Great Collections Make for Inspiring and Authentic Home Decor

My aunt passed down my grandmother's collection of Tiffany China to me a couple of years ago. I wish I knew more about the history of it both from a historical aspect but also from a family heritage standpoint but I don't. But it is a stunning collection of stemmed glassware in multiple sizes, bowls and saucers. You can see the hand blown imperfections in each piece and I love it.

Our house in Alexandria was so tiny that I had no where to display the Tiffany collection so it stayed boxed up there. When we moved to NC, unpacking china wasn't on my top priority of things to do in my copious amounts of spare time while chasing two tiny children. But we have these great corner hutches in our dining room (formerly the playroom) that were screaming for an update. I had our wine glasses and other glassware displayed in there but the hutches are painted white and the clear glass didn't stand out very well. So they were blah. And then my aunt reminded me about the blue glass collection that I had up in our attic and voila! Instant, and much improved, updated.

Side note: I think a lot about painting or wallpapering the back of those hutches to make things stand out more. But when I think about resale of this house, it goes back to the rule of thumb that neutral is best when selling houses. No, we aren't moving in the immediate future but we do want to keep our options open if the right house were to present itself.

I also have a collection of my other grandmother's milk glass that I adore. She had a lot of it displayed in the windows beside her door for as long as I could remember. I move it around a lot. It mostly resides on our mantle but when I decorate the mantle for holidays and special occasions, I switch it up. Here are a few of the pieces pictured in my great-grandfather's desk, another very special piece I was lucky enough to inherit.

Collections can be anything. They don't have to be old or valuable to anyone other than the collector. And collections look killer when it comes to interior design.

There are two important factors, in my opinion, that make collections a dynamic design decision. First, they are so, so personal. Anything can be a collection and typically one doesn't collect things unless they love them. So they really do tell a story about the person whom they belong to. And I firmly believe that good design is so personal. Homes should reflect the people who live there and collections are a great way to make a space extra special. Secondly, collections are aesthetically pleasing to the eye (when done neatly and thoughtfully I have to add). There is a reason that you see things designed symmetrically, grouped together, organized by the same color family, etc. It's because it just looks good.

I've collected (pun intended!) a few images of collections that really inspired me. Each space feels so cohesively curated and truly unique.