Monday Musings - Collecting and Collections

Collecting is possibly one of the world's most popular pastimes and I'm sure that most of the readers of this blog are collectors of some sort. 

Many people start collections as children. My children have all had collections of some sort. Model ships, gemstones, wooden elephants,  sports memorabilia and so it goes on. They often outgrow them and move onto different things.

As adults, we can also change the things we collect. As we grow older and wiser, our tastes often change and we might move on from collecting certain things and start new collections.

I think the joy of collecting is in the hunt, stumbling across things to add to our collections in unexpected places, sometimes waiting years to find the item that is just right for our collections.

Sometimes collections can be hidden away and taken out every now and then to enjoy.

But, on the whole, we tend to display our collections, so that we can enjoy looking at them everyday.

Displaying collections in a way that is visually pleasing is is quite an art. Smaller objects can be placed in containers to great effect.

I think, in general, it is best to display your collections together, rather than distribute them all over your home. Massed objects create greater impact than those same objects dotted here and there.

If your collection is vast, you don't need to display it all at once, rather pack some of it away and rotate the pieces every now and then. You want to avoid your home starting to look like a shop.

Collecting things found in nature is especially rewarding and the best part is that it costs nothing. 

Flea markets, car boot sales and second hand shops are usually a treasure trove for collectors.

One of the fun things about collections is remembering the provenance of the pieces. I have collected Christmas decorations from different parts of the world and when we decorate the tree, it always brings back memories of wonderful travels.

It is often more fun collecting things that are old and have a history than new things. I quite enjoy speculating about the path a certain object might have travelled before landing in my hands. 

Having said all of this, I think probably the most important thing about collecting, is knowing when to stop!

I would love to hear about some of your collections.

Till next time

Sharon x

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