Organizing and displaying collections takes careful thought.  I always encourage clients to group whatever they are collecting en masse.  It is visually stronger and more interesting  to display a group of similar items in relation to each other.  Most anything can constitute a collection.  I rotate my own collections which range from sort-of special to especially loved.  On a walk through my house one would find collections such as a grouping of sculptures by a favorite New Orleans artist (Julie Silvers),  my children’s primitive pottery, a wall covered with brown transferware, old family sepia-colored photos, and last but best, 15 odd pairs of my boy’s very worn toddler-sized red Keds sneakers.  I have them tied all together as a vertical hanging sculpture.

We recently worked on a project where the client had several wonderful collections but they were scattered throughout the home. On this wall we reorganized a graphic collection of botanicals by South Carolina artist, Becky Davis.

In this Nantucket Inn, we gathered up a collection of woven lightship baskets and clustered them on a parlor desk.

Another way to group collections is in a color genre.  In this foyer a collection of artwork in tones of black, white and grey creates harmony with a like-minded palette.

A Delft plate collection accented with Delft lamps and a Delft planter in a breakfast room. If you have a favorite stack of china hiding  in a cupboard, consider grouping them in a fun design on an accent wall.

Collections don’t need to be costly to be loved.  I am very attached to my dog-eared collection of coffee table books.  I love how our client stacked her own collection. Coffee table book collection turned coffee table!