sprite writes
broodings from the burrow

January 20, 2010


collection storage
posted by soe 1:27 am

The grammar question I raised last week elicited a lot of comments, so I thought maybe we’d see what you all have to say on another topic:

Many of you have collections of one sort or another — books, yarn, music, movies, games, art, ephemera, memorabilia, etc. How do you keep them from taking over your space? How do you store and/or display them to their best advantage?

Rudi and I have started seriously considering this question and we’d love to hear how others have dealt with it. Share your thoughts in the comments.




Step 1: Marry a librarian.

For our game collection, we found a curio cabinet that was large enough to store them all, decorative enough to have a place in our living room, and didn’t cost $15,000 like some we saw while searching. That keeps the games close to the location where they will be played while allowing them to be put away. (Before this they were stacked on the shelves of my bedroom closet)

One thing I am not good at, but recognize the need for is the re-evaluation. Not every addition to a collection is worth keeping. To keep from having things take over, you need to go through them every once in a while and remove the ones that you aren’t honestly going to use that seemed like such a better idea back when you got them. Give them away to people who will make use of them, or to goodwill.

Comment by Grey Kitten 01.21.10 @ 12:04 am

I dream of a house made almost entirely of bookshelves (perhaps I should just move into the public library?). But there is only so much room in the house for bookshelves, and only so many books that fit per shelf, and the only practical solution I have found is to keep winnowing my library. I donate several boxes of books every year.

Comment by Karen 01.21.10 @ 10:27 am