Your collections say a lot about you. But if no one gets to see them, adding to them is almost pointless. There’s also a fine line between collecting and hoarding. Here, we look at ways to put your collectables on display without it looking like a garage sale…
• First off, don’t feel obligated to show off every item in your collection. A few well-chosen objects will do. Or make a rule to collect until the space is comfortably filled. Then stop altogether or adopt a ‘one in, one out’ rule going forward.
• Make items that you don’t mind people interacting with or handling easy to reach.
• Display ‘like’ items in abundance and concentrate them in one area for the biggest impact. Also colour-code your collections if possible for a more striking effect.
• It can be tricky to display small collectibles, especially when they are all the same size and you have a ton of them. Consider investing in a custom-made cabinet with separate cubbyholes to hold single items. This will make for an especially striking and ordered line-up.
• Rather than clutter up a dining-room sideboard, display a vintage tray collection on the wall above it. Hang the largest one first and then surround it with trays of varying size, shape and pattern to create a cohesive look.
• Create one themed gallery wall for your art collection. Clustering them all together can give a room wonderful charm. The secret to a successful display like this is careful planning of the hanging pattern and also keeping the other walls relatively plain.
• Turn maps and/or postcards of your travels into a ‘wallpaper’ display. This could work for any papered collection, from movie posters and album covers to Polaroid photographs.
• Looking for an interesting way to display plates? Run them up and around a door frame in an asymmetrical arrangement.
• Think location, location. Transform your entrance hall, for instance, by making your collection a feature to be admired the minute you walk in. Or look to little-used spaces like a tricky corner, above a doorway or just below the ceiling (run a single shelf along the wall there). A sunny window works perfectly as a backdrop to make glass bottles or a crystal collection sparkle.
• Suspend your collection of cast-iron, enamelled or copper pots and pans above a kitchen island. This lends itself especially to a farmhouse, country or cottage kitchen theme. Floor-to-ceiling wooden shelving with a rolling ladder will also work well for a stacked vintage crockery collection.
• If you collect prints of a certain kind (birds or botanicals for instance), framing them identically is an excellent way to unify them. So is keeping to a straight top and bottom line, so the prints all sit within a bigger frame so to speak.
• Arrange a few bell jars or glass cloches on a table to display (as well as cover and protect) more delicate collections. Using glass jars to hold collections of little things helps to hold them all together, avoids clutter, plus you don’t have to dust them. Also, you can see them clearly through the glass and you can move the jars around the house whenever you like.
• Get clever with lighting by illuminating cabinets and display cases to showcase your collections.
• Worried that your collection is too big and bulky to display on a wall? Sturdy brackets or hooks could be all you need to mount your quirkier finds. Or install floating shelves to rest heavier items on.
• Not everything looks best arranged side by side on a shelf. For more playful items, like figurines, try facing them in different directions.
• Are you a total shopaholic? Some shopping bags are just too beautiful to throw away, so frame them on your dressing-room wall instead.
• Do you collect bottle caps or wine corks? Save the bottle caps until you have enough to cover a coffee table or bar counter, then stick them down and cover them with a glass top. For corks, glue them together to make words (like ‘wine’, ‘cheers’ or ‘drink up’). Corks can even make for a novel ‘frame’ for a mirror in an entertainment space.
• Put your vintage tin and suitcase collection to work by using them to hold sewing essentials, stationery, gift bags and ribbons, pantry essentials, table linens and placemats, etc.
• When it comes to wear and care, use a soft cloth to dust delicate items. To clean inside tall ceramics, dampen a long, thin bottle brush. A hand vacuum at close range or even a hairdryer set on cool will also help keep dust under control. Use a small artist’s paintbrush to get into awkward spots. And avoid using cleaning products, as they can damage certain finishes and coatings.
What do you collect? And how do you show it off? We’d love to know…
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