I've long loved displaying things in collections or groupings. Groupings create a whole new look to a singular item. Much like growing one flower vs. grouping many together, collections can really enhance your items of choice, beefing up the scale considerably.
Nesting Place asked us to link up our collections. Always loving a good excuse to make a new post, I went through my archives to see what I actually collected. :)
Soooo... let's take a gander...
(click the dark text to visit the direct links)
I love placing them on window sills as they become their own source of little glowy aqua lights. They can also double as useful containers or vases. Decor and productivity all in one fell swoop!
Rating - Pretty and useful. Pass!
I have one garden area totally dedicated to birdhouses. Ladders and poles can take over where there are no trees. I call the ladder arrangement the 'Birdie Hotel'. :)
Rating: What do you think Nester? :)
My collection of 3 crappy computers that fight with me daily. Hmmm...
Rating: BIG FAT FLYING FAIL
... deep breath ...
Here's another use for glass jars. Using jars as votives placed on a windowsill keeps the flame safe from pets and kidlets. Clear jars don't hinder the view outside at all and keeps your room neutral. And the candles place a magical sparkly ambiance at nightime too.
Rating: Pretty for a long bare windowsill. Throw a cool beam underneath and you get something cool to anchor all the lightness. Pass!
Rating: Pretty for a long bare windowsill. Throw a cool beam underneath and you get something cool to anchor all the lightness. Pass!
sofa floor thrower
Who doesn't love
Ratings: I will pass this one because when you throw them on the floor (mandatory in order to USE the furniture at this rate), they pick up the pet hair. You help me clean, you get a pass. Pass!
Clay pot collection
There's something so natural and down to earth with clay pots. I love to switch them up and utilize all shapes and sizes in their natural form. Sometimes it's fun to NOT craft something and use it for what it is too.
Rating: Earthy, whimsical, rustic, productive, el cheapo, yup! Pass.
Inspirational writeup: jhp9485wldjh';!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating: *kfhupoirjlakjkg;kj'dlakjh
I always find, no matter how old or rusty something is, it always looks great with the right given background. Old and rusty marries very well with an old palette, so add a piece of glass to glitz it up and you have an olde tyme type of showcase you can switch out anytime.
Rating: If it has rust, it's an automatic pass no matter what it is. Funky Junk rule #2957.
Heart rocks!
I totally forgot about this collection until someone mentioned something similar in comments. We camped for 2 weeks and the more we focused on heart rocks, the more we found. I haven't done a thing with them yet. I should. :)
Other collections I don't exactly endorse...
Weeds
Laundry. Even if it IS clean.
I love (good) collections! What do you collect?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
current and upcoming events below
Mon June 14 - click for more info
Next theme - old crates and boxes! See you Friday night.
I love that most of what you collect..isn't the normal stuff..not saying you aren't normal..lol
ReplyDeleteJust saying I think some people only collect what they think they are suppose to collect.They copy others. Me..well it usually is very sentimental...It always pulls on my heartstrings..and I love to just glance..stare..and admire it quite often.
Enjoyed the post today.
Cindy from Rick-Rack and Gingham
I too have collections & try to group them together. It's easy to do w/fabric, dishes, etc., but besides books, my next largest collection is nature stuff: shells, rocks, insects, nests, sticks, pine cones, petrified woods, etc. The collection is too large so I kinda', sorta' group them by sub-category & have them all over the house. That way I can enjoy a little of them in every room!
ReplyDeleteBTW - I *love* your collections - - - very pretty!
Oh boy do I collect! But I'm fussy about my collected items and don't want to be given anything - unless the person knows for dead-on sure that I will love it.
ReplyDeleteThat being said... I collect: dragons, model horses, rounded ribbon stones (rocks with a 'ribbon'/line going thru it), art from places we have visited, real sea glass found or given, and cookbooks from places/regions we have traveled to.
I have that same laundry collection! That's how I display mine too! What do you know? :)
ReplyDeleteI love the way you display the clear jars and mason jars. I have a ton of clear jars. I may have to put mine in a window sill too. Pretty.
You have quite the diverse group of collections. Enjoyed seeing them all - even the computers and laundry!
ReplyDeleteHmm, yeah, that's it... I don't hoard, I collect! Much the same as you actually. If you'd like to add to your collection of weeds, laundry or broken chairs just say the word! ;-P I also collect vintage everything- tins/canisters, childrens stuff, linens, china, books, bird houses/garden items, pictures, farm items... and "modern" unmatched socks, dog hair and hay chaff. It's no wonder I crave a more minimalist look OR a bigger house!
ReplyDeletehugs,
Leslie
I love the blue Ball canning jars. I have a collection that belonged to my Great Grandmother. Flowers look so pretty in them:).
ReplyDelete~Julia
Hi Donna,
ReplyDeleteI love all of your collections, but my favorites are the collection of jars...so pretty with the light shining through them!!
The funniest is your collection of (clean) laundry (lol)!!
Have a great day!!
Hugs ~ Jo
fabulous! I love the jars and pots myself!
ReplyDeleteThe last photo cracked me up! For the most part, I keep my collections together but also like to take a few pieces and put them in other areas of my home. Like Cindy above, I only collect what appeals to me or touches my heart for sentimental reasons. My collections are reflections of who I am. Like you, I have a jar collection and most are placed where light can shine through them. Love your birdhouse collection and display. I may have to copy that idea because I have several, but just cannot seem to create a display I am happy with so I keep putting them back up on the shelf.
ReplyDelete~ Tracy
I love your collections - especially the jars. I collect laundry also, although it's usually in baskets lying around my bedroom or very neatly hanging on racks (long past the time when they are dry and ready to be folded). For real I collect Dundee Marmalade (Keiller) jars and canning jars. Hmmm, I seem to have a bit of a thing for jars ......
ReplyDeleteOh my heavens, yes, I love to collect! I so enjoyed seeing your collections, really awesome. Love the way you group them! Well, let's see, I collect little boxes, sugar and creamers, pitchers, Toby Jugs, musical made in Japan figurines! I have blogged about them all, would love for you to see them!
ReplyDeleteNancy
Love the jars in the windows!!
ReplyDeleteDust. You don't collect dust? That's my most abundant collection : ) Love your collections!
ReplyDeleteI love your site and helpful hints to share with my hubby. I am a new follower, please stop by for a visit. XO MARY
ReplyDeleteIt's soooo interesting to hear about what you collect! And thanks for your kudos. Guess my next post ought to be, "How do you clean around ALL THOSE COLLECTIONS?"
ReplyDeleteColeen, when one collects, dust is an automatic package deal. :)
Donna
I personally love grouped collections!
ReplyDeleteSo glad I'm not the only one that collects broken chairs and "floor throwers". Some others of mine are milk glass and beautiful rocks. Thanks for sharing your collections!
ReplyDeleteI collect blue and white transferware, white ironstone, and vintage baskets. Love your collections.
ReplyDeletexo, Sherry
I love jars. I know it is simply a decorating trend, but it is a trend I really like. I remain in love with baskets and that was a decorating trend for some time, though I think I am not alone in the continued love of decorating with baskets. :)
ReplyDeleteI used to collect wine bottles and cobalt blue glass, but then had collected so much I grew tired of the collections and left them with my ex when I moved out (he still uses them in his decor).
My guy and I seem to have a collection of laptops/computers, an unintentional collection for me but his love of computers has resulted in such. I need only -my- laptop to be happy. :)
I have a wee collection of mixing bowls, which I hope to add to when we move to a larger place. I also have a collection of very old family pictures, some in frames on a bookcase and some still in storage and awaiting being put into scrapbooks, some already in a scrapbook album. I also have a nice collection of original Beatles albums, left to me by my father. My favorite of the collections, of course. :) I have a small and growing collection of very old books too. We just found first edition books at a book sale going back to the late 1800's!
I love the bird hotel! I collect blue glass, and of course laundry, both clean and dirty. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post! When someone asks me what do you collect, I always answer 'nothing I am not into collecting', and then someone shows me their collection and I think "I have those", or "I could show off my such-and-such too". I guess I am a collector too, I just scatter everything around so that it doesn't feel like a collection. Or maybe I don't feel like collecting because it isn't owls or ducks or rare coins or something.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, you have some great collections going on there, and I'd better go check out, what collections I have hidden in my house.
I really like that "Espresso" pillow on the sofa. Very clever.
ReplyDeletei love your tv stand. it's so unique. i'm collecting dirty laundry at the moment waiting for my new washer to be delivered,
ReplyDeleteLove the ball jars! I think I am related to the people that started those... somewhere along the line.
ReplyDeleteOh, three crappy computers? Hmmm, why not just get one delicious Mac and throw those 3 pieces of junk away? That's what I'd do. LOL
DI
The Blue Ridge Gal
I keep some collections together and for others, I try to keep them apart. Like, I've been collecting blue Ball jars, and they look so pretty grouped. I also have a thing for peacock/feathers which I try to keep apart and to a minimum. I don't need to already be dubbed "Crazy Peacock Lady" at 22 years of age...
ReplyDeleteYour collections are super cute though. Well, with the exception of the three computers. That just makes my head hurt. :oP
SHOOT! Colleen's Corner beat me to it! Because I collect MANY things I am also an expert collector of dust! Seriously, though, between my daughter, my husband, and me, we collect MANY things. My only regret is that I don't have a house big enough to display all of our collections at the same time. We have hundreds of spoons, Girl Scout items, Josef Girls, Dick and Jane books, Hallmark Christmas Ornaments, Dog figurines and art, stereoptic viewers and views, cookie jars, Danbury and Franklin Mint actual size fish (we inherited this collection and had to build a wall of bookshelves to house them), American Girl dolls, Nancy Ann Storybook Dolls, pocket knives, Chevrolet yard sticks, playing cards (singles and decks, I have over 2,000 different singles and hundreds of decks) baby quilts, marbles, kaleidoscopes, antlers and various animal bones picked up on camping and hunting trips, Chevron Techron cars, and jeweled picture frames. There would be more on this list but my sons are married and have moved out. My oldest wasn't much of a collector but my youngest son is worse than I am. My future collection is vintage Pyrex, Glassbake, Hazel Atlas, Fireking, and Federal Glass kitchenware. I just need lots more space. WOW! I just read that back. SCARY! LOVE YOUR BLOG!
ReplyDeleteI love your collections....especially the laundry and the weeds! You are real! After seeing your blue jars, I think I'm gonna dig out a few of those around here....
ReplyDeleteI love ironstone, white pottery, vases....white on white speaks to me. Check out my post tomorrow for white Wednesday & you see a smidgeon of it.
I love your birdhouse collection. Just adorable! I think I collect dust bunnies at my house - oh - and weeds - those are in abundance also :)
ReplyDeleteAnything with wings! Buterflies, birds, (dead of course) and Angels, what is up with that? I dunno but I LOVE thoses wing thangs! Oh and fallen birds nest! How "tweet" are those! {sorry counldn't resist!}
ReplyDeleteI am loving all of your collections. Even the laundry...made me feel better about mine laying around.
ReplyDeleteI really love the glass jars in the windows...that is a super idea. I might have to use that one!
I also have copious quantities of weeds...so I guess that is my collection as well!
Hugs
SueAnn
I love items in groups like you have displayed. Jars and bottles are really fun ! Great photos!
ReplyDeleteI collected once. I was in therapy for years.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a young teenager I told my mother that I liked this watercolor of a child dressed like a circus clown that I had seen at an arts festival. She told my grandmother, who went and bought it for me. I lovingly hung it in my room. My mother then thought I LOVED CLOWNS (OK, WHO LOVES CLOWNS??? EVERYONE KNOWS CLOWNS ARE SCARY!!!!!) For the next 10-15 years that is all anyone ever bought me. By the time, I was an adult I had stored literally hundreds of clowns in my parent's attic all in boxes. I never had the heart to tell anyone that I HATED CLOWNS!!!! I was a kid getting a gift you know! What was I supposed to say??? (let's just take a moment to imagine what a young girl's bedroom looked like with dozens upon dozens of clowns all around the room - TRY TO GO TO SLEEP!! NOT! I WOULD TURN THEM ALL AROUND SO THEY FACED THE WALL AND I WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO SEE THEIR EYES)
Then I mentioned, just mentioned once, that I loved elephants....my family started in again....since I had a few years of therapy under my belt I got really BOLD one day and told them to "please stop". I may have mentioned that I HATED ELEPHANTS or something to that effect!!!
So, I don't collect A THING! Secretly I LOVE particular things, but I WILL NEVER TELL A SOUL!!!!!!!!!!
However, I might really LOVE ROCKS!!!
Your heart shapes are wonderful! Can't wait to see what you do with them!!!! And the glass jars on the windowsill filtering in sunlight must be lovely!
Oh and I hope I didn't offend anyone who may LOVE clowns or elephants. Does the circus theme have anything to do with who I am, I'm wondering?
(did I just "post" again here in YOUR comment area??? so sorry!!!!)
xoxo
~Kolein
I {{heart}} {{heart}} {{heart}} aqua jars!! Come over and see my collection (click the peak into my home link)
ReplyDeleteKolein, if you didn't ever comment here, I'd never have known a palette was also called a 'rusty nail bulky wood hazard.' Do NOT stop commenting! Loved the clown story. :)
ReplyDeleteI'll admit I'm a little surprised that not every one of you doesn't already have antique ball jars on a window sill. I thought that was a DIY standard. Have I started a new trend?!?
Donna
Great post!! Love it all, but I think the birdhouses are my fave, at leaat this very minute! =)
ReplyDeleteblessings
barbara jean
I think the jars are an old trend revisited. The reason I think that is because I remember as a child seeing those jars on people's window sills and porch ledges. I believe they were filled with stuff, though. (canned things?)
ReplyDeleteYES! You have started a new trend!!! Every single thing you do is the first EVER - at least for my life!!! And since everybody who stops by LOVES and ADMIRES your tastes and style so much....I'd say perhaps you should be in a magazine or five!!!
xoxo
Your collections are great! I have quite a few myself. That's why I'm in the antiques and collectibles business...too many collections. LOL
ReplyDeleteI would like to invite you to visit the cottage, and join in on the fun for all three of my linky parties:
ASK THE YANKEE - MONDAYS
TIPS & TRICKS TUESDAY
TIME TRAVEL THURSDAY
You can get the details here:
http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/2010/06/brambleberry-cottage-linky-party.html
Hope to see ya there!
Liz @ the Brambleberry Cottage
http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/
Found your blog from a link on Shanty2Chic and have enjoyed seeing all of your renovations! I especially love what you did with your stairs...so cool! And, I think you live in Chilliwack - me too!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to future reno posts!
-Rochelle
Right now....I appear to be collecting grey hairs....not showing them though....smiles.
ReplyDeleteLoving your collections, expecially your glass :)
ReplyDeleteSo interesting! The name of the town and province I live in is on the ruler in the photo with the bingo board!
ReplyDeleteI love collections, and I love collecting. I will have to come back and read all the wonderful comments you collected on this post.
ReplyDeleteYou may inspire me to start a new collection.
I LOVE the tv stand!
ReplyDeleteGrouping collections creates much more impact - and gives them a reason to exist. Scattering them all over the place just adds to clutter, and can look tacky depending on what you collect. Example - I love old chalkware religious statues, even in less than perfect shape (those old catholic school convent days are still with me) Placed singly all over the place they look sort of junky...but together, in a group, very cool!
ReplyDeletePS - I also collect chihuahuas...live ones! Hard to get them all to stay in one place, though, unless it is nap time, then they like to snuggle with each other
ReplyDelete