How to display your collectibles

Webster's dictionary defines a collection as "an accumulation of objects gathered for study, comparison or exhibition or as a hobby." While that technically describes a collection, most collectors will tell you that their assemblage is not so easy to define.

"There are two types of collectors," says Natalie Weinstein, president of Natalie Weinstein Design Associates in St. James. "There are connoisseurs who collect things that are either valuable now or will be in the future. And there are those who collect things because they like them. Most people aren't looking for connoisseurship, but for things that make them happy."

Acquiring a collection is only part of the equation, though. Once you've got it, what do you do with it? Artfully displaying your collection is just as important as what is actually in it. And along with an attractive display, "self-control is key. You want to show what the collection is about. The way you display it should reflect that it's something that makes you happy, but it has to be controlled and carefully planned," Weinstein says.

WALL DISPLAYS 

One way to display a collection -- particularly artwork, mirrors and tiles -- is on a wall. For instance, highlights from a collection of baseball cards could be set in coordinating frames and hung artfully on a wall, says Diane Cullinan of Design Concepts in Lake Grove.

Gregg Suchow-Kaminsky displays most of her mirror collection on a brick wall in her East Meadow Cape. Suchow-Kaminsky, 44, author of "The F Word: Tales of a Fat Girl," started collecting mirrors after she brought one home from a trip 10 years ago. She picked the mirror as a souvenir because she thought it was pretty and easy to get home in her suitcase. Now she has 11 mirrors from all over the world, including Morocco, Spain, Hungary and San Francisco.

To Suchow-Kaminsky, the mirrors' designs symbolize the culture of the area in which they were made. "My favorites are the mirrors from the Kasbah, which have a lot of ivory," she says. "And I really like collecting them because while they have the similarity of all being mirrors, the styles are eclectic and each one is distinctive."

Malverne resident Jeanne D'Esposito began collecting Art Nouveau tiles about a decade ago and now has about 200 tiles. Recently, she renovated her bathroom and incorporated some into the new scheme. She used them as a border around the bathroom ceiling and built-in Jacuzzi tub, and set several tiles in a pattern and as a backdrop in the shower stall and behind the pedestal sink.

"I spent weeks laying the tiles out on my dining room table to make sure that the different tiles were arranged in a way that was harmonious," says D'Esposito, 47, a securities litigator. "I am thrilled with how it came out. I tell my husband we can never move because I can't leave my tile collection behind."

When it comes to artwork, such as paintings, it's best not to have more than four or five pieces hanging on one wall," Weinstein says. "You should display artwork like they do in a gallery or museum. . . . Don't fill every space," she says. "If you display too many, they tend to lose their sense of importance.

WHOLE ROOM DISPLAYS

Another option for displaying collections is to dedicate a room to displaying them, whether it is a single collection or a collection of collections.

Garden City resident Maggie Johansen worked with Huntington designer Isabelle Ferranti to redesign her family's living room in order to make it a pleasant gathering area that encourages interesting conversation and relaxing family time. The first thing she did was remove the television. "I wanted to make this room a place where we'd spend time reading and talking, so we incorporated things we had collected over the years that reflected our interests," Johansen says.

The Johansens had bookshelves built and filled them with books -- including their collection of art books that reflect their son's study of art. They also added Maggie Johansen's Halcyon Days porcelain box collection as well as travel artifacts.

Amityville resident John Feldmann's dedicated room features an extensive collection of antique bitters bottles. He has about 550 bitters bottles in his overall antique bottle collection of 2,000. Feldmann, a retired carpenter and contractor, built the 8-by-16-foot room himself.

Feldmann's collection is displayed on glass shelves with windows behind them so the sunlight can illuminate the bottles. Feldmann has two chairs and a coffee table in the room so he can sit and enjoy the bottles or bring visitors in.

Huntington designer Eileen Kathryn Boyd recently designed a sports-themed room in a client's home. "The family has a passion for sports memorabilia," she says. "We did the background in a neutral way, then complemented the room with different sports items." For instance, there is a bookshelf of football helmets and the wall behind the air-hockey table is lined with hockey jerseys.

CABINET AND SHELF DISPLAYS

Some collections are best displayed in glass-enclosed cabinets. Stamps, coins, medals or postcard collections could be displayed in a glass-covered table where they can be seen and appreciated, but also protected. A collection of larger pieces, such as figurines, china or even Pez dispensers, can be nicely displayed in a glass-enclosed cabinet.

Hicksville resident Diane Crammer, 56, childcare giver, has been collecting Pez dispensers for nearly 28 years, since the birth of her oldest daughter. "When I started getting them, I thought they were cute," she says. As the years went by, they began to take on a more sentimental quality and she decided to display them in what she calls a "knickknack" cabinet for "special things that meant a lot to me over the years." The Pez dispensers occupy one shelf while the others contain a variety of special mementos.

If you have, for example, a collection of Lladro figurines, display them in a glass cabinet, suggests designer Diane Cullinan. But, she says, if you have a lot of them, don't put them all out at the same time. "If you have too many in the cabinet, they lose their beauty and it will look like a department store display," she says. "Pick out the ones you love the most and display those."

Cullinan adds that you can put a small grouping in another room, and suggests rotating the pieces.

SEASONAL DISPLAYS 

Huntington resident Socrates Sakell has been collecting German nutcrackers for about 25 years. He got his first when he was working part-time at a department store while plotting his career after college. Now he has about 50 nutcrackers and takes out the entire collection at Christmastime.

He displays some throughout the year. For instance, his two Uncle Sam nutcrackers are put out in the early summer, as is a butterfly collector nutcracker. Christopher Columbus and the Cowardly Lion are displayed in the fall and, "there's a Viking I take out periodically," Sakell says.

When putting out seasonal collections, Weinstein advises storing everyday pieces while the seasonal display is out. "Christmas is a good example. If you are using bookshelves to display a Christmas village collection, you should take some things off the shelf that are there year-round."

Weinstein offers this tip: When you take a piece out of the box, make sure it doesn't get put away empty. Put a year-round decoration in it.

Display tips

There are as many ways to display collections as there are types of collections, but there are also general rules on how to show them:

1. Edit your collection

"Don't put it all out," says designer Isabelle Ferranti. Instead, display key pieces and put the rest away. You can periodically rotate if you like.

2. Keep your collection together

A collection should be in one area of a room or home.

3. Group in odd numbers

"For some reason, odd numbers of items look better than even," says designer Natalie Weinstein.

4. Cure the clutter

"Self-control is key," says Weinstein. Avoid adding unrelated items where you display your collection.

5. Honor your collection

"Make it the main event," says designer Eileen Kathryn Boyd. Display it tastefully but prominently.

6. Make it positive

If you have a collection or pieces of one that brings sad memories, take it down.

7. More isn't always better

"Don't overcollect," advises Centerport designer Patti Johnston, noting that it's easy to get carried away adding lots of pieces, especially when well-meaning family and friends contribute. "It's more fun and meaningful if you find special pieces that you really love."

8. The background is key

Johnston says the surface on which you display your collections is critical, so take pains to choose one that complements your set.