My collection is old iron scraps, springs, cogwheels, gears, and 19th C wood burning stove parts. (Doesn't the "19th C" part add some dignity to it?) I can't help it. AND I think they're all beautiful! As I'm doing the current Cure, they'll soon be nicely displayed--although I'm sure some other ATers will find them a symptom, not a cure. . . .

I have 3 chesterfield sofas in my living (yes, really). That qualifies as a collection, right? LMAO ROTF.

I went through a big collecting phase, and then I realized that I just do not have space for all that stuff. Maybe in 20 years when I have a big house in the country to fill with interesting odds and ends, but right now all I can really handle is my everyday needs and a healthy dose of books and art.

"a healthy dose of books and art" - isn't that collecting?

I collect books and art, but also:
- glass stuffs, vases, candle holders, glasses, jars.

- sea shells, coral, starfish, but only stuff I find second hand, I don't feel right buying this kind of thing from stores or pulling coral and starfish from their rightful salty homes.

- inadvertently started collecting salt & pepper shakers, they're all black and white - they make me feel old!

- quirky ceramics, like dinosaur napkin rings, owl-shaped sugar shaker, dog-shaped measuring tape...

most of these are all really small objects, so collecting and displaying them are not really a problem for space.

I just ordered my second piece of robot-themed artwork, so I think that counts as a collection now.

I collect unglazed porcelain and ceramics. The lucky part is that they're all white, so they show up well against a painted wall and they already have a certain uniformity.

Antique mirrors! I have two decent examples right now, and I'm on the constant lookout for more.

Also, baby spider plants from the local charity shop.

I recently started a casual, "because it makes me smile" collection of old maps and advertisements - those documents in cellophane bags that every swap meet and junk shop has by the boxfull. The theme of the collection is "Me" - I pick up things that catch my fancy and are related to my life in some way or other. For example: old maps of states and countries where I lived/visited growing up (Navy brat, so there are many possibilities - though Guam is hard to find), an ad for the '67 Mustang (mom's dream car which dad bought for their 20th anniversary, and which I got to drive a lot in HS), and an ad from the 30's offering chemical plant design services (I'm a chemical engineer by training).

I'm still trying to figure out how I want to store and/or display them.

Honey bears. I need to find a way to display them. I use duplicates as liquid soap dispensers.

Antique books -- how to display?

Sea shells, etc. (found) -- how to display?

Chiffon scarves -- how to display? (I can't figure out how to wear them either. So pretty!)

Money from around the world -- how to display?

Pottery and glass -- random mish mash

Want: more old postcards, Walter Anderson art, more pottery, more glass (esp vintage perfume bottles), more vintage costume jewelry.

Mella DP--
I have a few maps, too. Mine are watercolors of places I've lived. Some done of what the place looked like 100s of years ago. I've been wanting to hang my favorite one with other objects from the same place, like a postcard, snapshots, etc. Kind of to tell the whole story.

You could do the map plus two or three other things to make a "place" and then hang several places together. Like your own songline, so to speak.

ange_lune, the only reason I make the distinction is because I used to collect other stuff. You know, the sorts of things people in this thread are mentioning -- found keys, postcards, neat little boxes, sea glass, pottery, oddities, ephemera, etc. etc. etc. Then I discovered I didn't have room for any of it (I share a 750 ft apartment with someone who also works out of the space, and my bedroom is only about 80 sf).

Now I only collect books (for reading purposes, generally not with an eye to aesthetics) and art made by friends or with specific personal associations. Which is a whole different beast than the many folks who are into demitasse cups or vintage movie cameras or whatever. There's no better or worse, just room or no room.

It's silver topped dresser jars for me. The collection started with a visit to the Bermondsey Market and the Silver Vaults in London, and continues with visits to outdoor antique markets, antique shows and stores, and the occasional fleamarket and garage sale. The pieces are small and easy to display and polishing them means that I can remember the occasions when I found them. I think they're beautiful.

I have collected vintage Pyrex Colorware bakeware primarily from the 1950's, including refrigerator sets, 2 square lidded casseroles (yellow), a red square bowl, several of the 7oz red square ramiquins, several of the 12oz yellow ones, a multi colored 4pc mixing bowl set and several other odd pieces back when they still could be had for not much in the early 1990's.

I collect vinyl albums, have a bunch of CD's although am not buying much of either in recent years and of course, I collect the odd trinket stuffs through happenstance from time to time and do have a junk box for all the odd stuff we all end up with in one form or another.

Oh, and books too. :-)

Left hands -- I have them in wood, china, glass, metal

Boxy (mainly lucite but also painted and decoupaged wood) handbags from the 40s and 50s. In my new space they are marching across the top of the bookcase, just now. My tendency is to rotate things, so in a couple of months they may go to the storage bin and something else take their place.

Original cartoon strips -- I have a small but choice (and growing) collection. At the moment they're all in the office, not at home.

Vintage linens. I use them (tablecloths, teacloths, little cotton or linen guest towels, cocktail napkins), rather than display them, but there's always something out.

Of course I collect/acquire art (and books & music) but it isn't a "collection" in that same sense of picking things with a common theme.

theora - Could you fill them with something - colored water, seed beads? - all in the same color, to bring some uniformity to them and keep them from looking like just empty containers? Then display them all on the same shelf so they stay grouped together.

Nicole R - You could put the seashells in one of those shadow boxes that has compartments. I'm getting ready to do that with some of my shells. If you look around enough, you can probably find a display box that fits your style. With the scarves, I'm seeing an unobtrusive wire line-style curtain rod (they're hard to explain, but Ikea sells them, they have a post at each end and then just a nylon-coated steel wire in between) with a couple of curtain clips holding each scarf in a line, with three or four up at any given time. It'd be a nice way to bring some color to a white wall.

I collect art toys, alarm clocks and vintage lamps from the seventies. I group the clocks and toys, but the lamps are all over the house.

I love the whole concept of collecting (maybe even writing my MA thesis on the topic). Check out my Flickr group on displaying collections and post some great pics!

http://gogoabigail.com/blog/2007/08/05/how-do-you-display-your-collections/