Practical And Fun Ways To Display Your Stuff!

One of the things that, in my opinion, gives a home a unique personality is the collections the people living in it have amassed. Whether it’s a true collection or just an assortment of family heirlooms or items that have been passed down, no two home contents are the same. I don’t know that this fact has been thoroughly studied, but I’m going out on a limb.

One of the challenging things in interior design is figuring out how to incorporate collections or tchotchkes in a way that is manageable as well as pleasing to the overall design. So I’ve put together a rough guideline for interesting ways to highlight unique decorative objects in your home.

En plein air is French for “in the open air”. While mostly associated with painting, you can apply the concept to your knickknacks. Arranging collections on consoles tops, coffee tables and bookshelves are common in decorating. 

 

With console tops, most of the hard work is being done behind its doors below. But the top needs a little personality too! Give the top of a console a statement piece but be careful not to overwhelm. This is a good opportunity to vary your items’ height to achieve visual interest.

 

I love a good coffee table arrangement in fancy magazines. Especially if you literally have a coffee table book collection, this is your chance to go all in. A coffee table with several levels and/or a lot of surface area is your best bet for this installation. Be sure to finish off your collection with a handful of other items with different materials, shapes, or functions to add texture.

 

Displaying treasured items on bookshelves is tried and true. A similar concept as the coffee table, be sure to break up the books with items of different sizes and textures. And if you have a little plant collection, a bookshelf is the perfect place to dot your pots throughout. The downside to open air collections is that you do have to dust quite regularly. So consider that as you plan your display strategy.

Because I don’t love dusting and I have pets and what seems like an inordinate amount of dust in my house, I am on the hunt for a cool glass cabinet for some of my tchotchkes. If you are in a similar place, plan your cabinet hunt according to the things you’re planning to display behind its glass and where in your home you would put the piece. Not all glass display cabinets are vertical. There are all kinds of shapes, sizes and orientations. For us, we have lots of windows and very few interior walls. So I’m looking for a long and low, glass and metal cabinet.

Another way to employ glass to display your treasures is by grouping them in glass containers. This obviously would work best with smaller items. For example, my grandpa brought back a collection of sea shells from the South Pacific when he served during WWII. I plan to search for a series of varied height glass containers with lids to highlight these amazing shells. I would much rather dust the containers than the dozens of shells themselves.

Another option is shadow boxes. I love this idea because you can really tell a story. Small items that may seem insignificant or hard to display on their own become part of a bigger story when grouped and displayed in this way. As well, it’s a good way to protect delicate items. I put my other grandpa’s wool beanie from WSU back in the 1930’s in a shadow box to prevent any more fiber degradation. And it’s a real conversation starter.

The shadow box idea leads to a bigger idea in the way of a gallery wall. Here, grouping many items can tell a larger story or many small stories. Using shadow boxes, framed photos, mounted items and even small shelves all together creates one large statement. If you’ve got the wall space, fill it! Your story and the things you’ve collected along the way are wholly unique. Your gallery wall should be too.

Don’t feel like your favorite items have to remain indoors. If you’ve got a gorgeous garden or outdoor space, use that. Items that can withstand the elements are a great way to reflect your interests outside your home. We’ve got a small collection of sculptures dotted around our property. Most of them my husband has created. But they are completely unique to us and our property.

One final tip to displaying your pieces is to look up. Especially if you have oversized pieces or oddly shaped pieces, look to some of the overlooked areas in your home. If you have double height ceiling space and corresponding big blank wall up high somewhere, give it new eyes. Or that same double height space could accommodate a 3D hanging mobile or collection of chandeliers or a prop from a movie set that you somehow scored on but don’t know what to do with. The possibilities here are endless. 

Do you have things stored away because you’re not sure how to display them? Hopefully this article has got your gears turning a bit and you’re looking at your space in a new way. I know I am!