Best way to display postcards?

June 3, 2014 7:30 AM

Interior design filter: We have a bunch (15-20) of cool postcards that we'd like to display. In our old apartment, there was a narrow (maybe 20") wall next to our desks that worked really well to "frame" the postcard collection, but in our new apartment, our only viable wall is like 20 feet long, which makes it look weird to put up a handful of postcards. Assuming that we are neither crafty nor inclined to spend tons of money (no custom framing), what's the best way to show off our postcards? Something nicer-looking than a bulletin board would be good.
posted by goodbyewaffles to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

Ways I've displayed postcards in the past: around a door or window, in a line up and down the wall (nice for delineating a transition between two parts of the room). You could also try just sticking them up on the wall grouped together as though they were one large piece of art (with a cm or two of space in between them).
posted by mskyle at 7:37 AM on June 3, 2014

Best answer: Pinterest is really good for stuff like this. I was going to suggest using a wire/clips to hang them, like so.
posted by Fig at 7:38 AM on June 3, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Two 8-foot DIY picture ledges, one on top of the other, with a very shallow lip is what I would do. Lowes can cut all the bits for you, and for no weight load (like postcards) wood glue is fine. You'd just have to screw them to the wall. Total cost would be like $20. IKEA also makes picture ledges but they are vastly more spendy if you need to cover any kind of length at all.
posted by DarlingBri at 7:44 AM on June 3, 2014

Postcard mobile
posted by lakersfan1222 at 7:51 AM on June 3, 2014

Here's a frame at Ikea, the ÖRKENED, you can put 8 postcards in it, and hang two of them, one on top of the other. It'll protect your cards too.

If you don't mind spending some real dough, a group of EKETÅNGA will look really cool, lots of matte around them. Pretty inexpensive way to take up wall space.

Or buy as many NYTTJA as you have postcards, and hang them that way.

Group them four across and four down, evenly spaced. It'll take a couple of minutes to sort it out with levels and measuring tape, but at $2 per frame, it's a bargain!
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 7:51 AM on June 3, 2014

I asked this question a while back. The posterhangers worked pretty well for me but I had trouble keeping them sticking to my walls in the summertime which was mostly just a failure of trying enough adhesives.
posted by jessamyn at 7:56 AM on June 3, 2014

I am a postcard collector. I have hundreds of postcards. I've made enlarged prints of some, and framed them, but also placed several in frames that hold four 4 x 6 or 3 x 5 slots. I go to craft stores (Michaels or Joann's) or Aaron Brothers when they have 50% off sales and stock up on these frames. Pretty much every week, Michael's or Joann's will have a Sunday coupon that will give you 40% to 50% off a single purchase.
Use postcard protectors to keep them bright and in good condition.
posted by mitschlag at 8:16 AM on June 3, 2014 [1 favorite]

You can also go to a thrift store and see if they have any frames there that would work for you. I got a poster frame for next to nothing to display some post cards I have. They also have those family portrait collage type frames that you can use to display the more interesting post cards. Thrift stores have all kinds of interesting frames that people just toss out because they have no idea what to do with them. They're a treasure trove of frames. You just have to figure out what to do with the pictures that come with them.
posted by patheral at 8:39 AM on June 3, 2014

I like hanging art with binder clips and thumb tacks, something like this. You can also "make" frames with washi tape, cheap at a craft store. Either of those, if you group the postcards pretty densely, would add enough visual presence to hold a large wall.
posted by LeeLanded at 9:06 AM on June 3, 2014