Burning Question: Collection Connection?
After recently admiring John’s mom’s display of chic mixed & matched tea cups and saucers (she has an entire end table devoted to hers) we got to wondering what you guys collect. Are you into saving something specific (we love wine corks from memorable celebrations and matchbooks from meaningful meals)? Or do you prefer to display something else en masse (cobalt glass vases? fiestaware? glass candlesticks? ceramic animals?).
From black and white art prints (like the stunning collection above) to bottle caps, tell us all about what you love to accumulate.
Image courtesy of Domino magazine, may she rest in peace.
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we collect clocks :-) I have given my husband a clock every year for Christmas (four years now) and we have other little clocks throughout the house.
I’ve collected antique and vintage globes for a long time, but they take up a lot of space so I rarely add another one now unless it’s really special and the price is good. . They are divided: about six in my son’s room, and a whole bunch in the spare room/office.
I inherited a collection of antique silhouettes from my grandmother a few years ago, but have yet to really find a spot for them (are they too granny-ish? Not sure).
I also collect blue transferware plates, but again I’ve mostly stopped since there’s only so much I want to accumulate.
You guys have inspired me to start collecting wine corks! And I collect matchbooks from restaurants and places we’ve visited.
My wife started collecting ‘Cat’s Meows’ before we started dating. They are little wooden cutouts of well-known buildings in certain towns. You see a lot of them in New England but we’ve also found them throughout the South and other locales. Our rule is that we have to actually visit the building. We have them for several B&B’s we’ve stayed in as well as some restaurants and historic buildings. They are nice conversation pieces on relatively cheap mementos of trips.
https://www.catsmeow.com
My mom has a collection of tea pots (not so much cups and saucers). Her collection started simply because she loves to drink tea and she thought it would be fun to buy a tea pot each time she traveled somewhere new. I’m starting to develop my own mini-collection of tea pots, also just because I love tea. The problem I’ve found with announcing that you “collect” something is that people start giving you things to add to your collection and soon you’re transformed from someone with an interesting assortment of things into “that weird woman with all the tea pots.” Know what I mean?
My husband and I collect art work from places we have vacationed. We try to stick to local artists and make sure that the art reminds us of something or somewhere from our visit. I also love to collect shells and starfish and I always write the date and place of collection.
P.S. I just found your blog and I love it!! Very inspirational! Congratulations on your future family addition. Can’t wait to see the completed nursery. I am in the process of planning my own for baby number 2!
Playbills from Broadway shows we attend. Years ago, when I turned a bedroom into a den/tv room I tried to figure out what artwork worked best for the whole family. Mom into travel, Dad into golf, daughters into boys – nothing seemed right for the others. So, I framed dozens of Playbills in black frames and hung them all on one wall – which is very striking and fun to remember all the memories. Even through multiple re-decorating projects in there, the Playbills still work. And they can be updated easily when the new “hot” show is attended.
I collect wine labels then apply them to serving trays and give as gifts. So it’s not exactly something I collect for myself, although I do keep a journal of my favorites. I hope this isn’t considered spam here, but I recently posted a tutorial on the best way I’ve found to remove the labels, if anyone is interested: http://www.bwilbured.com/bwilbured/2010/02/how-to-remove-a-wine-label.html
In an attempt to keep down the clutter (I like things super clean and organized and my husband is a major minimalist and yet a pack-rat at the same time…weird…anyway) we really don’t collect anything. However, I did just inherit a set of beautiful hand-painted china that my great-great grandma painted. Though they’re not my style and don’t match our decor, I do plan to display a couple of the pieces. It should add a little eclectic/lived in look AND display the cool heirlooms without going overboard. I LOVE your cork idea and you display all your collectibles in a beautiful way!! That’s definitely a goal of mine – to have more things around that are personal and bring back happy memories!
I started collecting all kinds of elephant figurines when I was in high school. I think my love of elephants came from the movies The Secret Garden. Now that I am pregnant, my friends and family keep giving me elephant clothes, stuffed animals, and blankets.
Botanicals. It all started when my friends mom gave me some of her antique botanicals she bought from England. Now, when I travel I try to pick up a few here and there. They look great in any room of the house, so there’s no such thing as too many!
I collect Nancy Drew books – the weathered, yellow, hard-back ones. I have a section of my bookshelf dedicated to them. Nancy Drew was my fav growing up, and now I have a cat named Nancy Drew so it’s fitting.
We don’t have a real collection of anything, but we do save the corks from all the wine we drink to use as vase fillers, etc. We also grab any super interesting rocks or branches that we find when we go on hikes.
Limoges Boxes is what I love. Can’t have too many (expensive!) and so what I have doesn’t take up too much room. That, and you can also mix up non-limoges pretties in there as well!
Recently I’ve begun collecting Milk Glass and Vintage Pyrex. I would love to collect Jadeite too but I only buy these items from thrift stores and so far, no Jadeite.
Back in college I started collecting crosses. Now my husband and I try and get one from each place with visit together. They are really interesting to hang together–everyone has a different take on religion.
In high school and college I had a HUGE collection of shot glasses, I know this probably makes people giggle, but I really collected them and it started with my trip to Europe. Now they are in boxes and one day if we have a bar in our house I will display them again, but for now they stay in the boxes!
Right now I am in the beginning stages of collecting deviled egg platers! I LOVE them!!
I collect vintage stuff. I think the entire house is done in vintage now.
I make Alice in Wonderland specimens too and display them around the house. Bouquets of singing flowers, card guards pinned up like butterflies etc. I love it!
I collect sailing/yachting inspired paraphernalia. We’re talking lighthouses, ships in bottles, knot boards, captain’s bells, prints, etc. My bathroom is currently decorated with most of my sailing stuff. I LOVE it!!!
I collect books. Plain and simple. And, in some ways, they are the perfect collector’s item because they serve double (and sometimes triple!) duty. I adore reading and, as much as I love the library and the smell of library books, I can’t seem to break my habit of buying books. I want to keep and savor the books that I read, and I line them up like little trophies in my bookshelves. So I’ve decided that, rather than feeling guilty about spending $$ on books, I will say that I collect them! It works too: I have them to read and I think books are fabulous decoration!
I also collect fiestaware pitchers: I want one in every color!
I love photos of my family, particularly my daughter. They are all over the place.
Lately I’ve been into the shabby chic look so I’ve been trying to collect cherubs, any white accessories that I love, and china. Having a collection makes it easier to look or things in thrift shops too – it gives you more of a focus to make sense of the jumble.
My boyfriend is really the collector- he collects masks, old cameras, and comics. When we first moved in together he had them all spread out everywhere. I convinced him to display the masks all together on a wall and the cameras together on a shelf which makes them seem more like a collection rather than clutter. As far as memorabilia goes for me, I like to get a magnet from the places we visit.
Love the blog! Thanks for making it seem doable!
I have a collection of snowmen that comes out in the winter, but I am picky about them. I don’t like to let on that I “collect” anything, otherwise friends and family tend to buy me any snowman, anytime, and not all of them are super cute. :)
We also collect art from our travels! It started on our honeymoon when we bought a piece and we’ve held to the tradition ever since. We also try and buy something from a local artisan that we feel represents our trip.
Individually I collect serving dishes (which is a bad habit to start because you have to have LOTS of room for storage!) and my husband collects movie stuff. He has an entertainment room dedicated to all of his dvds/blue rays and decor items so at least we’ve got a place for all of his stuff!
This image is tagged in my copy of domino somewhere…
We have collected Depression Glass some 30 years now. But I don’t let it take over the home. I enjoy it but now seeing the more sparse way of decorating, I think I’m wanting to get rid of some of it and scale down.
I collect milk glass plates (but only the kind with the lacey, pierced edges). I only have one of each design, and I hope someday I can find a wall in my house where I can display them.
movie stubs~!
I don’t really collect any one thing. Here’s the problem with collections: they grow out of control way too quickly. Most collections sort of start when you realize you have four of something. Then you figure well, hey, what’s one more? But things spiral out of control when word gets out that you collect that thing. Next thing you know, every birthday or holiday gift is something for your collection and collections are only really great if you love each individual piece in that collection, and there are bound to be some given to you by others that just aren’t your thing.
Not to mention, then you have to display all that stuff (oh, I know real collectors swap things in and out of their displays but I can’t be bothered). And I just can’t stand too much stuff around.
So I say … be careful when you let the word out that you’re collecting something. It can get ugly quickly!
I love love love my Fiestaware. I’m just hoping and praying for the day we can purchase our first home and display them in our kitchen!
My kids are the collectors in the house, and they each have dedicated storage for their favourite things (from music boxes to bottlecaps!)
I have a small collection of tea cups and china plates from my grandparents, but in my new kitchen, they’re just stuck in a cupboard. In our old place, they used to be in a glass front cabinet and above our cupboards, but our cabinets now go all the way up to the ceiling, and because it’s open to the main living area, there is very little wall space.
I’m at a loss as to what to do with them! Any suggestions from you or your readers would be greatly appreciated!
http://buckcanuck.blogspot.com/search/label/kitchen
Well, you could hang a floating shelf in the kitchen (above the doorway for example) and display some of them there. You can also remove one or two of your cabinet doors to create instant open shelving (and even paint or wallpaper the back of the cabinet to showcase them). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
We are homebrewers and microbrewery fanatics. We are attempting to go to all 70 breweries in Michigan, and visit breweries when traveling to other cities/states too. Right now our collection stands around 40, and we plan to showcase them in glass cabinets behind our future basement bar.
when i was a young teenager, my own father traveled in Europe frequently. he began bringing me home decorative thimbles from his travels–some of them very beautiful (a sterling silver one from London with British Hallmarks, a crystal one from the Czech Republic, etc.) I kept up the tradition, and now have many, although i don’t buy every one that I see–I only collect high quality ones. i like the collection becuase it is interesting, and very small in size, so it doesn’t take up a lot of room.
i also buy my husband stuffed Hedghogs, which started when we were dating. they are really corny, but cute. it’s just a “thing” of ours, and we really don’t display them for public viewing ;-) they’re in our bedroom.
Brass bells. I have one from my grandma, one from my mother, two from an estate sale and one little apple-shaped one from Craigslist. :) They have a beautiful ring and I don’t have to worry about my kids playing with them.
We don’t collect anything, but that picture convinced me that the wall of pictures I’m planning has to be closer together than I planned!
I collect pitchers, including ones with basins (think old-fashioned washstand fare), and baskets. :o) It’s time I did an updated blog post showing my recent additions . . . thanks for the reminder!
We collect matches. Mason’s grandma started her collection back in the 1960′s, so we have gobs of retro matchbooks from now-defunct Vegas hotels, places overseas and even Campbell’s soup! Isn’t it funny that canned soup used to have matches for promotional purposes :)
Of course we add to the collection all the time whenever we travel somewhere, but many places don’t have matches anymore. I do love the older ones especially though.
I have a small collection of cake and cupcake pedestals. I just love them, they make baked goods look so much more…regal.
The problem with them is that I haven’t figured out a good way to display them; which is why my collection is still small. They’re meant to be viewed at table top level, but counter and table space is just too valuable to give up to pieces I only use once or twice a month.
Vintage wastebaskets. It’s not intentional – I’m just oddly drawn to them and one day realized I had quite a nice little collection.
I collect owls. We have quite the collection. i think they are super cute! They are on display in our living room and bedroom :)
my husband and i both collect books. his collection is primarily religious in nature, while mine is cookbook and literature related. our collection warrants the need for a library, but we are too poor to actually have that luxury.
otherwise, i secretly collect fabric. all kinds. i especially love vintage fabrics, and i don’t even sew!!! it is horrible, but i can never pass up an amazing piece of fabric when i see one. etsy is my worst enemy right now!!! one of my resolutions this year was to finally learn how to sew. i have a little project in mind for each and every piece of fabric i’ve ever purchased or found, so hopefully those things will come to life within the next few years of my life :) i am hopeful! fortunately they all fold up so nicely in my linen closet, so it’s not like i have issues with space, thank the good Lord above.
Hey, John and Sherry! I was just thinking about collections this morning. I came across a book my mother-in-law gave me all about how to best showcase collections in your home.
In an artful, classy way, that is. I’ll definitely have to share the book information with you at some point. I was even thinking of doing a post about it on my blog.
Anyway, I collect Fiestaware pitchers. Love all the bright colors and the retro-feel. Goes well with our tiny kitchen.
<3
i just stumbled across your blog, and have to tell you {although i know you’ve heard it before}: wow! your house is incredible. i love the before + after shots! :)
I collect elephants. I mean, not the real things (that would be space-prohibitive) but figurines, salt and pepper shakers, pictures, a tray with an elephant print. You name it, I’ll probably love it.
My husband thinks I am nuts because I am always moving from one collection to another–when I was little and dragged to antique stores and flea markets (for a young kid this is torture) I started to collect school books and dictionaries from pre-1900 to keep me occupied, then I started collecting rocks from places we’d visit, then for awhile it was vintage postcards that I’d mat and frame from the places we grew, went to college, etc. (mostly because my mom started doing this and giving them as gifts for every holiday), then it was “art with brushstrokes under $10″ however that’s defined, then it was plates from seaside restaurants and yacht clubs, now its black and white and sepia vintage photographs of nature…who knows what it will be next?! My main intent is to collect older small things and present them as decor in a more modern contemporary context, so how I do that always changes.
I collect Oaxacan animal carvings (if you’ve never seen them, you can check out some galleries at http://www.oaxacafinecarvings.com/woodcarvings/woodcarvings1.htm, although I’m meh about the quality of these pieces). I have about 70 of them and used to display them all at once; it looked like a kaleidoscope factory exploded in our living room. In the new house we’ve decided to display only some at a time and rotate them out. (One nice thing is that at these prices, friends and relatives don’t give them casually as gifts!) Even though the last thing our house needs is *more* animals, Sherry inspired me to start looking at white ceramic animals, so now when I see a shape I love, I just spray-paint it white and voila!
It’s not really a ‘collection’ but in my kitchen I’ve been putting together a set of thrift-ed white porcelain dinnerware. I think it’s really neat the way that slightly different sizes, patterns, finishes and shapes look together on a table. It’s one of those things that are really cheap and easy to do in thrift stores and get second hand, even buy in the ‘clearance’ section of a lot of stores. Works best if you only buy one of each pattern ;) I’ll won’t be really upset if I break a plate because it won’t ruin my ‘set’
I spread the word so I would stop getting the mismatched Bybee pottery that my mother loves so much (but isn’t really my style), and wouldn’t be overloaded with ‘quirky’ mugs from my friends who think that I am a quirky mug person because they keep seeing me get quirky mugs.
The best part is that if the ‘collection’ ever gets out of hand no one will notice that the 6 extra white bowls they gave me are back at the Goodwill that they probably got them from :P
Does collecting shoes count? My husband and I have those “displayed” all over the house!
As far as household items go, I collect bowls. Mixing, serving, decorative, metal, ceramic, glass, etc. Our kitchen cabinets hang about 18″ below the ceiling, so I display them all up there. Storage + visual interest = score! Now if I only I didn’t have to clean up there…
My sister also collects sea glass and hot glues the pieces together to make christmas scenes and gives them out to everyone at christmas. Last year we all got christmas trees (green glass with brown glass trunk set on white glass for snow, with red paint for ornaments), this year we got reindeers (brown glass on a white glass base), and then next year its snowmen.
I think this started because everyone in my family has really large seaglass collections because we grew up on a particularly fertile beach for it and she needed something to do with it all–but it turned out to be a great idea! They look so cute together displayed at christmas time, and beachy without being too obnoxious.
I collect a few things. First, white serving pieces. I am also hoping to branch this collection out into a whole category of vintage milkglass. Unintentionally, I started collecting mercury glas candlesticks, and am starting quite a nice collection.
Lastly, like Sherry, I adore white ceramic animals, my collection currently only includes birds so far though…