diff --git a/doc/sphinxext/gallery_order.py b/doc/sphinxext/gallery_order.py
index 3632666d336e..e839d10360f9 100644
--- a/doc/sphinxext/gallery_order.py
+++ b/doc/sphinxext/gallery_order.py
@@ -78,6 +78,9 @@ def __call__(self, item):
     "eventplot", "hist2d", "hexbin", "pie",
     # Unstructured
     "tricontour", "tricontourf", "tripcolor", "triplot",
+    # Spines
+    "spines", "spine_placement_demo", "spines_dropped",
+    "multiple_yaxis_with_spines", "centered_spines_with_arrows",
     ]
 explicit_subsection_order = [item + ".py" for item in list_all]
 
diff --git a/examples/showcase/integral.py b/examples/showcase/integral.py
index c75ef940b0db..731f7b9ecd50 100644
--- a/examples/showcase/integral.py
+++ b/examples/showcase/integral.py
@@ -42,10 +42,7 @@ def func(x):
 fig.text(0.9, 0.05, '$x$')
 fig.text(0.1, 0.9, '$y$')
 
-ax.spines.right.set_visible(False)
-ax.spines.top.set_visible(False)
-ax.xaxis.set_ticks_position('bottom')
-
+ax.spines[['top', 'right']].set_visible(False)
 ax.set_xticks([a, b], labels=['$a$', '$b$'])
 ax.set_yticks([])
 
diff --git a/examples/showcase/xkcd.py b/examples/showcase/xkcd.py
index 4ab16c66a536..4088a0133814 100644
--- a/examples/showcase/xkcd.py
+++ b/examples/showcase/xkcd.py
@@ -16,8 +16,7 @@
 
     fig = plt.figure()
     ax = fig.add_axes((0.1, 0.2, 0.8, 0.7))
-    ax.spines.right.set_color('none')
-    ax.spines.top.set_color('none')
+    ax.spines[['top', 'right']].set_visible(False)
     ax.set_xticks([])
     ax.set_yticks([])
     ax.set_ylim([-30, 10])
@@ -47,8 +46,7 @@
     fig = plt.figure()
     ax = fig.add_axes((0.1, 0.2, 0.8, 0.7))
     ax.bar([0, 1], [0, 100], 0.25)
-    ax.spines.right.set_color('none')
-    ax.spines.top.set_color('none')
+    ax.spines[['top', 'right']].set_visible(False)
     ax.xaxis.set_ticks_position('bottom')
     ax.set_xticks([0, 1])
     ax.set_xticklabels(['CONFIRMED BY\nEXPERIMENT', 'REFUTED BY\nEXPERIMENT'])
diff --git a/examples/spines/spines.py b/examples/spines/spines.py
index d21947d33636..0917fc8c107c 100644
--- a/examples/spines/spines.py
+++ b/examples/spines/spines.py
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@
 
 Each `.axes.Axes` has a list of `.Spine` objects, accessible
 via the container ``ax.spines``.
+
+.. redirect-from:: /gallery/spines/spines_bounds
+
 """
 import numpy as np
 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
@@ -31,20 +34,16 @@
 # Hide the right and top spines
 ax1.spines.right.set_visible(False)
 ax1.spines.top.set_visible(False)
-# Only show ticks on the left and bottom spines
-ax1.yaxis.set_ticks_position('left')
-ax1.xaxis.set_ticks_position('bottom')
 
 ax2.plot(x, y)
+ax2.set_title('spines with bounds limited to data range')
 
-# Only draw spine between the y-ticks
-ax2.spines.left.set_bounds(-1, 1)
+# Only draw spines for the data range, not in the margins
+ax2.spines.bottom.set_bounds(x.min(), x.max())
+ax2.spines.left.set_bounds(y.min(), y.max())
 # Hide the right and top spines
 ax2.spines.right.set_visible(False)
 ax2.spines.top.set_visible(False)
-# Only show ticks on the left and bottom spines
-ax2.yaxis.set_ticks_position('left')
-ax2.xaxis.set_ticks_position('bottom')
 
 plt.show()
 
@@ -53,6 +52,5 @@
 #    The use of the following functions, methods, classes and modules is shown
 #    in this example:
 #
-#    - `matplotlib.Spines.set_visible`
-#    - `matplotlib.Spines.set_bounds`
-#    - `matplotlib.axis.set_ticks_position`
+#    - `matplotlib.spines.Spine.set_visible`
+#    - `matplotlib.spines.Spine.set_bounds`
diff --git a/examples/spines/spines_bounds.py b/examples/spines/spines_bounds.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 5ccf3051e1ea..000000000000
--- a/examples/spines/spines_bounds.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,37 +0,0 @@
-"""
-===================
-Custom spine bounds
-===================
-
-Demo of spines using custom bounds to limit the extent of the spine.
-"""
-import numpy as np
-import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
-
-# Fixing random state for reproducibility
-np.random.seed(19680801)
-
-x = np.linspace(0, 2*np.pi, 50)
-y = np.sin(x)
-y2 = y + 0.1 * np.random.normal(size=x.shape)
-
-fig, ax = plt.subplots()
-ax.plot(x, y)
-ax.plot(x, y2)
-
-# set ticks and tick labels
-ax.set_xlim((0, 2*np.pi))
-ax.set_xticks([0, np.pi, 2*np.pi], labels=['0', r'$\pi$', r'2$\pi$'])
-ax.set_ylim((-1.5, 1.5))
-ax.set_yticks([-1, 0, 1])
-
-# Only draw spine between the y-ticks
-ax.spines.left.set_bounds((-1, 1))
-# Hide the right and top spines
-ax.spines.right.set_visible(False)
-ax.spines.top.set_visible(False)
-# Only show ticks on the left and bottom spines
-ax.yaxis.set_ticks_position('left')
-ax.xaxis.set_ticks_position('bottom')
-
-plt.show()
diff --git a/examples/spines/spines_dropped.py b/examples/spines/spines_dropped.py
index 954e1c7ffb3a..94487e86d1d3 100644
--- a/examples/spines/spines_dropped.py
+++ b/examples/spines/spines_dropped.py
@@ -18,13 +18,8 @@
 ax.set_title('dropped spines')
 
 # Move left and bottom spines outward by 10 points
-ax.spines.left.set_position(('outward', 10))
-ax.spines.bottom.set_position(('outward', 10))
+ax.spines[['left', 'bottom']].set_position(('outward', 10))
 # Hide the right and top spines
-ax.spines.right.set_visible(False)
-ax.spines.top.set_visible(False)
-# Only show ticks on the left and bottom spines
-ax.yaxis.set_ticks_position('left')
-ax.xaxis.set_ticks_position('bottom')
+ax.spines[['top', 'right']].set_visible(False)
 
 plt.show()
diff --git a/examples/statistics/customized_violin.py b/examples/statistics/customized_violin.py
index 4809e5f28d81..59978815e57e 100644
--- a/examples/statistics/customized_violin.py
+++ b/examples/statistics/customized_violin.py
@@ -27,8 +27,6 @@ def adjacent_values(vals, q1, q3):
 
 
 def set_axis_style(ax, labels):
-    ax.xaxis.set_tick_params(direction='out')
-    ax.xaxis.set_ticks_position('bottom')
     ax.set_xticks(np.arange(1, len(labels) + 1), labels=labels)
     ax.set_xlim(0.25, len(labels) + 0.75)
     ax.set_xlabel('Sample name')
diff --git a/examples/ticks/tick-formatters.py b/examples/ticks/tick-formatters.py
index ac118cbfce03..0f5c8f38d411 100644
--- a/examples/ticks/tick-formatters.py
+++ b/examples/ticks/tick-formatters.py
@@ -18,9 +18,7 @@ def setup(ax, title):
     """Set up common parameters for the Axes in the example."""
     # only show the bottom spine
     ax.yaxis.set_major_locator(ticker.NullLocator())
-    ax.spines.right.set_color('none')
-    ax.spines.left.set_color('none')
-    ax.spines.top.set_color('none')
+    ax.spines[['left', 'right', 'top']].set_visible(False)
 
     # define tick positions
     ax.xaxis.set_major_locator(ticker.MultipleLocator(1.00))
diff --git a/examples/ticks/tick-locators.py b/examples/ticks/tick-locators.py
index eeac29a07ad2..1832f382529e 100644
--- a/examples/ticks/tick-locators.py
+++ b/examples/ticks/tick-locators.py
@@ -17,9 +17,7 @@ def setup(ax, title):
     """Set up common parameters for the Axes in the example."""
     # only show the bottom spine
     ax.yaxis.set_major_locator(ticker.NullLocator())
-    ax.spines.right.set_color('none')
-    ax.spines.left.set_color('none')
-    ax.spines.top.set_color('none')
+    ax.spines[['left', 'right', 'top']].set_visible(False)
 
     ax.xaxis.set_ticks_position('bottom')
     ax.tick_params(which='major', width=1.00, length=5)