More ideas for your Collected Home Journey

We’ve been examining The Collected Home movement for over a year here on my blog and it has even infiltrated many articles that didn’t devout their entire content to the series. So much of the idea of the movement is to lead by inspiration, which means that most of the shopping and gathering and assembling is an organic process that can only be done by you. Only you will know if it speaks to your soul. My goal is to empower you to listen and hear it when it makes noise. I weighed how to best give some more detailed advice on how to put it all together. Let’s start by analyzing a few gatherings that could lead to a collection in your home.

First of all it is important to recognize that some collections will look like this:

(Uniform, one central item, dedicated display area, contained, neat. Martha Stewart is a pro at collecting in the most organized and visually pleasing way that emulates this concept)

While others will look like this:

(Random, mismatched, spilling out of many areas, beautiful chaos)

Now neither of these are examples of possessions displayed in an actual home, they are both from a retail environment. But since we are currently deriving most of our inspiration from these venues as we shop, it makes sense these would work as a relatable reference point.

I also searched back to all the beautifully staged homes the designer did for Parades and Showcases when I worked in new construction. I realized that the simplicity of that style of decorating doesn’t reflect this more maximized movement, as the collected home movement is more about layering and adding as you go.

For example:

This is a shelf with great visual appeal. The three items are all doing what they should-

• The arrows in the art are adding height and bringing your eye up and down
• The round wood item is giving you a focal point with some mass and a great warm color
• The plant is slightly shorter than the other two items but big enough to balance the middle object, the greenery adds a much needed organic element, the white ceramic compliments the warm wood

All the shelf needs now is to be a touch more personalized from the owner. Consider layering in a small framed picture of a family member or a favorite place.

Or a kitschy item you like to collect like a vintage thermos or a ceramic duck head.

Keep the scale in mind. If you add a small brass or ceramic piece make sure it is 1/3 the size of the other two items currently on the shelf and place it in front of the arrow art or next to your small framed picture. If you add a tall thin item like a thermos, add this behind the plant or to the left of the arrow picture so that it either balances the height of the whole shelf or anchors one end of the shelf with a slight graduation from tallest to shortest.

Another example of a shelf that is perfect for a minimalist but could stand to be maximized:

I love the glass jar full of bound typewritten pages and the abacus, these items give us the head start to a very romantic and nostalgic feeling.

Overtime I would probably start to fill the jar with tags and other photos.

Another way to adorn the shelf would be add in layers of black and white art, a little tree or a swag of wooden beads.

Again- the goal of The Collected Home Series is to inspire. Perhaps there is an idea that starts to form, an unusual shape, a color story, an item you also own that you didn’t know how to display.

Which is why I will leave you here with a few other maximum displays in the making:

I started this writing by expressing how you need to find the items that speak to your soul. My goal is to empower you to listen and hear it when it makes noise.

It might not be loud.

It might only be a whisper.

But sometimes, if you’re really ready to hear it, it will sound like singing.