When I first started dating my boyfriend — who studied geology — I thought of his substantial rock collection as a dusting headache. Strewn across the top of his bookcase, it occupied a prominent place in his post-grad living room. I didn't really care for it, but feigned great interest, because, well, he was pretty much rocking my world. Then we moved in together and I had to find a place to put it.
In our first rental together, where we lived for a year, I stashed the rocks on top of that same bookcase in my boyfriend's home office, where I figured he could enjoy them. When we bought our first house, however, I began to feel that his favorite collection was being neglected — and I had quite a few beloved objects that were tucked away in a drawer, as well. I decided to combine them.
Instead of displaying all the rocks, as he'd been doing, I picked the most exceptional, including his favorite, the labradorite (the rest, which are geologically interesting, but not especially pretty, are downstairs in his office). I mixed in some of my favorite objects, including a piece of found driftwood, a fossil and a medal of Van Gogh's sunflowers, given to me by my dad. I also bought a few flashier small rocks from a nearby toy store.
I love the way these natural elements contrast with the industrial stainless steel-and-glass cabinet, an old Ikea score with the glass door removed. And when my boyfriend saw his prized collection front and center in our living room, he knew I'd done it with him in my heart.
The deeper our connection gets, the more in-sync our style has become. We mesh in so many ways now, including the way we put together our house. Yesterday, writing about Jerid and Jesse's Bedroom Collection, I realized just how meaningful that can be in a relationship. Before my boyfriend, I never would've thought to display a rock collection. Now I stare at it daily and smile.
What about you? Do you and your significant other enjoy each other's collections? How do you display them in your house? Is there anything that you've felt compelled to banish altogether?
Image: AnnaMaria Stephens
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I like the ladybug.
I have many many collections that have been displayed around our apartment. I am in the process of decorating a new place and your post inspires me to dig out and display some of my girlfriend's collections and posessions as well! That will surely make her feel more involved with my decorating choices...
The great thing about collections and displaying them is the personal significance it has for oneself....
They are one of the most important things anywhere you consider as your own living space, they make your space your own, give it life and soul... and becomes an extension of you.
How wonderful is to open your front door, or wake up to directly see something close to your heart. Something that makes you feel proud, loved, succesful, or that brings memories of what you've gone through or places you've been too. And yeah, of course, that terribly hard to find action figure.
Oh wow, I didn't realize that was Ikea! I thought you'd found some funky piece of farm equipment. :D That's a very nice collection of collections.
I do love collections and having them pared down like this is particularly pleasing. I'm not a fan of the overdone collection look...unless it's bones and skulls...sorry, but I love nature's finds. I'm curious about the galvanized metal shelf unit though. I realize IKEA doesn't make this anymore but can someone provide a model name so I can be on the lookout for it on CL or elsewhere?n Thx!
If you don't want the rocks you aren't displaying I'll be glad to take them!
We're in the process of this now. I like "stuff." My boyfriend, not so much. But the "stuff" he likes and wants to display isn't always what I would choose. I figure because he tolerates my stuff in such mass quantities, I can accept the few pieces he wants out, strange as they may be (a chunk of the asphalt from the street in front of our old San Francisco apartment comes to mind). I also try to select stuff(s) I like that incorporate his interests as well. It seems to have been working so far!
@Veslabeachgirl: Oh gosh, I bought that cabinet more than a decade ago. I suspect it would be hard to track down now! I can't find any markings on it, either, to tell you a model name. Sorry!
I come from a cluttered family, but I'm more of a minimalist than him, and he comes from a more minimalist family and happens to be cluttered.
So, we save things that are useful or have meaning: my theater posters will most likely go along with his AFJROTC ribbons on the board I made for them a few years back. We'll probably put those out with pictures on some kind of art wall.
We don't have a whole lot of nick-nacks, but I do have a lot of vases and wedding stuff - these all mesh pretty seamlessly with the kind of stuff he has too: apothecary jars.
What meshed perfectly: some of the antiques he got from his grandpa's tour in northern Africa with the things I got from study abroad in South Africa.
We're fortunate that the vast majority of our stuff meshes pretty perfectly together.
I love cool rocks. My boyfriend doesn't have any "collections," except for his tendency to hoard the boxes his gadgets come in. My only collections are tons of equestrian art. We still live apart, but are talking about marriage, and we've been managing our furniture (acquiring and selling) in contemplation of living together. I constantly wonder how we're going to combine our styles. Now I wish we had collections to combine!
I always think the nicest houses have the taste of more than one person on display. That's part of the charm of French and English country houses, and it works in modern homes too.
You went several days with out using that word. I had hoped that I had convinced you that your posts are better when they don't mention collecting.
My wife and I are in this situation now. We have very different tastes and we live in an open space that I designed and fully furnished before I met her.
It is not going well.
I moved in with my girlfriend who was a design snob, while my furniture was mostly Ikea. When our households merged, most of my stuff went to CL and we lived with her fancy furniture. After a month or so, I felt totally lost in our house because so little was mine. We had to do a lot of work to make the space "ours." We didn't have collections to merge, but it meant taking down her art that I didn't like and framing things that mean a lot to me. We've lived together 2 years and slowly our aesthetics have merged. I think ultimately, you have to come to some sort of agreement or comprimise. Otherwise, you might have a gorgeous house but it won't be a home.