Ways to Display Collections without Clutter
I have been gathering ideas for displaying collections without making them look like clutter. Our eye is immediately drawn to a fascinating collection of things. I recently saw on Molly in Maine’s Instagram a corner of her kitchen with the most incredible collection. And she says it’s an area of her kitchen she rarely shares. I can’t imagine. I think I would be sharing it all the time. It got me thinking that collections are pretty cool. They say something about the collector, and they are usually meaningful. Or maybe they are just a group of beautiful things…perfect or sharing with Mary Ann and Cindy on a Sunday.
Molly’s Fish Molds
Photos: Molly in Maine
Eye-catching displays of related items + a gallery wall
Photos: Pi’lo
I love it when similar items are grouped. They may all be one type of thing, like white vases or pitchers. However, visual clutter is immediately diminished if several items are put together in one place. It looks more like one thing than a bunch of things. In the photo below, the collection of white pitchers is corralled on the top of a white painted hutch. Some have branches, some do not, and it works beautifully naturally.
The gallery wall is beautifully arranged and has interesting pieces, like the vintage clock. The collection of all white vessels of similar styles on the coffee table in a tray is an interesting and uncluttered look with plants and greenery.
Pi’lo is an online store/website of beautiful, handmade items using linen and canvas. You can check out Heather Shaw’s stunning work here.
Victoria Smith – SF Girl By Bay
Photos: Victoria Smith – SFGirlbyBay
Victoria Smith has inspired me for years! Her blog was one of the first I followed. These days, I think you’ll find her mostly on Instagram. I followed her from San Francisco (hence the name) to LA, and now Laguna Beach. Especially now, I love seeing her dreamy photos of Laguna…the little town right next to Dana Point that I loved and where we lived, twice. Anyway…Victoria says in her caption that the book collection on her coffee table has faces. So, it is not just books on her coffee table, but an edited collection of her favorite books with faces on the covers.
She also displays bowls like dried sage, quartz, and other pretty things, like a collection of odd (but quite beautiful) tea light holders or small bowls that look especially interesting when grouped. She has a collection of vintage stainless steel coffee pots on the top of her stove.
Kelly – Bungalow Blue interiors
Photos: Bungalow Blue Interiors
I’ve known Kelly for years, and we actually met in person a few years ago at Serena & Lily in Westport. She has the most dreamy collection of rattan and wicker vases, mixed with blue and white linens and candles, and her plate wall of all white dishes is so beautifully organized! Some are new, some are vintage items, but they look striking as part of her beachy home decor. As you can imagine, Kelly sets the prettiest tables.
A few pretty rattan and wicker vases
I collect sand, rocks, and shells
My favorite collection is our sand collection. We collect sand from all the beaches we’ve visited as a family. From our days of living in Southern California, to all the beach vacations we’ve taken…it is so interesting to see how different sand can look. Color, texture, small shells, rocks, sea glass, and even a few sand dollars are found on each beach.
I have bowls of white beach stones, rocks with stripes, and shells in various bowls, which are also part of the collection. The silver bowl is a ski trophy my husband won in 1983. My mom recently gave me the Orrefors crystal bowl. I found one on Replacements, LTD., which looks like the place to find some cool stuff for a bargain. This little bowl is less than $25.
So, what do you collect? And how do you display your collection?
More Sunday Favorites
Ralph Lauren Home & Nancy Meyers
Did you see that Design Los Angeles honored Nancy Meyers with a celebratory lunch featuring Ralph Lauren Home in Beverly Hills? The table made me think of Something’s Gotta Give. Simple, but so elegant with clear glass wine and water glasses, the Ethan glass pitcher, ice bucket, garden vine dinner plates, and Thorpe rectangular trays. Potted herb plants in terracotta pots lined the tables.
Bridget Vest from Alex Mill
I’m loving vests this season for that extra layer with a t-shirt. The black with cream trim or cream with dark navy trim looks pretty Parisian to me. Sort of like summer’s answer to the Paris sweater jacket, but a little lighter. Worn with jeans, maxi skirts, linen pants…everything!
Did you read our posts on Thursday? We are all talking about summer travel and what to wear. You can read my post here:
How to Build a Simple Travel Wardrobe with Quince
Let’s see what Mary Ann and Cindy found this week!
Classic Casual Home
Read Mary Ann’s Sunday post here.
Cindy Hattersley Design
Read Cindy’s Sunday post here.
Well, this was a delightful way to spend a Mother’s Day morning. All this eye candy!
I collect little pitchers (which Howard thought to display in the wine cubbies by the oven).
Did the Atlantic Beach sand dry out? Come get some more!
I too am a collector of many things. Redware, Blue and White Transferware, Doulton Lambeth Pub Ware, Bottles with glass seals. I love antiques and am also a designer so I am fortunate to have a curators eye. I have many cabinets that corral my collections. For the most part I fill my cabinets with many different items, creating different textures and to keep the eye moving around the piece. My collection of antique leather bound books helps me to do that, and are included in all of my styling. Great post thank you.
Shelley! Your collections and your way of displaying them using books sounds so lovely. I also collect bottles! I love when they are embossed. Sometimes I buy a prodcut for the bottle, and not the contents! ha
I love your little pitchers and the spot you found for them in your new house! I am having trouble finding more of the acylic boxes to add the sand from Atlantic Beach…I bought them at The Container Store and they no longer have them online, but maybe in store…fingers crossed.
Good morning from Covenant Shores on Mercer Island,
I hope you enjoyed a delightful Mother’s Day! Our youngest son and his amazing wife hosted a bagel brunch at their charming craftsman home in Ballard, a Scandinavian neighborhood in Seattle.. Such love we mother’s experienced.
Your collection of sea sand is so creatively you. The memories in the colors and textures surely give you great pleasure.
We share rock collecting and when we moved from Camano Island almost 3 years ago, the heart shaped ones came with us. When I unearthed a wonderful mossy stump in the corner of our terrace, I created a two sided dry heart rock stream converging in a heart shaped pond. It reminds me of the twenty years of walking the rocky shores at our Camano Island home and the beaches around the world.
We found room in our retirement apartment to showcase glass floats, shells, blue and white transferware beauties, copper pans and utensils, colorful antique bottles, and books. We only kept favorites, added contemporary pieces of furniture to keep our small apartment from looking like a museum while creating what I call our country contemporary home. And, of course room to add to the collections.
Love, Diney
Diney! Ballard sounds so interesting! A Scandinavian neighborhood in Seattle. A bagel brunch, that sounds perfect for mother’s day!
Your creation on your terrace sounds so lovely. And it must bring so much joy having created it and of the memories of your walks on the rocky shores in search of heart shaped rocks. I for some reason do not have an eye for finding heart shaped rocks…but I am always on the look out!
All of your collections sound beautiful and I can appreciate the idea that you don’t want your home to look like a museum. I too like to mix old with more modern!
Have a lovely week Diney!
xo
annie