10 Look-at-Me Ways to Show Off Your Collectibles

Collections can be weird, wonderful and as individual as you are, but if no one gets to see them, the process of adding to them is not nearly so much fun. Showcase your fabulous finds in their best light with a nifty display idea that’s sure to get people talking.

1. Transform an entrance. Make your collection a feature to be admired the minute you walk in the door.

Limiting the collection to the confines of the wall space above a hall table or cabinet is an effective way to show it off. Just about anything that can be wall mounted is suitable, such as the collection of mirrors here, and if you keep other display items to a minimum, your collection will be the star attraction.

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2. Look for little-used spaces. What better place for a hat collection than on a shelf above a doorway? These hats not only add character to the room, they’re also easy to grab on the way out.


3. Cover an entire wall. If you have an art collection that keeps growing, go all out on one expanse of wall and make a gallery out of it. Keep the other walls relatively plain to balance out the room.

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4. Light up a glass cabinet. These gorgeous shell lamps create a lovely look for this glass display case, but the same could be true for many collections. Use lighting to showcase your collection — stick-on LEDs can help to show a collection in its best light.

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5. Think outside the square. These weather vanes are more than worthy of display, but mounting them on a wall could at first seem like quite a feat. Where there’s a will, there’s a way with most collections, though. Sturdy brackets or hooks could be all you need to mount your fabulous finds in a spot in need of a little extra personality. Positioning the animals so they’re facing inward helps to define the grouping and tell a story.


6. Install floating shelves. Floating shelves like these are inexpensive and easy to install. Use symmetry to align the shelves with one another as well as with the other elements of the room, then add your display items as haphazardly as you like.

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7. Make the most of your mantelpiece. Mantelpieces are the perfect place for a smallish collection and can give your living room a real focal point.

The pieces in this vintage pottery collection have been beautifully arranged by height around the feather hat above.

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8. Don’t forget about your bathroom. Shallow shelves inset into the wall could be just the thing for a collection, and the bathroom could be an ideal place to put it. These bottles are filled with sand collected from travels all over the world. What could you display to bring back memories of your globetrotting adventures?

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9. Emphasize unity. If your collectibles can be framed, keep every frame the same to draw attention to what’s inside rather than the frames themselves. The same goes for collectibles, such as these dried leaves mounted on paper. Their uniform backings turn the many individual pieces into a pleasing whole.

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10. Add one special shelf. Instead of hanging artwork on that empty wall over the couch, why not install a shelf for a display that’s easy to change on a whim? Just about anything could work on a shelf like this — just make sure it’s high enough that the tallest family members or friends won’t give themselves a concussion trying to sit down.

What do you collect? Please share your display ideas in the Comments section below.

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