Could you post a pic of the plates you have so we can see the style? And the room if you can. It would help a great deal!

What's your style? Are you traditional? Do you like matchy/matchy? Are you eclectic? Pairs/matching stuff aren't the only way to make something look symmetrical, if symmetrical is what you want (sometimes asymmetrical is pleasing to the eye, too).

And there is that style that popped up in a Pottery Barn catalog a few years ago--plates overlapped (there were probably others doing that before PB showed it).

Because of your last sentence, I'm thinking you're leaning toward a more traditional look instead of a blast of some different colors.

I'm sure folks will post some pics of their plate displays, but if you do a Google "image" search (not the reg web search), you'll see some very interesting renditions, including some that look quite "fluid."

Here's a cute website (not mine/don't have one!) that shows a few very interesting versions, not matchy/matchy but still symmetrical

Here is a link that might be useful: chateau de lu

No you don't have to look for pairs and it doesn't have to be symmetrical. It really would help to see the room, the wall and the plates for more help though.

I do lean toward more traditional design and symmetrical placement of plates. I only have a few plates right now and they are all on the "plain" side. I'm searching for some more decorative/colorful pieces and when I find those I'll post pics. I know I want at least one platter and a few more small plates.

I have hung seven platters in the breakfast room, all on the same wall. Though none are pairs, two or three have the same decals. I started with a solid green one hung about at eye level. Then I hung two above the green platter, one to the left about 3 inches & the other to the right about 3 inches. I repeated this pattern with two more below. The last two platters are centered above & below the two that are side by side. The pattern looks like this:

.........platter
platter.........platter
........platter
platter.........platter
........platter

I had three walls of plates in the DR of our last house for awhile, but no pictures. I did groups of five:

...............plate......

plate.......plate........plate

.............plate................

in various sizes - whatever looked good grouped together. Larger place was in the center, with smaller elsewhere.

I have a large wall filled with antique plates here, but they are randomly hanging in one large group. Didn't want the structured look in this home.

Alright -- I found a few more plates and took some pictures of the room! The rug that you see will not stay. We are replacing it with this rug from Ballard Designs (in green): http://www.ballarddesigns.com/jump.jsp?itemID=11862&itemType=PRODUCT&iProductID=11862

All the plates: {{!gwi}}

A closer shot of them:{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}} (I'm not sure about using this one)

{{!gwi}}

The room:

The window treatment fabric:

The wall where the plates will go is 8 1/2 feet long. Any help will be greatly appreciated!

I just Googled 'plates on walls' and just the first page came up with some ideas that I've never seen before. Most on that page are asymmetrical, which surprised me. Check out the link below for some new ideas.

Here is a link that might be useful: plates on walls images

One of my favorite all time displays:

Maryelizabeth, Beautiful plates and lovely room. I think you just need to move them around until you are happy with how it looks to you,

WOO HOO ttodd. WOW That is about my all time favorite plate display too. Gorgeous!!!

Chris

maryelizabeth, a layout tip that may help is the one for laying out an arrangement of pictures: on the floor below where the plates will hang, place plates in various arrangements until you find what you like. It helps me when starting to hang, to hang the center plates first, then work out to the others.

You have some very nice-looking plates that will look good in your room.

LOVE your room...the plates will look fabulous there!

I'm headed out to Hobby Lobby this morning to get hangers for the plates. Hopefully, I'll have some "finished" pictures to share tonight! Thank you for the great suggestions!

This might seem like unnecessary work, but it helped me when hanging my plates. Trace the plates onto some brown craft paper,( I used brown packaging paper)and use that as a template. I placed a small piece of scotchtape to the back and played around with the arrangement on the wall until I was satisfied. Hang the nail right through the paper. Once all the nails are in place, rip the paper away one by one as you hang them!

Thank you so much for the great ideas! Here's what we ended up with:

http://s473.photobucket.com/albums/rr92/maryelizabeth78/?action=view&current=IMG_7874.jpg"; target="_blank">

http://s473.photobucket.com/albums/rr92/maryelizabeth78/?action=view&current=IMG_7876.jpg"; target="_blank">

Congratulations - they look great. I bet it was fun figuring it out. And you even have room for a pair of sconces, if you wish.

Looks wonderful!

It turned out terrific!! The spacing looks great and the colors are nice in that room : )