apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I mean it's cute, but not over the bed. Maybe in a passage way or a den.

frame a few of them individually and hang them in a hallway or an adjacent wall. definitely not over the bed... Obviously you would only be able to frame the ones you don't wear often, though i don't think you would want your decor being all about ties. If you want to be able to wear those ties you could buy the types of frames that open on hinges from the front.

I'd thin down your tie collection a bit. If you insist on keeping them, either roll them up and put them somewhere, or cut them up and use them for some other project.

I finished a project in March in which I wore a different tie every day for a year. Besides the obvious difficulties with the project, the larger issue became about what to do with the ties after the project was over. I, like you, have a lot of ties that I like the aesthetically, but not to wear. In my local hardware store I found some long, very thin towel rods, hung the high on my walls, but with enough room to hang hats above them. I then organized my ties in different groups: solid ties, striped ties, knits, narrow ties, etc. After that I organized the subsets by color and hung them up. I, of course, don't have enough room for all the ties, but it creates a very interesting dynamic in the room that everyone seems to really like. A besides that, it gave me a nice outlet for my OCD tie organizing tendencies.

Could you use them like fabric scraps and make pillow covers, place mats, etc. out of them?

I actually kind of like them over the bed. Maybe some nicer racks would help, but I like the idea of them as a visual headboard of sorts. that said, there need to be other strong design statements in the room so the aesthetics look intentional and not just like you ran out of closet space. some nice statement lamps, (I'd go with matching, and bolder than those pictured here), flanking the bed and other art on the other walls, (I would love to bring out the bright orange of that tie on the middle bottom), would help balance it so it's not all about the ties.

Maybe fold them up in small rectangles, and put them behind a frame? You can really play up with the colors, making a design out of your display.

Ties are unhygienic, better to hang them on a wall than wear them

If I were you, I would separate them into piles of ties you actually wear and ties you love, but don't wear. Weave the ones you're not wearing into a frame (like a trellis or something) to create a large piece of artwork.

that photo not only looks horrible, but it's also terrible for the ties. you can't leave them knotted like that or they'll ruin the shape of the tie.

while i have maybe two dozen ties that i wear on a regular basis, i couldn't imagine 'dozens upon dozens'. why? if you don't wear them, why keep them? i'm sorry, displaying ties even in a frame seems extremely tacky. i'd love to see examples to prove me wrong.

if your closet's too full to fit them even on a tie hanger and you don't have space in a dresser with them rolled up, get rid of some!

Matt, the photo above is of clip on ties. That's why they're knotted.

I say take some close-to-life-sized pictures of yourself, or someone else, or even an animal, frame them, and secure a tie around the "neck" of each picture. A vignette of them would look neat in a hallway or above a sofa.

I've seen old silk ties made into handsome cushion covers and quilts.

I think hanging your ties up on a wall will look awful and tacky. It will look like a department store display. You might as well put up some manequins wearing swim trunks and Hawaiian print shirts.

I agree with those that say sort your ties into those you actually wear and those you don't, put the ties you wear in the closet where they belong, and do something arty with the rest of them.

I love ties! When I was in art school I had a strange obsession with them. The texture, the pattern, the symbolism.

I think you can display them, but you would have to be very selective about how you do it. It is a complete hit or miss, love or hate situation.

I would love to see them as a graphic installation on a wall. All the way up to the ceiling and don to the floor. Impeccable spacing and alignment would be a must. Perhaps many many chrome coat hooks aligned in a grid?

I would say go to some incredibly expensive mens clothing stores and check out how they display ties. You may find some interesting ideas.

Sort them into ones you wear and the rest, then roll the rest up and display them packed together in a shadow box.

Hmm, i like this in a hallway, might actually DO this in our hallway.... my husband also collects ties, and i often help him do it. I'm picturing something with a dowel, and i like the idea of hat storage above (hmm, do all tie collectors, also collect hats?).

i have a pretty big tie collection myself, what I did to display them was drape them over curtain rods. Make em into curtains. I didnt sew them, because I may want to wear them sometime soon!!!