wall objects has long been part of my practice,” Stock says. While you want to make them personal, thinking about how they work together holistically and stylistically is also important. “To keep it from feeling kitschy, I stick to a collection of one maker or style period and color family,” Stock adds. “There has to be some kind of order rhythm and balance to how they are hung.”
“I think it’s nice when there is a theme to the installation,” shares Berkeley-based ceramicist Ariel Clute. “Whether the plates are all the same style or not, the theme could come from the imagery or the motif style, a refined color palette, and lastly the shape of the plate so that not everything stands out as different.”
And don’t be afraid to rethink where the plates belong. “We are seeing plate walls all over—not just in the kitchen or dining room,” Irving shares. “Plate walls can feel very modern by arranging them in distinctive patterns and placing them in unexpected rooms or corners of the wall.” McGrath agrees: “I love seeing them in sitting rooms, hallways, and even bathrooms.”
So how to pull it off without tipping into clutter? “Instead of dense, maximalist arrangements, you’re seeing plates displayed with space around them—treated more like sculptural objects than souvenirs,” explains Russotti. “They’re a beautiful way to layer in both texture and time, introducing history into a contemporary space or something graphic into a traditional one, without disrupting the overall harmony,” she shares. Vivier echoes this approach: “I think it’s easy to avoid making them look cluttered or dated by giving them their own space, in a line or in a row.”
Whether you get experimental or embrace a more traditional setup, plate walls prove that even old-school decorating methods can feel fresh and interesting when you infuse your own point-of-view and meaning into it. One plate at a time.