In her London bathroom, Lucinda Chambers has decorated the wall above the bath with an eclectic display of plates, which gives the room a charming rustic feel. Ceramics are an excellent way to decorate a bathroom as, unlike traditional artworks, they can stand up to any humidity or steam.
Plates are a very affordable decorating tool as you can pick them up for very little at antiques markets and charity shops and then create something impactful, as Joanna Wood has done in this Cotswold house. Using plates as wall decoration can sometimes be seen as old-fashioned, but this shows just how modern the look can be.
A set of plates bought for Octavia Dickinson by her parents frames a Hockney print on one wall of the main bedroom.
This tiny kitchen is painted a warm orange and the units were made by Planet Earth Kitchens in Essex and shipped out to this rural French country house. Bright mismatched plates mounted on the wall add to the rustic vacation feeling of the room.
Having moved into this South London flat just over a year ago, interior designer Gytha Nuttall has used ceramics to sparingly added pops of colour to her many shades of grey: the toile de Jouy plates that are wall-mounted in the kitchen add a splash of pink.
The spare bedroom of interior designer Diana Sieff's home (a converted chapel in Oxfordshire) has a vintage chic look, with a trio Lebanese plates hanging on the wall.
Situated between Marrakesh and the Atlas Mountains, the holiday home of Colefax & Fowler's Trudi Ballard, is decorated in a combination of English country-house style and traditional Moroccan elements. The site of the house is perfect: down a dirt track or two and into an olive grove, where the house seems almost part of the landscape. At the end of a gravel path is a studded wooden door leading to a shaded walk and then a cool, airy hall through french windows. This bedroom has a pretty delft-blue palette, with an Indian cotton bedspread and plates above the chimneypiece from Fez.
In this decoration scheme inspired by artist studios, vintage furniture combined with distressed, textural accessories and blue accents creates a Bohemian feel. The blue, black and white plates pop against the whitewashed wall in the dining area.
In the potter Emma Bridgewater's Oxforshire home a dresser is filled with her famous spongeware. A look that has spawned a thousand imitations.
This early-nineteenth-century house in Normandy was purchased by an antiques dealer and decorator who rescued it from a derelict state. In the sunny dining room small antique plates are hung at the side of the window, creating a traditional country look.
Is there anything better than a Welsh dresser stocked with blue and white plates? This heavenly version is from Lamb's House in Leith.
In designer Anne Massie's Virginia house her collection of creamware plates are arranged around two huge panels that she painted herself.
A romantic mix of painted dresser, suzani lampshade and antique plates in the French holiday home of textiles dealer Susan Deliss.
In the kitchen of this house designed by Charlotte Crossland stands a dresser designed by Charlotte herself with a wall display showcasing antique chinaware from Myriad. The reclaimed oak parquet is from FPS Flooring.
More great decoration stories from House & Garden
- 50 stylish living room ideas to copy now
- Farrow and Ball paint colours in real homes
- Small room ideas from the House & Garden archive
- How to hang pictures on walls at home
- Bright bathroom ideas to make a splash
- Hallway ideas to make a great first impression
- Patio, garden decking and terrace ideas
- The best garden furniture stores to help you spruce up
- A guide to the best interiors shops in London
- How to decorate a Georgian house
- The best mattresses to buy for quality sleep
