Skip to content

Top Navigation

Martha Stewart Martha Stewart
  • FOOD
  • HOLIDAYS
  • ENTERTAINING
  • HOME
  • GARDENING
  • CLEANING & ORGANIZING
  • WEDDINGS
  • SHOP
  • DIY
  • BEAUTY & WELLNESS
  • LIFE
  • NEWS
  • MARTHA'S BLOG
  • About Us

Profile Menu

Martha's Blog
Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Contact Us
  • Your Content
  • Logout

More

  • Enter to Win $10,000 to Makeover Your Home!
  • Martha's Blog
  • Weddings
Login
Pin FB

Explore Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart Martha Stewart
  • Explore

    Explore

    • 7 Things to Do in the Morning to Be Healthier and More Productive

      7 Things to Do in the Morning to Be Healthier and More Productive

      Kick-start your day by making habits out of these mood-boosting tips. Read More
    • Should You Refrigerate Bananas?

      Should You Refrigerate Bananas?

      It's one of your favorite fruits, but does it belong on the counter or in the refrigerator? Read More
    • This 3-Ingredient Homemade Weed Killer Uses Vinegar to Safely Remove Pesky Growths from Your Garden

      This 3-Ingredient Homemade Weed Killer Uses Vinegar to Safely Remove Pesky Growths from Your Garden

      A few easy-to-find ingredients are all you need to create a powerful formula that squashes weeds. Read More
  • FOOD

    FOOD

    See All FOOD
    Our 20 Most Popular Recipes for Summer

    Our 20 Most Popular Recipes for Summer

    • Breakfast & Brunch Recipes
    • Lunch Recipes
    • Dinner Recipes
    • Appetizers & Snacks
    • Dessert Recipes
    • Drink Recipes
    • Salad Recipes
    • Side Dishes
    • Soup Recipes
    • Healthy Recipes
    • Quick & Easy Recipes
    • Vegetarian Recipes
    • Cooking How-Tos
    • Baking
    • Menu Planning
    • Food News & Trends
    • Wine
    • Mastering the Holiday Meal
    • What's for Dinner
    • All Recipes
  • HOLIDAYS

    HOLIDAYS

    See All HOLIDAYS
    The Most Patriotic Flowers for the Fourth of July, According to Symbolism

    The Most Patriotic Flowers for the Fourth of July, According to Symbolism

    Show your love of country by displaying these varieties on America's birthday.
    • Father's Day
    • Fourth of July
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Hanukkah
    • Christmas
    • New Year's Eve
    • Valentine's Day
    • St. Patricks Day
    • Passover
    • Easter
    • Mother's Day
  • ENTERTAINING

    ENTERTAINING

    See All ENTERTAINING
    How to Start Entertaining Friends and Family More Regularly

    How to Start Entertaining Friends and Family More Regularly

    Make gathering with loved ones a priority.
    • Seasonal Entertaining & Decorating
    • Baby Shower Ideas
    • Dinner Party Ideas
    • You're Invited
  • HOME

    HOME

    See All HOME
    We're Putting Up Walls Again—Is the Open Floor Plan on Its Way Out?

    We're Putting Up Walls Again—Is the Open Floor Plan on Its Way Out?

    We asked the experts to weigh in on this popular home design concept.
    • Home Design & Decor
    • Paint Colors & Palettes
    • DIY Home Projects
    • The Well-Kept Home
  • GARDENING

    GARDENING

    See All GARDENING
    A Month-by-Month Hydrangea Care Guide

    A Month-by-Month Hydrangea Care Guide

    Confused about when to do what to your favorite flowering shrubs? We have you covered.
    • Container Gardening
    • Flower Gardens
    • Houseplants
    • Landscaping
    • Vegetable Gardens
  • CLEANING & ORGANIZING

    CLEANING & ORGANIZING

    How to Wash Pillows

    How to Wash Pillows

    They're an essential element of a comfortable bed, so keep yours fresh and in their best shape ever with these expert-approved tips.
    • Cleaning
    • Storage & Organization
    • Laundry & Linens
  • WEDDINGS

    WEDDINGS

    See All WEDDINGS
    Who Pays for What for the Wedding?

    Who Pays for What for the Wedding?

    Get the traditional rules for who pays for the wedding details.
    • Real Weddings
    • Wedding Party
    • Wedding Planning & Advice
    • Wedding Ceremony & Reception
    • Wedding Jewelry
    • Dresses & Style
    • Wedding Beauty & Wellness
    • Wedding Registry
    • Wedding Showers & Parties
    • Love & Marriage
    • Wedding Travel
  • SHOP
  • DIY

    DIY

    See All DIY
    How to Melt and Reuse the Leftover Wax from Candles

    How to Melt and Reuse the Leftover Wax from Candles

    Our easy melt-and-pour method saves the last bit of this home essential.
    • Dyeing
    • Holiday Crafts
    • Kids' Crafts
    • Knitting
    • Paper Crafts
    • Sewing
    • Rescue & Revamp
  • BEAUTY & WELLNESS

    BEAUTY & WELLNESS

    Can Rice Water Really Encourage Hair Growth?

    Can Rice Water Really Encourage Hair Growth?

    This buzzy ingredient is a star player in many new-age hair care products.
    • Beauty
    • Health & Wellness
    • Live Well
  • LIFE

    LIFE

    See All LIFE
    • Family
    • Pets
    • Travel
    • Net Worth
  • NEWS
  • MARTHA'S BLOG
  • About Us

Profile Menu

Martha's Blog
Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Contact Us
  • Your Content
  • Logout

More

  • Enter to Win $10,000 to Makeover Your Home!
  • Martha's Blog
  • Weddings
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. marthastewart.com
  2. DIY Projects & Crafts
  3. How to Store and Organize All of Your Prized Collections

How to Store and Organize All of Your Prized Collections

July 11, 2019
Skip gallery slides
Pin
mld106745_0211_marthastewart35.jpg
Pieces of history can inspire great passion. Design your home to display any kind of collection—including vinyl records, figurines, jewelry, and vintage antiques.
Start Slideshow

1 of 9

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message
mld106745_0211_marthastewart35.jpg

There's perhaps no more astute collector than Martha herself. "When I finally got a house, I started to look at objects as things to gather," she remarked in the August 2012 issue of Living. "I'm still not a serious collector; I am more of an accumulator of things. And some of those things, such as brass, turn into collections. Who knew I would have enough someday to take a picture with?''

Those brass objects—including large trays, vases, lamps, and sconces—would be curated from her travels around the world. "I started collecting brass—I call it poor man's gold—when I bought Skylands, my house in Maine, 14 years ago," she said at the time. "There were some brass pieces in the house when I bought it, and they looked great in the light. So I continued the tradition of using brass there.''

Martha takes pride in her possessions and lets them shine on display: "I don't keep any of the brass pieces in storage. I use everything," she says. "The large trays are tables, and the smaller pieces are used as decoration or as flower containers." And this philosophy of living with collections applies to her numerous lifelong valuables—from 40 Christmas trees to Easter decorations, copper cookware, and jadeite dishware—by honoring their heirloom status. Similarly, collectors across the country have taken to her example by sharing their objets d'art—from quirky nostalgic toys to vintage clothing, colorful kitchenware, and framed prints.

Read ahead to learn how they unearth such treasures, and their genius ideas for living with them on walls, shelves, tabletop surfaces, and even as wearable heirlooms.

1 of 9

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 9

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Picture Frames

jeffrey-moss-portrait-mld108945.jpg
Credit: Jonny Valiant

The first thing you notice when walking into Jeffrey Moss's Chicago loft is the wall covered with old black-and-white portraits of farmers, bankers, cowboys, kids on ponies, aristocrats, sailors, and more. As a filmmaker and prop stylist for clients such as Pottery Barn and Target, Moss has unearthed these photographs at antiques stores across the country. Call it a habit—or a hazard of the job—one that developed into a serious passion. "I have thousands of pictures," he says. "Every antiques store has a box of pictures of who-knows-whose family members." Instead of letting vintage architectural models languish out of view on a shelf, he places them throughout his workroom, paying attention to how their shapes work with the furniture. "I have this way of composing that's based on geometry," he says.

  • How to Build a Killer Gallery Wall

2 of 9

3 of 9

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Hats

collecting-hats-md108629-0381.jpg
Credit: Peter Frank Edwards

After finishing her millinery course at the Fashion Institute of Technology, in New York City, Leigh Magar returned to her home state of South Carolina and opened a millinery shop, Magar Hatworks. A few years later, she received a gift of antique wooden hat forms from a passionate collector, and her own collection began. Magar displays her nearly 400 wooden forms on shelves in her showroom and in her studio, both of which are located in an 1825 house in a residential neighborhood of Charleston. Her favorite pieces include a rare matador's mold, shapes to make berets, and those for chic women's cocktail hats. "I just found a classic 1920s top-hat form," she says. "I am looking forward to trying it out for the fall collection for women—think Marlene Dietrich."

3 of 9

Advertisement

4 of 9

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Midcentury Kitchenware

mld106745_0211_lisacongdon50.jpg

Illustrator Lisa Congdon started the Collection a Day blog, in which she photographed her collections—vintage ephemera, school supplies, thread—every day for a year. But it's kitchenware that has an extra-special place in her home. "About 12 years ago, I found an orange plate," she recalls. "That was the gateway drug both to enamelware and plate collecting for me." The pieces are displayed on shelves in her kitchen, and even inspired a redesign: "The room was orange, but the colors on the enamelware weren't popping, so I painted it white," she explains. "I kind of ended up decorating my kitchen around my collection."

  • How to Pick the Perfect Paint Color

4 of 9

5 of 9

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Clothes

mld106745_0211_kennyvalenti42.jpg

Keni Valenti, a vintage clothing dealer who works between Miami and New York City always has room in his personal closet for one categorical item: men's Lilly Pulitzer clothing. "The first Lilly that I found was in a thrift shop in the '70s," he remembers. "But I mixed it with glam-rock clothes. I think it was a shirt with monkeys on it, and I wore it with red patent-leather pants." His philosophy? Wear what you love: "I think when you collect something, you should use it, so I wear it all. It's so mood lifting to see in my closet. These clothes make me laugh. They make me happy."

5 of 9

6 of 9

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Toys and Dollhouses

mld106745_0211_shauna_stephen19_merged.jpg

Good things often come in pairs: That's proved true for Shauna Alterio and Stephen Loidolt, the creative minds behind Something's Hiding Here, based in Philadelphia—and the tin dollhouses they collect. "I found one at a flea market and brought it home. A few weeks later, we saw another and grabbed it,'' Alterio says. ''If I see two things that are alike, I want to bring them together.''​ Their favorite finds date from the 1940s to the '60s and have that lived-in look: "We love a little wear and tear. Houses that feel too perfect don't have the same charm,'' Alterio says. At home, these child playthings are arranged in a small suburban neighborhoods of their own making: "We keep the houses lined up in a row on top of giant bookshelves and keep lights inside them so that at night it looks like a neighborhood," Alterio says.

6 of 9

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 9

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Books

mld106745_0211_joanpope19.jpg

Joan Pope, a product consultant at Fixed Point in New York City, fancies herself something of an armchair traveler: "The books reflect a wonderment about the world. But with their script, their colors, and their weathered look, I love them as much as objects as for reading." She collects travel books, many dating to the 19th century. "In the 1980s, I purchased a London A to Z, with all those detailed maps indexing each tiny street. I was hooked and started buying older books—some from 100 years before my feet took to the streets!" She keeps them in a healthy rotation of display on bookshelves and desktop surfaces. "I'll scan images from them to refer to in my work—I have several binders full. At my desk, I'll rotate the books so what I see is always changing."

7 of 9

8 of 9

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Sewing Patterns

mld106745_0211_katiehatch30.jpg

As a fashion designer at Harvey Faircloth, New York City, Katie Hatch covets a miscellany of fashion-forward articles: penny jewelry, watches with colorful faces, and patent-leather shoes in rainbow colors. One of her favorites? Vintage clothing patterns. "I started thinking of myself as a collector of patterns in college, but I really had been collecting them since I started sewing clothes, around eighth grade.'' Certain brand names catch her eye, but the innovative design is always top of mind: "I like designer patterns from the 1950s and '60s—Balmain, Dior, Nina Ricci, Yves Saint Laurent—but I'm often just as happy to find a '70s Halloween costume pattern if it has an interesting cut." She keeps them handy for inspiring her own design work: "They get stored under my bed in wooden boxes. I use a lot of the patterns as jumping-off points for my designs.''

8 of 9

9 of 9

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

How To Display a Collection in a Cabinet

9 of 9

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 9
    2 of 9 Picture Frames
    3 of 9 Hats
    4 of 9 Midcentury Kitchenware
    5 of 9 Clothes
    6 of 9 Toys and Dollhouses
    7 of 9 Books
    8 of 9 Sewing Patterns
    9 of 9 How To Display a Collection in a Cabinet

    Share & More

    Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message
    Martha Stewart

    Learn More

    • Contact Us
    • Customer Service
    • Media Kit
    • Martha's Blog
    • Advertise
    • Content Licensing
    • FAQ
    • Corporate
    • International
    • Accolades this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Sign Up
    MeredithMartha Stewart is part of the Meredith Home Group. © Copyright 2022 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright Martha Stewart. All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.marthastewart.com

    Sign in

    View image

    How to Store and Organize All of Your Prized Collections
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.