Collecting Collections

Contributor post by Lisa Congdon

I'm back this month with an up close look at some of my kitchen collectables. As I mention in my book, A Collection a Day , my favorite collection is probably my mid-century kitchenware -- most of which is Scandinavian and Japanese. I love the colors, the designs, the simplicity.

photo by Philip Maisel

I started collecting kitchenware about 10 years ago. It began with a Catherineholm piece I found at an antique mall, and it grew from there. Much of my vintage kitchenware I don't use -- it's either too fragile or too precious to me, so I display it in my kitchen instead.

photos by Jen Siska for Dwell Magazine

Recently I did an interview with Drew of Kitsch Cafe about collecting. In that interview I talk a little bit there about taking good care of your collections, which in many cases means not using them (or at least not using them for every day use) to protect them from wear and tear.

But I do use several of my kitchen collectables! In fact, you can see many vintage things in my kitchen thrown in with every day spoons, pots and bowls.

When it comes to your collections, how do you make decisions about what to use versus what to display? Tell us what you think.

........................................

Lisa Congdon is an artist, author and prolific collector of old and unusual things, including bits of nature, and surrounds herself with these things in her home and studio. In 2010 she chronicled all of her collections in her Collection A Day 2010 Project. That project is now a book, published in March 2011.

Site: www.lisacongdon.com
Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/lisacongdon

Collecting Collections: Arranging

Contributor post by Lisa Congdon

Arranging collections in a display can be one of the most enjoyable aspects of collecting after the hunt is over. Nothing like realizing you have just enough of the thing you've been collecting to make a really cute little display on your credenza.

I've always obsessed over arranging things, and love this book that my dear friend Lorena gave to me a couple of years ago. It's called Arranging Things: A Rhetoric of Object Placement . Design writer Leonard Koren discusses the principles that govern how we arrange things in three-dimensional compositions. The book is beautifully illustrated by Nathalie Du Pasquier .

Not so much a "how to" book as a theoretical perspective, the book is also an interesting discourse on composition for painters and illustrators.

Speaking of arranging things, I love this little shelf from Ferm Living called The Dorm . A modern take on an old fashioned knick-knack shelf!

Some people have a gift for arranging things in exquisite ways. I just love Holly Becker's armoire in her new home. Mostly, I love how she's managed to use it for storage but in a way that artfully showcases the beauty and interest of the objects in it.

Notice how Holly groups things that are alike: old books together, white porcelain together, newer books arranged by color. The visual impact is achieved by grouping these like things together, but alternating heights, colors, directionality, etc. {BTW, you can get Holly's gorgeous new decorating book here .}

What is your favorite tip for arranging things beautifully?

........................................

Lisa Congdon is an artist, author and prolific collector of old and unusual things, including bits of nature, and surrounds herself with these things in her home and studio. In 2010 she chronicled all of her collections in her Collection A Day 2010 Project. That project is now a book, published in March 2011.

Site: www.lisacongdon.com
Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/lisacongdon