Almost any childhood collection, edited well and displayed with care, can be a beautiful addition to a home and a nice reminder of how joyous it felt, as a kid, to come across that perfect rose quartz or Pez dispenser or R2-D2 doll. But because childhood collections also run the risk of looking... well, a little childish, it's especially important to consider how they're displayed.
A few tips for displaying childhood collections in your grown-up home:
• Edit, edit, edit. Making a baseball card collage? There's no need to include each and every card from each and every overstuffed binder you collected over the years. Choose special items with unique meaning, like the Will Clark '89 earthquake World Series edition, or what have you.
• Try a creative DIY display that reflects the personality of the collection. I love the fenced-in farm animals in the first photo above, from Cookie Magazine, and the action figures in their futuristic acrylic cubbies (second photo).
• Put your grown-up aesthetics to use. Try and look at your childhood objects through adult eyes. Use your display to imbue the collection with sophistication and help it blend into your home's mature decor. The mounted toy car collection in the third photo, for example, shows an amazing sense of color, and we love the way the layout mimics a traffic jam.
• Consider donating your collection to your own child. Sometimes childhood collections are perfect for children's bedrooms, and your kids will get a kick out of seeing the things you cherished when you were their age.
Do you display your childhood collections in your home today? How do you make them fit your grown-up sensibilities? Please share!
(Images: Cookie Magazine (1, 4, and 5); Dufner Heighes, via Houzz (2); eHow (3))
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the second photo holds dc comic book action figures not star wars. big difference! i do like their presentation though!!
@calderonlm, you are so right! Thank you for pointing that out! I'll fix it right away.
- Susie
I'd like to see a photo of your polished rocks!
Seriously? Your mom went to the trouble of unearthing your old childhood crap that you'd abandoned at her house and made it into something nice, and you snatched it off her sideboard in a petulant huff? That wasn't very nice.
Jeez, sorry to offend, Jezebella, but I was exaggerating the story for effect, teasing myself for feeling proprietary about the rocks. My mom and I are always trading stuff back and forth -- cookware, candlesticks -- so I'm sure the rocks will end up back on her sideboard at some point.
- Susie
I'm currently pondering my large (and frankly *ahem* still growing) My Little Pony collection. These were my favorite toys when I was growing up, and they are still in good shape. I have weeded out the bashed up ones I picked up more recently, leaving only the cherished childhood and better condition ponies.
One thing I cannot stress enough in displaying these old collections: clean them! Look online for instructions on how to clean those old toys without ruining them. It makes all the difference!
My husband and I love colorful, fun decor so the ponies shouldn't be too out of place once I figure out just how I'm going to display them. I'm thinking narrow floating shelves...