If you're a collector, you've probably faced the dilemma of what to do with your collection once you have many pieces. Some collections are easier than others to display as part of your decor. Stamps, for instance, tend to be small and need some protection, so framing them in groups and hanging them on your wall is a good and fairly easy choice. But if your collection pieces are large, such as artwork, deciding how to display pieces can be a bit more complicated.

I've tried several methods for displaying my collection of books and my husband's collection of religious items (mostly crosses), and here's what I learned:

Too big--In my previous home, I had a large, blank wall in the main stairwell. My husband's cross collection was getting larger and larger, because many of his friends and family members were giving him pieces as gifts. I took the entire collection and hung every single cross on the huge blank wall. It was quite a sight, but it was simply too much. It was one of the first things you would see as you entered our home, and many people would comment on the wall of crosses. But because there were so many, you couldn't really see the beauty of some of the more interesting pieces.

Too little--I took down the crosses and scattered them throughout the house, placing a few in several rooms. Although it was nice to have a part of the collection in many areas of the house, but this lead to a feeling that their wasn't really a collection at all. The crosses simply became part of the decor of each room, and although this method of displaying the collection did enable me to highlight some of the more interesting pieces, I still wasn't happy with it.

Just right--When I moved to my current home, the cross collection was one of the last things I tackled. I knew I wanted all the crosses to be in one area of the house, but I wanted to avoid the massive collection wall I'd tried before. So I tried this: I placed most of the items in one room, the great room, and placed about half the collection on one large wall. In other areas of the same room, I hung groupings of four or five. I also wanted to get away from the everything-has-to-hang-on-the-wall idea, so I filled an antique china cabinet with some of the crosses and other religious art pieces, such as Mexican nichos and an angel statue from Guatemala. The last of the collection hangs in the hall entering the room. The result: not too big, not too little--just right.

As far as my book collection, I've done basically the same thing. I have a bookcase in the great room and another in my office, and both hold some of my antique volumes. A few of my favorites rest on the fireplace mantels in the same rooms. Keeping the collection pieces near each other, but not necessary all grouped together, has worked just as well for my books as it has our crosses.

So the moral of my decorating collection stories is this: as your collection grows, keeping the items near each, but not necessary all together, can be a great display choice. But ultimately, you need to decide how you wish to see your collection. Because your personal style is what your space needs to be all about.