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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;User 67, post: 18605, member: 67&quot;]At the risk of insulting someone, I did offer decorating advice. Decor is one of my passions. And I thought that somewhere in the thread someone made a comment like &quot;what to do with all this stuff?&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>There are many reasons why people collect and why we hoard; some of those reasons, to be honest, are not so pretty. Like the little poor boy who grew up to make it big in real estate and is now out to collect every single toy that his parents could never afford to buy him. There is the historian fascinated with the stories contained in even the most mundane object. And there is the connoisseur, the person who admires the rare beauty found in objects made in a different time or by hand. As a collector, you can be a bit of all three.</p><p><br /></p><p>You become a hoarder, I believe, when the collection starts dictating to you, what you can and can&#039;t do, rather than the other way around. When a hoarder has limitless resources, and fine objects, they are perceived as eccentric, but when the person has no place to hang a winter coat because the hall closet is filled to the ceiling with boxes of buttons -people begin to scratch their collective heads.</p><p><br /></p><p>I was never truly happy with a collection displayed like the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London, the type of thing you often see overpowering the toy and doll collectors every nook and cranny, it&#039;s too in your face and revealing. I also don&#039;t want to live in a museum or worse yet, a laboratory with specimens splayed out on stainless steel tables and in porcelain drawered cabinets.</p><p><br /></p><p>One day when I had a couple of friends stop by and offered them coffee in the living room, it quickly became apparent there wasn&#039;t a place for them to set their cups. The collection was dictating to me -&quot;thou shalt not have company&quot;. And I decided to make a change.</p><p><br /></p><p>I looked at all the reasons why I collect and more importantly, what is it that my collection gives to me? (I mean, if you are going to be a slave, at least you should be fed). It should come as no surprise that my main motivation is the beauty of the objects, though I certainly have a curatorial bent. That is not to say that I am better than the hoarder or mad scientist amongst collectors, I just appreciate a different value in collecting.</p><p><br /></p><p>If your collection fills a hole in your heart, buy all means, pack it in. If you see yourself as an amateur historian, create didactic shelves of objects and scatter your work on every elbow resting place.</p><p><br /></p><p>Speaking for myself, I can&#039;t live in a museum, lab or storage locker. It would drive me crazy. But I have always been fascinated by rooms with displays that blend all aspects of collecting without ignoring esthetics. I am thinking of the Victorian curiosity cabinet, or the 18th century private office and the country house library.</p><p><br /></p><p>No, you should not be concerned, nor feel like you need to impress anyone, when you are completely uninterested with esthetics -because you derive other satisfaction from your collection. And likewise you also don&#039;t need to thump your chest and proclaim that you are not trying to impress anybody (because that should be obvious).</p><p><br /></p><p>I thought that the photos that s_i_s shared offered a great example for me to comment on my decorating esthetics. In no way was it meant as a personal critique.</p><p><br /></p><p>In the past, many friends have asked me for my opinion on arranging their collections and organizing their cluttered homes. Acting as a decorator (as apposed to an interior designer), it is important to look at the needs of the person. If that person see&#039;s their collection as an on going history project, or if they derive great comfort from the massive display, like being wrapped in a heavy quilt, then I would never dream of imposing my esthetics. But there are some, who like me, want to highlight the beauty of the objects and don&#039;t see doing so as fashion or illusion. So, to s_i_s, and others who are more concerned with having everything within reach, or have a passion for furnishings that are out of style, I say more power to you, and I have always told folks who question an out of style treasure in my home, &quot;if I wait long enough, it will come back in style again&quot;.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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