I Have a Huge Collection of Silk Scarves, and I Use a $10 Amazon Find to Display Them

Whenever I go to estate sales or thrift shops, you can find me sifting through the bin of scarves. I’m searching for silk scarves — ornate printed ones featuring flowers, paisley, or really any pattern that speaks to me. It’s these bins that hold treasures, like the 1 Euro Christian Dior scarf I found at a secondhand store in Paris. 

I collect silk scarves because they’re an item that never goes out of fashion. They’re timeless, elegant, well-made, and incredibly versatile because you can wear them so many ways. Though I don’t often find myself rocking the head scarf look, and I only wear them around my neck from time to time, I still love the beauty and elegance of silk scarves, so much so that I hate hiding them away in a storage bin or drawer somewhere. They’re works of art, after all.

My love for their unique patterns and gorgeous colors lead me to look into how to display them. I researched racks, hangers, wall hooks, and many other methods of scarf organization first, but none of these solutions quite showed off the designs in their entirety. I looked into framing my scarves, but getting custom pieces built for these long and large scarves was expensive and way out of my budget. That’s when I stumbled on these magnetic poster hangers from Amazon, and they’ve been a game changer for my scarf collection. You can find them on Etsy, too.

Though I bought these hangers for posters at first, they turned out to be the perfect solution for hanging my scarves, which you can see here as pictured above and below from my home. The magnets don’t pinch or fray the fabric, so pieces won’t get damaged if I want to wear them out someday. The scarves aren’t crumpled or crammed onto scarf hangers, which keeps them in mint condition, too. The hangers come in a variety of wood and painted finishes and sizes, so you can find something to suit your style and the size of the particular scarf you want to display.

By using these dowel-style hangers, I not only get to look at my favorite pieces every day, but I can also switch my display to another scarf with the change of each season if I want. I can also swap out scarves on a whim — something I can honestly say wouldn’t be nearly as quick (or even possible really!) if they were framed under glass instead of held between these brackets.

I like to style my scarf wall art in parts of my home that need a touch of softness. I’ve also picked places that don’t get a ton of direct light and won’t get splattered with anything, so I don’t have to worry about the scarves fading or staining (they’re technically exposed to the elements in my place when in these hangers). I find bedrooms to be a great spot, but you can also work a scarf in one of these poster hangers into a living room gallery wall as a luxurious alternative to woven textiles.