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QUESTION Display limitations

QUESTION Display limitations
N

Nursteve

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DPF Donor 2025-2026
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Pin & Pop
Nursteve
I have been informed by my spouse that she doesn't want to look at a bunch of different displays of pins hanging around. Sometimes I don't understand her, but opposites attract I guess. 🤷‍♂️
Anyone else have limitations to what they can display? Maybe it is physical, self-imposed, or even crazy family limitations.
 
I'm limited by my own reluctance to looking at a bunch of pins on my wall. I think it just reminds me how much money I have put into this hobby and I get a little anxious. Instead, I have just a few boards hanging and lots of books. Then I can sit on the couch and flip through my books and rearrange my books easily.
 
My pins are currently displayed in matching shadowboxes in my office, so they are confined to one room rather than being spread around the house. The kids will eventually have their pin boards in their rooms too but we haven’t gotten around to that.

My SO and I plan to make a trip wall on the hallway where we will display a few pins that are special to each trip and any pictures we really love from the trips.

I hope you are able to find a compromise with your spouse that allows you to showcase your pins while also respecting her aesthetic desires for hour home.
 
You all are very kind. @Pidge 's books is realistic. Pretty shadow boxes is very thoughtful and the trip hallway is nice too. I was considering hanging up a queen size sheet as my "1 display"
 
Nursteve said:
You all are very kind. @Pidge 's books is realistic. Pretty shadow boxes is very thoughtful and the trip hallway is nice too. I was considering hanging up a queen size sheet as my "1 display"
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I actually prefer the books because I can change things around easily. I tried shadowboxes, but I kept having to take them down to add and rearrange. I really enjoy arranging pins in interesting new ways, so the books provide the most enjoyment for me as well.

If I ever "finish" a collection, I will probably put them up in shadowboxes. But that is a big IF!
 
The only place I have pins on display is behind the master bedroom door. When the door is open, you can only see the ones up high near the ceiling. The rest are in books on some shelves in the master bedroom, so I can pull them out and look at them and rearrange as necessary. I think my family would be accepting of pins displayed in more places, but we (mostly I) also collect art, and that takes up most of the wall space in the house.
 
Shelterkat said:
Hahaha my husband endures all my displays. I got him involved by getting him his own shadow box for his election pins. He gets one every time he works at an election.
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Slowly reeling him in!

I guess I need to get some books to help with my organization. Any brand or style recommendations? Something compact please
 
I have self-imposed limits for sure since my husband thinks it's a little crazy and I also don't like visual clutter. I saw someone on Insta have a good filing system by using the same size shadow box with the glass removed for every collection or series and they file neatly into a shelf like a library of books and you just see the wood edge facing out. So I started doing that. Then I just rotate out 2 or 3 of the frames to display either on the wall or on a book stand / mini easel on the shelf. The same size frame constraint also keeps a mental note in my mind where gaps in collections are vs which ones are pretty "complete" so I know what are priorities for buying / trading.
 
Nursteve said:
Slowly reeling him in!

I guess I need to get some books to help with my organization. Any brand or style recommendations? Something compact please
Click to expand...
If you want to be able to rearrange easily, I can't recommend the GoPinPro books enough. Apparently they have 3-ring binder pages, which I think would be brilliant because you could easily take out an entire page to play with, but I have never seen them in stock (the 2 or 3 times I have looked lol). They are pricier, but you don't have to deal with backers. Mine were worth every penny. I use a cheap books with fabric pages for my traders and my complete puzzles that I won't move so much.

UPDATE: I just checked and they have those 3-ring binder pages!

PinFolio® Stick’N’Go® Binder Pages – 6 Pack (Double-Sided with Dividers)

Show Off Your CollectionDisplay up to 510 1-inch enamel pins with this set of three double-sided - GoPinPro
gopinpro.com
 
I am the one who doesn’t think the pins suit our home aesthetic (😂), but we have our hallway cupboard (where we have our shoes, handbags etc) doors filled with pins so that we can see them every time we open the door. We were lucky in that the doors already have holes, so one post pins are easy to fit. Now I did have to add a cork board at the back of the closet for the two post pins but still 😂
 
i have a few thoughts. To start, ask your wife, casually, what exactly she doesnt like about the idea of pin displays. maybe she just thinks youre going to put them all on a sheet and hang them in main living spaces. or in front of the bed where she has to see a bunch of random pins. maybe she is thinking of the dust they could accumulate and doesnt want to deal with it. maybe shes afraid of them falling off and getting damaged, damaging the floors, or getting stepped on. maybe she wanted to hang something else up or paint or whatever. be casual and non confrontational. but if its a dust thing or them falling off, shadow boxes would reduce surfaces to dust and can also be little trinket shelves for her things or stuff you got together. you could also use them to create little pictures to add visual interest and make the space seem less random.

It's a relationship, you gotta compromise and understand each other. and that goes both ways, theyre important to you, you should be allowed to see them in your own home. but it's also her home and she should have to see them everywhere too!

Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk
 
You sound like my therapist. 😅
 
I have shadowboxes created but have not put anything on my walls yet. I think I am going to put them in the hallway though and only certain complete sets to not clutter the walls. I also have Disney art that are matted in my hallway. In main parts my house the pins don’t work because it’s mostly birds themed sorry @maiarebecca but I do have a beautiful Encanto set that I will be putting in my living room. So some pins I don’t mind having up but I’m not going to display all my pins.
 
I have had this conversation. My SO and I compromised on hanging my pins in nice looking displays in shawdow boxes on the walls of a staircase that only leads to the master bedroom, so pins are not in the view of visitors/guests. I love the compromise and feel lucky to look at the pins off and on all day long.
 
I had a beautiful piece of dark green felt (matches the colors in our home) that I hung on the side of our tallest shelving unit, and I displayed pins on that. It was where I could always look at in, but not in the way or strange looking. However, the weight of the pins dragged and distorted the felt fabric and now it's a sagging mess so hubs asked me to take it down. I'd suggest finding what your wife does like or want displayed and trying to meld the two. My husband isn't a big collector (of anything) but he loves mementos of our shared adventures, and pin trading together means he DOES have his own collection he likes to look at (though mostly it lives in a pin bag in the closet and he does not want them out on display.) He's got his 5 favorite pins on a mini board on the side of his game shelf and that's it. I agree with everyone suggesting the GoPinPro books, they are fantastic and come in a variety of colors and sizes.
 
I love this thread for all the ideas and the complications that come with the lovely shiny pieces of metal being confusing sometimes to those we love 😂💞

My first thought when reading your post was to try an incognito approach. Does she like family pictures? Art that comes on paper? Put it in a frame with a shadow box behind it. To the untrained collector, it will look like a thoughtful 3D framing technique. But whenever you want, you can lift up the picture and … voila! Your pin display! It’s brilliant brilliant, I tell you. Genius I say! 😃

… or to save on wall space, pin books work for me just as well 🤭


(Some Yzma humor in honor of all the pin love the movie has been getting 😂)


But in all seriousness, pin books are a really fun way to design and organize them. We have a few family shadow boxes in one room of the house where it feels in place because it has a Disney museum decor theme, but most of those who collect enjoy our pin books. I gravitate to the old style ones that use to be sold at the parks. Sometimes you can find some decently priced 😃

All the best for your pin organizing! 🤗
 
I love your sneakiness! Maybe I will wait until she visits her mom for a weekend, cut holes in the walls behind our pictures and make built-in shelves for my pins. Then hang the pictures back up. She'll never even know they are there!
 
Nursteve said:
I love your sneakiness! Maybe I will wait until she visits her mom for a weekend, cut holes in the walls behind our pictures and make built-in shelves for my pins. Then hang the pictures back up. She'll never even know they are there!
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I just watched Nurse Jackie. Some people hide drugs, others Disney pins?🙂
 
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