It’s not hoarding if it’s cool. That’s what I’ve told myself as I’ve collected seashells, books, pins, keys…But when the items you’re “collecting” just sit around in buckets or jars, collecting dust on shelves or in a random bowl where they’re left in a cluttered stasis, it gets harder and harder to justify keeping it all around. You may feel compelled to throw it out.

But wait! There’s another option!

It was years before I thought about displaying my pin collection. I had moved into my first grown-up living situation and was faced with a vase full of pins I’d accumulated. They were on display during my first few weeks of college, before I realized it wasn’t cool to cover your backpack in buttons, but eventually they were condemned to a purgatory encased in some textured pink material that I don’t think is glass, but I can’t place what it is.

Ready? Here’s how I went about it: I grabbed a clean, flat box from the recycling pile and stuck all the pins in it. After about 10 minutes I realized I could stick them in in aesthetically pleasing ways. After a half hour (during which I was rewatching Gravity Falls), I could see all my buttons for the first time in years.

Here’s the thing: it’s an ugly display. It would never hang in a museum. I didn’t bother to paint the cardboard, so you can see the brand names printed on the bottom of the box (although to my credit, I did make sure to cover the one in the center with buttons). I didn’t even bother to cut off the extra sides. Point is, it was made and displayed in 30 minutes, and it looks like it. And I’ve never been prouder.

If your collection is rotting away somewhere, then you’ve already decided that you’re collecting it for yourself rather than for other people. Maybe your standards are higher than mine, and you’re shaking your head saying, “If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it right!” Cool! But are you going to do that at all?

It doesn’t have to be forever. An ugly display is better than no display. Give yourself the chance to regularly admire your collection! And if you crave something better, imagine how much more motivated you’ll be when you get to constantly look at your beloved collection in a decidedly mid position.

It doesn’t have to look good by anyone’s standard but yours. You’ve accumulated things because you love them. Give yourself the chance to appreciate them.