Calling All Packrats!
How To Turn "Stuff" Into Style! by Pamela Cole Harris
If you are like me, you are always finding some treasure in a
thrift shop or garage sale. A frame, a postcard, a
pillow, a quilt, or some other knick-knack
that catches your eye or touches your heart.
But no matter how much you like the objects you find, they can
become an all-consuming avalanche of “stuff!”
But there are ways to use those objects to add style to your
home without overwhelming your space! Here’s how:
Bring together seemingly unrelated objects by finding ways to
connect them by theme, shape, color or vintage.
Group the connected items on the walls, in a
special cabinet, on a shelf, or on a coffee
or side table.
Group glass objects of differing colors and shapes together
on a glass shelf, in a display cabinet or in front of
a window. Find ways to have light shining
through the collection. You can use candles,
clear small Christmas lights, larger bulbs or lamps.
Find ways to display collections in unusual or unused space:
Collections of teapots can be displayed on a wooden shelf
installed high on a wall.
Picture collections can be displayed in halls or mount three
smaller ones on the front of closet doors (be sure
to secure them well!).
Hats can be displayed around the walls of a room just below
the ceiling (more original than wallpaper border!)
Collections of bowls can be used to hold collections of other
smaller objects like buttons, door pulls, or small
bottles.
Find unusual ways to make the objects relate. If there are
objects of small size, but irregular shape, try
mounting them in frames of the same size or color. If all of the
objects are the same shape, try frames of
different shapes and colors.
An old cabinet or medicine chest with the door removed can be
made into a coffee table with recycled legs. Put
small objects in the spaces made by the
shelves. Have glass cut to cover the objects
and to act as the table surface.
As you can see, there are many ways to organize and display the
objects you love. But the secret is – you have to
be able to find the objects you need to
organize! Just look in the Yellow Pages under
Cleaning Services…or Bulldozers!
Pamela Cole Harris is an editor
and writer with 35 years experience. Visit her website, http://www.homeandgardenmakeover.com,
for a free newsletter with remodeling, home improvement and
decorating ideas for the financially challenged and creatively
deficient. Or for unique content for your website written especially
for your keywords and audience, visit http://www.pamelacoleharris.com.
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