Examples shown above, left to right:
1. This silk-screened print, entitled “The Fall” (Nov 2009) by Dan McCarthy is coupled with a dinosaur toy that was a memento from a childhood trip to the La Brea Tar Pits. Pairing the print with the plastic figurine draws attention to the very subtle depiction of dinosaurs running in the woods on the print.
2. I have always been a collector of porcelain deer and horse figurines and was delighted to find that my obsession is shared with Shauna & Stephen of Something’s Hiding in Here. I paired the little animals with modern Polaroid artwork to create a woodland corner in the kitchen.
3. This robin’s egg blue sewing machine was my first foray into fiber arts as a preteen. My current business is centered around Do-It-Yourself crafts as modern art, and I proudly display my first piece of crafting equipment in my living room, as a homage to my chosen profession, and the journey I took to get there. The blue pops within the white background, and creates a magnificent conversation piece.
4. Like most interior designers, I would avoid displaying a stuffed animal in an adult’s room, but this cluster of bedroom art pieces includes a framed photograph of my childhood best friend, Snoopy the little beige dog. The contrast between a brocade black and white frame, combined with a grouping of other eclectic art pieces brings a childhood nostalgia into every day life, without having to drag out boxes of toys or displaying the actual item.
5. Although I did not photograph this room, it illustrates perfectly the elegant design of a childhood favorite. By placing children’s book illustrations in streamlined frames, graphically framed, a kid’s story becomes an example of modern, expressionist art.
-Andie
Images: 1, 2, 3,4 - Andie Wurster, 5 - Kate Wangsgard
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So...where's Snoopy the dog now? I mean, I get that we all get older and stuffed animals wouldn't be displayed, but I hope Snoopy is still treasured somewhere in the house.
I actually have a ninja turtle hanging off the bottom of a wall mounted TV in my room and it puts a smile on my face.
I have my Breyer horse collection displayed around our house. You can see some of them in the Our House section of our blog.
In my home office, I have a small collection of Steiff bears and a few Russian dolls (from a collection that I mostly passed on to a grandniece). Enough without being overbearing.
Oh, yay! Another reader with Breyer horses! Thanks for the ideas, HernandoHouse! I'll have to use these...
I definitely have an Oscar the Grouch in the entryway of my bedroom. He used to live near my grandmother's front door, with a bunch of other figures to play with. But Oscar was always off-limits. He guarded her house, and then her apartment and now, after she died, he stands guard over me. I love having Oscar around.
I couldn't get myself to carve up my favourite childhood book so I just framed the entire thing. It's the picture of the girl sitting in the chair: http://ploefff.wordpress.com/2010/12/20/i-glas-og-ramme/
I made some string art from a kit. I need to retrieve that from my mom's house!
@ploefff I love your framed Lille Mor book! Not only did you save the book, but the 3D effect is nice.
Andie arranges these playful items in such a purposeful, grown-up sort of way that they are suddenly seriously chic!
I have Breyer horses! Misty of Chincoteague will always have a place in my home, along with my stuffed gingerbread man (who is now in a glass box with an old photo so he looks like a collectible, not a toy), and my Snoopy thermos. I am too sentimental to be modern.
I still have my dingy Snoopy with his floppy neck. My friend's little girl always goes looking for him when she visits. I have one horse (with broken tail) set amid my plants.
I love it! I have all these sorts of things stashed away and never know what to do with them; even though I still love them its hard to figure out how to display them in a grown-up way... right now I'm using wooden clogs my dad brought me from a trip to Holland as bookends. :)
ah i loved the idea of the framed photo of the stuffed animal that was a cherished childhood friend <3
This is a pretty amazing idea! I have so many sweet action figures form when I was a kid (and a few I've bought recently!). This could be a great way to display them, I've always wanted to do something more than just have them tucked away on a shelf in the basement. Now to convince the girlfriend...
My late mother had several antique dolls, 2 small stuffed Dachshunds in an antique ladderback chair she once had and they all made a nice little tableau.
I think it isn't so much what the object is being displayed, but how you display it, if you have a steiff bear, an allegator that is maide out of a groovy paisley fabric, then use it with other like kind in a chair as a tableau will work, and bring that bit of the child into the room, while retaining adult sensibilities, but by themselves, yeah, stuffed animals may not work so well in an adult room.