Maybe it's as simple to moving it to a more private room??? Just as really personal objects like diplomas and wedding pictures belong in the less public areas of the house (e.g., offices and bedrooms), maybe this collection would be best in a bedroom or above your home work station? p.s. Love them!

I love letters. I covet signs as I drive around town. Could you just intersperse them around other displays (framed art, etc.)

BTW: living in sin is not a good idea.

How about starting a collection of the first letter of his name as well, and hanging them all together?

I'm with PhoebeArt - I'd start a new collection with his letter well, and showcase them together. Think how sweet it would be down the road in a nursery to put them up with some of your own baby pictures :) Either way - I don't think just because you're cohabitating your collection should be resigned to a box!

I would just tuck them here and there, a la jamie from isuwanee: http://www.isuwannee.com/2009/03/study-of-my-kitchen-shelves.html

I love your Rs! I have a similar collection of As that I've been building for years. Instead of reserving a special space and grouping them, I have them tucked all around the house individually. A small one in the bathroom, a big gold one in the kitchen, another on the office bookshelf, some hung in the hall, and even a giant A swiped from a dismantled supermarket sign out on the deck.

That way they become a fun little typographic surprise here and there, but don't come off as a mishmash collection. So it's not so one sided, I'm slowly adding Ms for my husband to balance it out. Now it looks like we're either big fans of Massachusetts (MA) or mornings (AM)...

Good luck!

aj this question is for you "and coveting things is okay?" I agree with the idea of collecting letters together and slowly, as his collection grows, add in your own letter. I think it is a cute way of establishing yourselves as a couple. Have fun "living in sin" :)

I would mount them on a painted piece of plywood and hang them somewhere in the bedroom of "sin"! This confines them and it becomes one piece of artwork.

PS. who gets to decide what a sin is? is judging someone a sin?

First off AJ, You should keep you stupid opinions to yourself!
Rachel, I agree with the idea of finding a bunch of letters to incorporate his name as well. Then you can strategically place them around the house. I'm a huge fan of letters, words and quotes so maybe find a bunch of letters and use some of the R's in a fun quote. That way everytime you looked at it you could still secretly know they are devoted to your first name. Also depending on the material you could put them onto blocks, make bookends, or coasters with them so you are still using them. This may be a stupid idea depending on what they are made of, but from the picture I can't tell if they are flat or wooden or plastic, but either way you could mount them to some cheap board and have fun little coasters of your first initial. Also, you could put them all in a frame and make a cool collage/ piece of art with them. Here's just a few ideas I had. Good Luck.

Why is the solution to acquire even more letters when the original question was to make the existing collection more unobtrusive?

Just pick a place to put one of your letters, store the rest and rotate the display.

Rachel, I'd keep the set together. If you're worried about the R's seeming to overpower his things, placing them here and there seems like the bigger statement -- like you're sneakily trying to put your stamp on the decor -- than grouping them somewhere unobtrusive like a bedroom or office.

I love the suggestion above to start a collection for his name, too. You could mount them on the wall above your sinful headboard ;)

aj, look up the "money, religion, and politics" rule. If that doesn't convince you, then how about the good old "judge not lest ye be judged."

Start dating a guy named Richard.

Have no idea what kind of spaces you have...but I would find a way to use them in a linear fashion. For example, if I had a blank wall, I would put them next to each other to form a chair rail. You could start a collection for your boyfriend and do a chair rail for him, too. Or maybe paint a piece of wood with that green chalkboard paint and white lines and make it look like one of those old classroom examples of how to write the alphabet - only it would be all different Rs. You could maybe do that along the top of a room near the ceiling (if they are low enough) though the green might be a weird color to work into decor.

Or, maybe have them all suspended together in a flat sheet of acrylic sized to fit on a side table. Then, they aren't "in your face" but are a happy little surprise when you look at your table. Maybe do one for either side of the bed...one with his initial and one with yours. Of course that means no more adding to that particular collection. But if you go tired of it being part of an end or side side table, you could then hang it on the wall.

Or, if nothing works for you, you could just find a boyfriend who has a name that starts with R! ;-)

If it were me, I would buy a bunch of shadow boxes or deep frames - 1 per 'R' - all the same size. This way all the items take up the same amount of visual space, then hang them in a row, grid or column wherever you choose. Framing them will make them seem more cohesive.

These could be great reconfigured as a mobile! It would be easy to make inexpensively with some clear fishing wire and some repurposed wire hangers. Then the Rs would still be out and visible, but condensed in one area of visual interest. And you could also keep adding to them as you find more, without overwhelming your entire shared space.

Dear aj---Rachel doesn't live in sin, she lives in San Francisco. Also, what mightymanda said.

Get some of his first initial like everyone else said, and some ampersand signs, and combine them together.

I like the idea of framing them all in the same sized frame. The 9-inch square white Ribba frames at ikea would probably look great and be affordable. For smaller ones, you could even put more than one in a frame. I would keep the installation in a nice tidy grid. And, don't forget to buy some extra frames to add more rows in the future!

I'm with those who said to spread 'em around. Grouping them all together makes a strong statement, which is good if you want a collection to be a focal point. Spreading them around is much more subtle. I've done this with my collection of little cat figurines - grouped together it leans into crazy cat lady territory, but one little cat on the dresser, one on the bathroom counter, a few on a shelf in the dining room, and they're just cute little accents.

i'm not sure why folks seem obsessed with having you start a second collection of letters for his name. it's your collection: display it. if he has a collection or interest: display it. you don't need matching collections.

sigh.

i would keep your collection together, and not sprinkle R's around the house like angel dust. it would turn your collection into clutter. and as anybody who's read the comments on this site knows, clutter = evil. lol.

You could get rid of them one by one by putting on a raincoat, stashing one of the Rs in an inside pocket and going up to people in the street and saying "Psst, wanna buy an R?"

If I were Rachel, I'd put one or two of my favourites in a personal area (i.e. my side of the bed) and store the rest until I had my own office inside or outside my home. Then they'd be great office decor.

I have an F collection. In fact, I have one of your Rs but as an F :) Here is what I do: Sometimes they are grouped together. Sometimes they are sprinkled around the house. Sometimes they are in a box. In other words, don't feel like you have to pick a display mode and stick to it forever. Do whatever you feel like doing with them at the moment.

Don't shack up! Today it's your beloved "R" collection, tomorrow you'll realize you don't even have a square foot that's truly yours. You'll have enough time to be stuck living with a man once you're married... enjoy living on your own and paint a giant R right on your biggest wall!

I think it really depends on how many R's you have/want to display and how strongly your boyfriend objects to them as part of your shared decor. Part of merging your stuff together is discovering a way to create an environment you can both call "home." Whether that means you keep slippers at your bedside, a throw rug on the back of the couch, or have a ball cap rack on the backside of your bedroom door, through discussion and compromise you'll (hopefully) figure it out.

That said...

I like the idea previously mentioned about interspersing them around the house. I think it makes the collection seem less like a collection and more part of your decor. If you've got more than, say, 10, this isn't really a great idea unless you're willing to box a few and rotate those on display. Or maybe take a few to work and place some on your desk/walls, if that's an option.

If you have a spare bedroom or dedicated office, I don't see anything obtrusive about displaying them in collection-form (shadow box, hung on the wall, etc.). These areas are generally for stayover guests or your personal use, so your boyfriend might not mind it as much.

I don't know what material your Rs are made of, but maybe you could use them to form a piece of artwork or perhaps glued to a table top. You could buy the letter representing your boyfriend's name, glue one of his and yours onto a picture frame and frame a favorite photo of you two for the house. In this regard, you're keeping them, but using them differently...which is cool if you don't care about keeping them in their original form.

Good luck!

Instead of one frame per letter, I would try to fit all the Rs into one big shadow box frame, if the size of your collection allows it. Don't start another collection for him.

idontdobeige: that was funny!

Why is it silly to have your Rs just b/c you live with your man? I like the idea of you keeping your little wall of Rs and him kicking back on the sofa admiring them with you. No biggie, I wouldn't think. But otherwise, do what Patrick (the other one) said. :^D

Yeah, my bf has a wooden sign with his name carved onto it in the living room over the door. His grandfather made it for him. Nobody even noticed it during the housewarming party. It's important to him, and it makes sense in the living room since his desk is in here. We know we both live here.

That said, I have a very sentimental collection that I keep in a shadow box mounted to the inside of my closet. When I'm feeling low, or whenever my eye catches it in the morning, I feel like I'm a little kid again. Collections that are close to the heart don't have to be on display.

Somehow, the words "collection" and "unobtrusive" are mutually exclusive to me. I say proudly show your R's "en masse" !

I'm opposed to collecting in general, and collections about the "me" in specific. Sure, we all have keepsakes that we hang on to, but it always seems a little wrong when they are about a person (Rs for Rachel) rather than a person's interests (say, if Rachel liked typography)

It's sort of like having your highschool sports trophies displayed.

If I had any highschool sports trophies, I'd totally display them!

Don't lose a part of yourself because of a new bf....keep your 'Rs' and continue to enjoy! ;)

Just buy a "G" and stick it in front of your "Rs"

Then you'll have Grrrrrrrrrr

throw in an A, a G, and an H and then you'll have

Arrrrrrrrrrrgh

You can know that your Rs are there, and enjoy them, but they'll be cheeky, not self-centered.

My comment was meant as friendly advice, not judgement. But I realize it was out of place here. I apologize. I didn't see anything about religion in AT's comment policy, but some of my vitriolic critics should note that it does mention "gratuituous meanness." We can be civil in our disagreements.

I agree about displaying them anyway. I'm sure he won't mind! Where do you even find R's like that? I love the whole idea of this.