I have a slight addiction to pretty platters (my friend Chris’s fault). I just can’t pass one up—especially if they are on sale. This is why I tend to give alot of the them as gifts—I figure everyone loves a good platter right?!?! So need-less-to-say, I have ended up with many. I love to use them too—but I also wanted a great way to display them. When we moved into our house about 6 (gulp) years ago—the Dining Room was one of the first rooms I wanted to decorate. Everyone sees our dining room if they enter from the front—or from the garage. Maybe that is why I started there.

The following project is one that I came up with and my sweet hubby Bill executed. Now that I have had lessons on the miter saw—I could hopefully do it on my own. But he enjoys that sort of thing; so I would still ask for his help =)
I knew that I wanted a large table (for 10 people) to sit around. So, I knew that I wouldn’t have room for a hutch (I’m not really a “hutch” kind of girl anyway…so that was fine with me )
These ledges I came up with are perfect and allow me to rotate the display of platters. I love that! FYI—these make fabulous picture shelves too!!!

We did 3 ledges that are 36 long by 4 wide. Bill used 3 pieces of 1X4X36 pine. Then we used a molding to trim out the front and side (just 2 miter cuts).

We secured 2 L brackets (marking first on the wall and on the ledge where the studs are) You want to be sure and use a stud—otherwise the platters may fall at your next party—although, that would make it memorable ;) If you don’t have a stud available then use a drywall anchor first.
You will notice I placed my brackets on the top—I didn’t want to see them from the bottom and I knew I could cover up the bracket with a platter!You do what works for you though. Another great application is to use these ledges for picture displays in other rooms!  Including wood, brackets, paint and molding this project was not over $25!