All relationships involve compromise, especially when it comes to decorating. For example, when I heard "trophies," I always thought of the wall of horseback riding statuettes my mother diligently dusted until the day I went to college, when they all went in the trash. At least, that's what I thought when I heard "trophies," until the day my father showed up with a freaking kudu.
A kudu is an enormous African antelope. And this wasn't just any kudu, it was a world-record-size giant kudu with twisty horns taller than a toddler — my father killed it on safari and while most of it was eaten, he came back with the hide, horns, and intent to make it a souvenir.
"WTF?" said my mother. "You can't bring that thing in the house! We'll look like crazy people!"
All relationships involve compromise — the kudu itself was a compromise when my mother realized that she couldn't stop my father from shooting something, so she used her spousal veto to prevent him from shooting anything that looked like a pony or a kitty (no zebras and no cats, basically) — but she wasn't expecting him to bring home a 20-foot deer carcass as a souvenir. He'd have to compromise.
"How about just the front quarter? It can be walking out of the wall," he said.
"Think smaller."
"Just the horns?"
I thought the horns should be mounted on my father's chair in the dining room like something out of Game of Thrones, but nobody ever listens to me. Instead the horns were put behind one of the couches in my parents' living room. It doesn't look so bad, and compared to the initial "kudu emerges from the condo wall" idea, the effect is downright subtle.
Kids of course love their trophies, but where does one draw the line at adults displaying their trophies prominently in the house? Only if it's an Oscar? A little gold football trophy? A thousand little gold football trophies? A 20-foot kudu?
It's probably somewhere before the kudu.
(Image: Elizabeth Licata)
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At least the kudu horns are visually interesting. I don't think they look so bad - especially compared to the alternative.
My husband had about 40 motorcycling trophies (most of them 1st place, no less!) that he accumulated between the ages of 7 and 10. They traveled with him across the country during several moves over many years. Needless to say, he was fairly attached to them.
When we decided to build our first house, I had "the talk" with him, and he decided to keep one of his favorites and break down the rest. He wants to do something creative with the marble pieces (I actually submitted a Good Question for this, but it didn't get published), but we haven't nailed that down yet.
I am the type of person who does not place much emotional attachment to trophies - the act that earned the trophy is more important as a memory. In fact, I'd rather just get a high-five or a bottle of wine in recognition for my achievements rather than a dust collector. However, some people really are emotionally connected to their trophies, so it can definitely be a challenge to figure out what to do with them.
I am fond of taxidermy, so I would have been thrilled to have that Kudu! I keep trying to talk my husband into letting me get a piece that could be mounted on either side of a wall, one going in, one coming out.
The other kind of trophy is harder for me. I have a boatload of baton twirling trophies from when I was younger. I plan to sort them at the 'rents, and only keep a couple of really special ones, but I am not sure what to do with them.
At least he ate most of it first. My FIL just spent probably $60k on an African 'safari', for the sole purpose of turning the 6 animals he killed into trophies (which is where a huge chunk of that cost went) and I doubt he ate any of them. He's now trying to talk my loving husband, who has never shown any inclination of wanting to hunt ever in his life, into saving $10k so he can go with him next time.....
I actually don't mind animal trophies, probably because my father is a hunter and I've lived with them forever. I like the look of bones, but I'd never kill an animal for the purpose of mounting it to a wall. Wasteful.
I'm with delightfullyhostile. I don't kill things, but grew up in a hunting family and there have always been deer and antelope on the walls, but they all were eaten too, which is not a wasteful way to hunt. I like the look of bones too, (even better if they're painted metallic!), and those kudu antlers are twisty and cool.
Trophies that represent the killing for sport of magnificent animals are best kept in rooms out of general view. Like, the closet.
The kudu horns are pretty fantastic. I mean, at least he ate the kudu. I love animals and I am all about wildlife conservation, but I think people should be free to hunt as long as what they are hunting is allowed to be hunted. I dislike wastefulness with hunting so I hope they are at least eating what they kill. And certainly, if you are into hunting, you're free to display your trophies however you choose. Of course it might offend some people or make them uncomfortable, so you should be aware of it and be considerate. And of course, when you share a home with others, you should share the space equally and it shouldn't be dominated by one person's style or taste.
I fully disagree that things you enjoy, if they happen to involve animal trophies, should be "kept in rooms out of view."
QUOTE: where does one draw the line at adults displaying their trophies prominently in the house?
At puberty. (said only half in jest as I pick myself up off the floor - roflmbo - been there). Actually, these antlers make quite the statement, a work of art. I say this not being able to see how, exactly, they are mounted/displayed which may or may nor render a different opinion.
To those of you have dozens of trophies which you are unwilling or unable to part with, google it. Lots of ideas out there. None of which appeal to me, btw, but the least offensive is
unscrewing the figures from the the trophy & mounting them on the wall (or a board attached to the wall) & re-purposing them as coat hooks in a mudroom/floyer/entry area. Not an ideal solution perhaps....but keep in mind....spray paint is your friend.
My dad actually came home with the exact same thing.... only it was mounted from the neck up to the antlers.
It terrified my friends every time they came over while I was growing up.....
Your parents' comprise I think is a much better option; if it has to be displayed, at least its subtle...
This is one of the best articles I've ever read on Apartment Therapy.
cannot believe they ignored your kudu-throne idea! (could have upholstered it with the hide) oh well, now i know what to do if i ever bag a kudu on safari haha
I think here is a wider point here that trophies (I mean awards/shields etc.) are so utterly hideous. Why? I think it's about time people started coughing up more attractive awards because it's really a nightmare, very few people seem to want them on display but not many people can just chuck them away either, so you end up with these dust gathering boxes of tat hanging around for years on end taking up loads of space. Then, even if you do manage to get rid of them (I suggest in the night if you have an reluctant spouse), you can't donate them anywhere cause they've got your name on them and no one wants them anyway so they just have to go straight to landfill. It seems a bit of a waste to me. I think certificates are better: if you want them, frame them, if you don't, recycle them. Simple.
On the subject of 'hunting trophies', you couldn't pay me to have one in my house. They're vile, as is the practice of going on a so called 'safari' to pay to kill exotic animals that are in an enclosure for your convenience. As Louis Theroux said in his documentary on the subject, 'it's like playing tennis without a net'. Quite.
With trophies that are the plastic and marble kind, the placard with your achievement or name is usually on with doublestick tape - I took a picture of each of my trophies, then pried off the placard and added those to a shadow box. Then I took the rest of the trophy to a trophy store, which most of them will help you recycle though. So not a lot of waste when you are done.
As to display, I always intended the shadow box to be up on the wall with my college degree. Nah. Both are just in a box under a chair, never really had a place to display them.
I used to have a bunch of triathlon trophies that I kept in the garage with my bikes. When I got divorced and moved, I tossed them all out. I quit picking them up after that. I would much rather display photos I have taken.
My sisters husband has fish, ducks and all kinds of dead animal stuff on the walls. She lets him do it. He also displays whatever he is currently collecting. It amazes me when I visit. Ugly!
You will be amazed how fast trophies sell at garage sales. Really.
This post cracked me up. My in-laws have a boar head they have been bickering over for forty years.
This one hits close to home for me, though the "problem" is a vast collection of my husband's fantasy football trophies. It's one of his favorite hobbies, and it wouldn't even cross my mind to ask him to quit, but he is so.good. My request to spray paint them hot pink was, not surprisingly, denied. Slowly I'm getting used to them, trying to tell myself that the coffee table books, vessels, and other accessories I've placed around our home may very well irk him in the same way. It may not be perfect, but compromise and the sense of belonging in your space is more important than perfect.
Whoa Nelly, apologies for the reckless bolding. :)
My grandfather used to have a bunch of mounted deer heads, boars, fish, etc (including the rack of a deceased pet deer). My grandparents kept them in one room of their house, the original cabin that they had later built their house around. You would never know they were down there if you spent time in the rest of the house.
After my grandfather passed away, my grandmother moved into a smaller house and incorporated all the animals into a jungle-themed basement (and the boars head went to my cousin's bachelor pad). I was supposed to paint a painting for that basement and never finished it, so she put up an empty frame and said I'd painted a snow leopard in a blizzard. But then my grandma accumulated a huge jungle animal themed collection (because friends and family tend to love to buy you pieces for a collection, I've noticed) which was basically all given away when she moved into assisted living. It worked for her, and for my grandpa, but not for the rest of us (that one cousin's wife got rid of the boars head). And we all loved them for it.
My boyfriend and I have a collection of vinyl pop culture figurines and action figures that would probably drive grandpa crazy. To each their own, I say. Also love this post and the comment section--I hadn't thought about those animal heads in years.
It really just looks like there is a kudu hiding behind the couch; I like it.
I like the kudu hiding behind the couch too.
My husband has a jujitsu trophy that he won at his first competition a couple of years ago. We display it in the living room in a cabinet with a lot of different little sculptures, statues, etc, in front of books. Doesn't look so bad, I don't think...