Last time, I wrote about my reasons for wanting to fully curate my collections:

**Having an accurate inventory keeps us organized, prevents costly duplications, and might be needed for insurance purposes.

**Storing our treasures properly keeps them safe, organized, and accessible.

**Displaying them is immediate assurance of their appeal, beauty, or interest.

This time, I’d like to share what my husband thinks about taking the time to count thousands of buttons, box fragile porcelain figurines, and hang unwieldy metal advertising signs.

His advice is pretty clear:

**If you haven’t been bitten by the collecting bug, please don’t start.

**If you’ve already started dragging home shopping trophies, bargains, more of the same, and related objects, stop—just stop cold turkey. You’ll be all right

**If your motto is “the more the merrier,” have a change of heart and become a minimalist.

**If you must collect, set a limit, like 10 or 20 items in your collection, and then eliminate an item from your home, storage area, and inventory, every single time you acquire a new piece.

**Better yet, don’t actually acquire the collectibles at all. Just take pictures of them with your smart phone—and your display, storage, and inventory time will be dramatically reduced.

**In other words, take pity on your spouse, partner, or children. They want to live with you—not your collections. They want to see you—not your collectibles.

Hmm. They do say opposites attract.

I say our spouses, partners, or children should give collecting a try. There’s so much variety out there, we’re sure to find things we both enjoy having around.

Happy Collecting—and Curating!
Patti
The Committed Collector

So what do you think? Are you a collector or a long-suffering spouse? Leave a comment and let us know how and where your collections fit in your lives. We’d love to hear from you.

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