Managing Collections

Sometimes it is challenging to know what to do with collections. After all, we don't live in museums, but homes instead. Collections sometimes take over and there is no comfortable place left to live. A friend once took me to her mother-in-laws home where I enjoyed a tour that I will never forget! It was a beautiful Queen Anne home, filled to the gills with appropriate period antiques. Elegance, beauty, and style were melded together in such a way that it took a few minutes for me to register that I was in the home of a "hoarder". Everything was neat and tidy, but there were only pathways of open space that led from room to room. I really had a hard time determining where the family actually lived. I remember a space at the breakfast nook where I believe the mister of the home resided. I wonder, did he have a man cave in the garage as well? So, how does one go about collecting and keeping balance in their lives? I can hear a couple of my friends giving a friendly snicker as they read this. I love my collections and how objects connect me to my heritage. Let's just say I work hard at not becoming the hoarder of elegance, beauty, and style that my friend's mother-in-law became.

How do you store or display your collections? Here are a few ideas that can help us figure new ways to store the things we love and enjoy.

~ a small wall display case for thimbles

~ china closets and hutches for china, teacups, and teapots

~ old farm implements hung on exterior walls of a barn or shed

~ antique yardsticks hung on the walls of a workshop

~ T-shirts with logos that feature the growing up years of a son that are made into a quilt

~ a bookmark collection stored in a shoebox

~ old books in a bookcase

~ photos and stamp collections in albums

~ silver teaspoons in a glass pitcher that's displayed on a counter top

~ old postcards in a wooden case

It's easy to get carried away when collecting and gathering. There are times that a collection needs to be sifted through and refined. An object that was valuable to you 10 years ago may now be superseded by a more recent find. It's an opportunity to sell some of the items you no longer cherish, or use them to give to another who is just starting a collection. Occasionally it is difficult to let something go, so finding a technique or tactic that helps you release an object is helpful. Photographing objects and placing pictures of them in an album can be helpful in this case. A picture and a short description can go a long ways in helping you pass along a collectible treasure.

What techniques do you use to help you keep your collections under control?