Decorating Gone Awry

When I moved this summer, I cleaned out a lot of junk, but also rediscovered some cool treasures I had hidden away for a time when I could actually use them. One of the things I "found" was a neat set of hand-painted plates with cocktail themes.



I bought them at this great little boutique in the Pearl District of downtown Portland, OR shopping with my friend Tanya a number of years ago. I always envisioned using them as the centerpiece of a kitchen decorating scheme since they have hip, contemporary colors. When I was unpacking, I left them on top of the fridge, thinking I would find some plate hangers and put them on the wall in my little kitchen to brighten it up a bit.

OK, so I moved in June and hadn't gotten around to this yet, but for some reason a weekend I spent sick as a dog, hopped up on cold meds seemed like the right time to take on this little project. Although the more I looked at the kitchen, the more I decided against hanging the plates there, because I wanted them to be more visible. The wall next to my dining set would be perfect, and I could organize them in a square of four. Genius!

With the plate hangers located, I grabbed my hammer and nails. To make sure everything was even, I did paper mock-ups the same size as the plates, measured the wall, figured out the exact center and correct formation, marked the wall where the nails would go...it was perfection. Then I grabbed a nail and started hammering. And THIS HAPPENED....



I didn't think about the fact that this wall of my apartment is right next to the elevator shaft, and is therefore made of plaster over CONCRETE. Doh! That's not gonna work! So now I have to come up with another place to hang my plates, AND I have an ugly mark on my wall. Oh, the humanity!

For my alternate plate location, I decided on the entryway wall, and I'm pretty pleased with how they look.





As for the hole in the wall, I covered it temporarily with my John Mayer "Secret Show"poster. It looks kind of bland hanging there by itself, but I couldn't stand the ugly mark on the wall.



So, anyone have good decorating ideas that involve things you can only hang with tape? My wall needs your help...