Round Top Recap Week: Day 1 – Collections

09 Jul Round Top Recap Week: Day 1 – Collections

Welcome to Round Top Recap Week!  Each day this week, I am going to highlight a topic of interest from our short and sweet trip to Round Top this past April.  Enjoy!!

Looking at collections in people’s homes is always interesting to me.  My inner thoughts go something like this…

“Oh, a collection!  Cool.  Look how they displayed it!  Neat!  What kind of collection could I start?  Hmmm…”

Being at Round Top is really inspirational, especially when you are looking for a great collection idea.  Take for example, this grouping of wool swimsuits from the 1920’s.  How fun would this be in a tween or teenage girls bedroom?  Or a set of male and female suits on display in a pool house or summer home??

Julie Harris, Round Top Vendor

As I recall, the framed suits above were very expensive, around $800 apiece, I believe.  And deservedly so, they are impeccably restored and carefully framed in a museum quality way.

These antique wax seal collections also caught my eye.  The signet design on each of the seals is so personalized and unique.  A collection like this would  really get my attention while perusing someone’s home.

In fact,  I even saved “antique wax seals” as one of my Ebay searches.  After a few weeks went by, I found these.

Aren’t they beautiful?  It is a set of forty straight from England.  I haven’t framed them yet, because frankly, they were more expensive than what I usually spend on home decor, and I know they deserve to be framed correctly, which will probably mean $$$.  Antique seals are incredibly delicate and fragile, and I want to give these lovelies the justice they deserve!

Finally, a simple, timeless idea.   Who doesn’t love a collection of framed botanicals?

I really like the pale turquoise blue matting here with the simple frames.  The tea-stained paper behind each plant gives it a charming aged feeling.  Gathering favorite leaves and plants from your own backyard, drying and framing them, could  be such an easy DIY and also something fun to do with the kids!  I love projects like this that look chic and natural, and still have special meaning for your family.

My fascination with collections began after reading  this post on Style Swoon about the home of Tiffany Lapidus, owner of Scout Design Studio in Dallas.  Her shelves and nooks and corners are so interesting to me.  Those hands!  Her display of vintage cameras!  I.  love.  it.

Courtesy of Style Swoon

Aren’t these photos inspiring?  And Tiffany is just as lovely as her home!  (A quick side note about Tiffany and Scout Design Studio…if you live in the DFW area, check out her store in the Dallas Design District!  It will  be open daily beginning September 4th, but for now, it is by appointment only. Scout Design Studio contains her amazing items, plus mine and Kristen Dowd’s vintage finds – check out Gypsy Soul Interiors here!)

Picked up at my local flea market: this little gathering of antique shoe sizers.  Could this be the start of my own unique collection?  Hmmmm…

Collections can be part of your storied home, whether sentimental or just for fun!  What do you collect?