Before and After: Plates

before

We were looking at one of our favorite blogs this morning and we came across these great before and after photos of some free plates. Take a look, after the jump!

after

Fun with spray paint! Says Yankee Belle: I’ve been inspired by bloggers like the Nester who take ordinary, inexpensive objects and mistreat them into beautiful objects. I really haven’t been focused as much as I usually am on decorating this house since it’s constantly under renovation, but I got on a decorating kick last week and went crazy.
I used one can of spray paint for each color, superglued some picture hangers on the back and nailed them up. I really like them.
We’ll see how long it takes for them to start falling of the wall.

Total cost: $14

Comments (23)

I like the green and yellow... but think all 4 colors is a little much.

I think that the plates with the scalloped edges are more sucessful in this than the plainer shapes since it's more about the shape than the original pattern.

I think $14 really can't be argued with! I think it is very clever and a nice way to reuse something everyone owns.

i like it!

Very nice!
I'm sure it makes your space inviting and warm-comfort.

I love anything that's been spray painted.

What a cute, cheap idea!

Now, that is creative.

i quite like this. very very cute and something fun to do on the weekend. :)

Very creative. I'd love it in other colors.

I love it. Thanks for sharing!

that's great - i have been looking for a cheap solution for the space above my cabinets in my ugly kitchen. this may be it!!!

Did you have to do any prep to the plates before painting?

Very cute and creative idea! It looks great!

LOVE it!

SPRAY PAINT!!! I love it!!!

You can sure unleash a lot of aggression with a can of spray paint.

I agree with the comment about the fluted plates working better than the plain, but still like them all. For me, the color combo works.

Very nice. I agree with everyone, it's quite clever. I like the combination of the different styles and shapes. And while I'm mixed on whether the four colors are too much or not, it's quite striking. I'm embarrassed to admit tomorrow I'm going to thrifting for cheap plates and some spray paint, baby! :)

P.S. Did you use a primer first, or straight spray? Thanks!

It's a nice enough look, but then you can't eat off them, can you?

Ditto! Sweet!. No Charlene, I suspect they're strictly art.

Now I'm thinking second layer of contrasting color, saran wrap while wet, for some additional visual interest. And I prefer the plain plates without the fluting... the fluting is too frou frou for my tastes.

now if only you could paint plates like this and actually use them for eating. that would be sweet. any ideas?

I painted some today! Yay! Thanks again!

(I also kind of went crazy with figurines and vases...and anything else that wasn't moving, haha)

Wow! Thanks for all of the comments!

I chose these four colors because they are what I'm using throughout for the rest of the kitchen. We are in the middle of renovating and I just had to decorate somehow to give myself a break! We will have white subway tile countertops and backspalsh and white cabinets, so color was in order. I figured this would be a good installation and use of color on a wall that is otherwise useless.

I didn't prime them first. It probably would have been helpful with the red and orange colors, to ensure fewer coats were used. But, since this was such an inexpensive project and the plates weren't going to be used for anything but wall art, I skipped that step. They've held up fine over the last three weeks.