Show off the BIG STUFF

Last time around we talked about displaying your collections of small items.

I hope you've been able to share some wonderful hobbies and memories with visitors to your home this past month. And, as promised, this time around I'm going to talk about displaying your large-item collections.

But, first, a couple of warnings:

Collecting is addictive no matter the size of the item. I'm prone to packing up chairs on my weekend adventures. Chairs.

And at times my house and yard have been packed with all manner of seating glory. In fact, there's never been a bash at my place where a chair wasn't available.

Warning 1: Storage space is a must when collecting large items.

My chair obsession has also caused me personal distress when trying to best display my beauties. Do I choose to put them inside or outside and based upon what criteria?

Just because a chair is wooden and can be protected from weather with poly coat, does it really deserve banishment to the backyard? And what about that comfy plush number? Should it be stuck inside because it's covered in fabric and not get to serve as my favorite outdoor comfy chair?

Warning 2: Make sure there's a place to display your collectibles. No item worth its purchase price should ever be relegated to closet space.

With the warnings out of the way, let's get down to putting some knack in displaying our larger-than-usual knickknacks.

For a midrange collection (I also find myself constantly purchasing old cameras and camera equipment) it's important to display your items in a single area. The most obvious way to do this is to have them in a china cabinet or on bookcase.

But why keep them all in a corner?

A better way to show off their individual assets would be to display them throughout a single room. A brownie on the side table, the Kodak Movie-Eight on the coffee table and an old Polaroid on the shelf under the TV.

To add interest to a usable collection (like cameras), consider placing a picture taken with the piece near it. You can do the same with photos taken while playing sports if your room is covered in sports memorabilia.

Since my chair collection obviously can't all fit in one room, one has to be a little more creative. First, I like to rotate my chairs around. Some days they may be on kitchen duty, at other times they keep my company while I'm reading in my bedroom, and on special days my outside chairs get to be featured guests at a block party.

Another thought to keep in mind is the difference between a show piece and a story piece. While an item can be both, it doesn't have to be in order to be a keeper. I have plenty of items that aren't in pristine condition but still serve as conversation pieces and entertain me when I think about their stories.

To me, show pieces are items you can display in a formal setting and can be used for their intended purpose (a Chinese tea set that you ACTUALLY USE to serve tea). Two or three show pieces can really bring a room together.

Story pieces are items that draw an eye because they probably seem out of place or unique and probably can't be used for their intended purpose. My prime example is a rickety chair I found in an old schoolhouse when I was out prowling one Saturday afternoon.

While it certainly draws attention and leads to an interesting story, I always leave books or pillows piled in it so that guests don't try to use it as a seat. I'd hate for someone to feel like they've broken a chair when it's really the termites and about 70 years of weather that have taken their toll.

When you get into collecting items like cars, boats and cabooses I'm really out of tips. My extravagant career in journalism and education hasn't really provided me with the funds to take on those tasks.

Regardless, keep these things in mind: Pay for what you can show and share, leave the rest for someone else, and, no matter what the size, there's always a fellow collector out there somewhere with ideas on how to show it off.

Vanessa Cook is a former copy editor for the Southeast Missourian who dabbles in decorating.