Clever design ideas for displaying any kind of collection
It's one thing to build a collection of things that you love, but quite another knowing what to do with it. The Victorians, with their cabinets of curiosity, were great ones for showing off their amassed treasures. But sometimes you want to the pieces you love to be more integrated into your home, for them to inhabit the space with you. Whether it's a series of ornamental oddities that you adore, or the results of addiction to buying hats or baskets, get your collection on display where you can enjoy it all the time. Here's a round up of ideas to get you started.
James McDonald1/17Victorian and Edwardian display cabinets can be hugely useful and decorative pieces, and are excellent for when you want to display lots of small objects without letting them all gather dust on mantelpieces and shelves. In the Somerset house of antiques dealer Jack Laver Brister, a collection of seashells and coral is displayed in an Edwardian case in the bathroom, with walls in ‘Euphorbia’ by Paint & Paper Library.
Chris Horwood2/17Collections of beautiful plates pop up frequently on the pages of House & Garden, and often end up displayed in kitchens and bathrooms, as ceramics can be easier to maintain in these environments than works on paper. A massed hang like this one in a London vicarage designed by Tamsin Saunders of Home & Found is particularly effective – the colours of the Delft plates are lively against the muted colour of the walls.
Dean Hearne3/17A traditional dresser is the perfect place to display plates, figurines and other ceramics. The one in Alexandra Tolstoy's Oxfordshire cottage is filled with a pleasing blend of lettuceware and Staffordshire figures.
Andrew Montgomery4/17Collections of mouldings, whether wooden or plaster, are a brilliant way to add texture and interest to a room. In Patrick Williams of Berdoulat's house in Bath, they form a focal point in the sitting room.
Dean Hearne5/17Many of us collect the more practical things in life. India Holmes, de Gournay's creative director has a lovely collection of vintage and new glassware and crockery. She displays it on the open shelves of a dresser, wall mounted above a radiator cover which acts as another surface to be adorned.
Michael Sinclair6/17In this RIBA Award winning house by architect Alison Brooks, part of the client's collection of ethnographic art covers the wall behind his desk. The handsome pieces stand out in sharp relief from the all white backdrop; the Vitsoe shelves are adjustable so can adapt to the needs of a changing collection.
Owen Gale7/17There is something refreshingly casual feeling about the way Lucinda Chambers has decorated her home - even the way she has displayed this collection of baskets from South Africa. For Lucinda, the magic ingredient is the colour of the wall. She says Papers and Paints’ bespoke PP27-8-21JG is ‘simply the best yellow in the world.’
Owen Gale8/17Straw hats make an equally impactful display in designer Violet Dent's London house, which is full of bold ways to display things. We love how dramatically they pop against the white walls.
Paul Massey9/17If you have a collection of small objects, hanging them floor to ceiling is a fun way to make an impact. In the London house of Hay Festival chair Caroline Michel, a collection of cameos stands out against rich blue walls in the bedroom.
Simon Upton10/17The late, great Robert Kime was a collector of so many things, and he displayed them so beautifully in his homes. This photo from his Belgravia flat shows how rugs could be used in combination in a series of connecting rooms. Above the opening to the space beyond, a simple shallow shelf is the perfect spot to show off a series of antiques glass vessels.
Simon Brown11/17A shared colour palette of a hand coloured botanic engravings and a group of Chinese monochrome bases on ‘verdigris’ brackets create a harmonious combination. This double height space is in the former home of Alexandra Tolstoy and was designed in collaboration with Emma Burns from Sibyl Colefax and John Fowler and Daniel Slowik.
Alexander James12/17Multiples of just about anything can look striking. In landscape architect Kim Wilkie's London pied a terre, an alcove has been taken over by dozens of rusted old iron ploughshares which were dug up on his farm.
Michael Sinclair13/17Collections don't have to be on the peripheries of rooms - on walls, on shelves or in frames. In this project by Maddux Creative, a series of celadon vases have been arranged on the dining room table. They rest on a simple white tray so they are easy to move when entertaining.
Paul Massey14/17Under a photograph of a forest canopy seems an appropriate place to display a collection of ceramic mushrooms. This vignette is in the entrance hall of designer April Russell's London home.
Jason Ingram15/17In a 1960s house in South London, a ceiling hung, birch plywood shelf has the dual purpose of displaying the owners collection of studio pottery, and also acting as a visual divide between the kitchen and dining area.
Tim Beddow16/17Annabel Astor's bothy in Jura is a masterclass in displaying shells in every form. In the sitting room, shells are arranged as a border around the top of the walls, while on the stairwell, a collection of sailors' valentines make for an intriguing display.
Emma Lewis17/17This Edmund de Waal piece (Word for Word, 2010) in Amanda Baring's house can serve as great inspiration for how to display small pieces. The DIY-gifted (or, failing that, a joiner) should be able to customise or create a box frame with narrow shelves to display collections of ceramics, glassware or other small objects.
