Building a Collection

Looking to spice up your space or get your kids started on a healthy hobby?  Whatever your motivation, building a collection can be exciting and rewarding.  I was always something of a collector – trading cards, rabbit figurines, bunny patches that were sewn on to a favorite jacket.  Now I’ve narrowed my focus and had decades of hits and misses.  I’m drawn to early American pieces with a healthy patina, great color or graphics, everyday objects that have something quirky about them. 

When people catch a glimpse of my laundry/mudroom, they stop in their tracks to take in the walls that are covered with antique metal and wooden hangers.  We see and use hangers every day, but we rarely stop to look at them.  Simultaneously sculptural and utilitarian, these old clothes hangers add an affordable big bang to an otherwise mundane room.  

I’m often asked: “Why hangers?”  Even though pawing around flea markets and antique shops is second nature, it was actually a hanger that found me first.  On the dingy basement concrete floor of my “new” eighty-year old Glencoe home, I discovered a glove stretcher abandoned by the previous owners.  I was instantly hooked.  I had never seen a glove stretcher - a hand shaped hanger used to keep the form of a freshly washed glove - but at one time they were plentiful and most unmemorable.  That glove stretcher hanging proudly on my wall today reminds me of my welcome home over twelve years ago.

When Maleesa came by to photograph the hangers, we walked around talking about some of my other collections.  She took a few shots of my pincushion balls, iron candlesticks, gameboards and framed family photos.  Some of these are pretty static displays.  In fact, I had worked so hard to arrange the family photos at my house in the city that I took a photo of the layout to repeat exactly when I moved.   Others, like the balls, move from room to room and basket to basket.  Wire baskets plentiful around here, too! 

My passion for treasure hunting is quite possibly genetic.  My mother has an incredible sense of style and is a bigger junkie than me.  Luckily we don’t compete when we pal around.  In fact, many of “my” finds are really thanks to her. 

Anyway, the point is, you don’t have to go far or spend bundles to find something to get started.  Much of what I have comes from local sources like Harvey Art and Antique (www.harveyantiques.com) in Evanston or the Gurnee Antique Center.  The Winnetka Community House and the Chicago Botanic Garden put on fantastic shows.  Even if you just go to train your eye, it will help you uncover something special at a local garage sale.  Possibly you’ve got a collection right under your nose just waiting to be put on display.  Take a fresh look at that stack of playbills from your years of theatre-going, or perhaps your kids build masterpieces in legos.  Find an empty wall or vertical surface.  Think about something you love to look at and there’s a good chance other people want to see it, too.  Displaying a collection is a great way to decorate and to personalize your space.