Collectable Collections

My budding collection of demitasse cups.

Lately, I seem to have started a mini collection of these cute demitasses and espresso cups. The one in the middle is from Anthropologie back in the day and the other two I by accident (not really an accident) won from Ebay. This got me thinking about displaying collections and having a collection in general. People collect things from china, pottery, or art, to the more quirky and eclectic to Navajo blankets and globes.

Apartment Therapy shows a collection of globes set up on this sideboard.

I love this fun mix of mirrors in this bathroom. It really satisfies my needs for vanity and each one is different and beautiful. From Martha Stewart.

Here, Martha his used different sized aquariums to display glass globes. I love the colors and the different glass reflecting off of each other.

In this DeMattei and Wade kitchen, like colored dishes are displayed on open shelving. The whole spread is here in House Beautiful.

Many people collect art which can be a great investment, but something more affordable is to collect prints. These framed botanical fruit prints are especially lovely from Country Living.

I am absolutely swooning over this display of hats by Myra Hoefer.

From a Tom Scheerer house in the Bahamas, here is another collection of hats. Not as arty as the above picture, but I am really loving the idea of a hat collection. I super love the texture of the straw all together.

This was kitchen of the month a few months ago in House Beautiful! Susan Dossetter designed this kitchen and displayed china and pottery in this antique cabinet what was originally used for store display.

Rebecca Bradley displays her client's white pottery and cake stands throughout her whole kitchen on top of the cabinets.

Aren't these books amazing? I'd love to be an antique book collector. Designed by Nicholas Pentecost.

This is by Nathan Egan, who displayed a mini collection of copper cake and jelly moulds in a cabinet. Displayed by size!

After a lifetime of collecting, one of my fave designers, Keith Irvine was forced by his wife Chippy to get rid of some of his most prized possessions. Read about it HERE in the NY Times. Sometimes it is hard to know what to do with small frames as they can get lost very easily but Irvine displayed them all around this mantle to make a larger display out of many small objects.

This amazing collection of blue and white and then yellow pottery and china is displayed in this large Nantucket kitchen by Hilary Musser.

I love the striped banding on the little pitchers on the open shelves and how they are pushed so close together...so cute! Also Hilary Musser.

Collections are super personal. Also, the fact that they are something that you acquire over time makes the very special. Organic. Each object could remind you of where you were when you found it; like a time line to your life, or your decorating life. There are many tips also provided by Martha and on Point Click Home, such as arranging objects in like colors and don't try to hide your collections! Be proud of them! What sorts of things do you all collect? Anything weird?


Alicia B.