Postcard Ledges/Rails

February 13, 2025 9:24 AM

I have a lot of postcard-type items I would like to display on a rotating basis. I've seen ledges that people simply rest photos or postcards on and that seems ideal. Not sure if I'm looking for the wrong search terms or just impatient, but it feels like I'm not seeing what i want. Google fu this all you want for me. All I need are reasonably priced, shallow wooden ledges/rails with a lip to hold postcards. What can you find?

I do not want to build or make anything. Strictly doing this via shopping.

posted by DirtyOldTown to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

Something like this ?
posted by raccoon409 at 9:29 AM on February 13 [1 favorite]

I searched for "picture shelf" and came up with a bunch.
posted by sriracha at 9:30 AM on February 13

Best answer: IKEA calls it a picture ledge.
posted by demi-octopus at 9:30 AM on February 13 [3 favorites]

raccoon409 and I were probably thinking along the same lines - an old-timey method of hanging things on your walls without damaging the wall surface was a "picture rail", which was a piece of molding with a lip on it that didn't protrude too far from the wall. The original intent was that a hook would go over the molding with a wire running down to wherever you wanted to put the actual (generally large, framed) thing you wanted to hang, but a similar thing could suit your purpose. An actual old-timey picture rail might not have sufficient depth to be able to stand/lean a postcard on, but that might be a valuable search term.
posted by LionIndex at 9:33 AM on February 13

Response by poster: I did try "picture shelf" but so many of the results were actual shelf depth as opposed to just being shallow.

I think part of my problem may have been that I attempted to search for this on Amazon, whose search function is now hot garbage.

I can't believe I didn't think of IKEA.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:39 AM on February 13 [2 favorites]

Anyone who sells stuff to parents for kids' rooms should have something along these lines.
posted by bluedaisy at 9:46 AM on February 13 [1 favorite]

Similar things which could be adapted to your purpose: wainscotting and chair rails.
posted by Rash at 10:26 AM on February 13 [2 favorites]

Display shelving, as used for vinyl records, might also work.
posted by box at 10:43 AM on February 13 [1 favorite]

I have the Ikea ones. They're nice looking.
posted by bluesky78987 at 1:11 PM on February 13 [1 favorite]

It appears some retailers call it a photo ledge as well - here's one from West Elm, here's one from Pottery Barn. I have the IKEA one and I love it but I do think it'd be a bit too deep to keep postcards at a useful angle if they aren't framed (although it does have a groove for smaller items).

Or, if you want a different approach, there are several options marketed for kids' art which hold rotating items well like this.
posted by mosst at 9:38 AM on February 14

Response by poster: I did in fact go with the IKEA ones. I mounted four of them, kind of staggered and now they hold a rotating selection of my "art cards" (postcard-sized prints that come with fancy blu-ray editions).

They look pretty rad, I think.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:22 PM on February 18