Easy and Cheap No-Commitment Way to Display Postcards, Art and Ephemera

I just moved into a new house. The walls are all freshly painted a sort of light khaki color. I actually like the color, which surprises me a bit. After over 10 years of being in the same place that was covered with holes (because I am terrible at estimating where I want to hang something) it was so nice to be in a place with smooth walls.

The problem is that it makes me a little paralyzed. I am afraid to hang anything because I know myself and I can't draw a straight line with a ruler. Also, I'm not really sure what I want to display. I want to put up different things than I had up before.

This is what inspired my No-Commitment Wall of Favorite Art and Ephemera.™

As you can imagine with my fear of commitment I have gotten heavily into Command Strip usage. So, I decided to use Command Strips to put up hooks and then display my favorite pieces from my collection along with other artwork I like. This way I can change it around whenever I feel like it and I can take the hooks down without leaving nail marks. Amazing!  So, my wall is like one big inspiration board.

My No-Commitment Wall so far.

In order to achieve this, I used some hard PVC Sleeves that I had for storing and protecting my postcard and ephemera collection. These are great things to have just for that reason alone. If you have ephemera or photos that are fragile or that mean a lot to you, sometimes just a soft sleeve isn't enough. These rigid archival sleeves protect them like crazy and BONUS, they are great to use for display.

Another cool bonus of this tactic is that the hard case makes it possible for you to create little collages or your favorite things. For example the letter with the Victorian scrap that I have in the bottom right-hand corner of the above image. That is just two separate things placed together, no gluing needed,

So, here's how you achieve it:

• Step One: Buy some Command Hooks you like or use Command Strips on ones you already have.
  
• Step Two:  Find some things you want to display and put them in the appropriate size hard plastic sleeves (now conveniently located in my shop).
  
• Step Three: Use binder clips to hang them from said hooks

That's it: You're done and when you decide to take them all down or move them around you'll have a wall free of holes or chipped paint. 

The only thing I wouldn't recommend displaying this way is originally painted items. The paint might end up sticking after a long period of time. I don't know this for sure - it's just a guess.

It'll be interesting to see how much my wall grows and what will be on it this time next year. Have fun and if you do this, share it with me on The Cedar Chest Facebook or Instagram page.

Ways to Display your Vintage Postcards and Photographs

A little while ago a Facebook friend of mine posted a photo of a display she did in her new office. I loved what she did with the old drawers and it made me start thinking about all the ways you can display your favorite old postcards and photographs.

I began a pin board for ideas I found that I especially liked. Here are some of my favorite ideas.

This is a neat way to display studio portraits. The wood hangers would probably not damage the photo, but other hangers could easily create indentations, so be careful of using clips. You can find the listing for this hanger here.

This is a great way to be able to easily change images your displaying. I like the idea that the color of the shutter can really enhance your space and the images.

I love the display here from Country Living Magazine. The brown with that bold blue wall looks great. Putting lots of like images together make a great large impact.

Some vintage frames, painted and strung with ribbon can be a good way to display your collection of old photos. I would use mini-clothespins, which would probably be the least harsh on the photos. Image is from Birch and Bird blog.

If you want to follow to see more you can see what I have so far on my Pinterest Board - Vintage Postcards and Photo Displays