To Display Or Not To Display

Lately I've been obsessed with creating my "study". You've heard of a man cave. The hub calls it the Taron Lair. It's basically a whole room dedicated to writing this blog, among other things (such as more lucrative things, like the days when I work from home).

I have -- or more accurately -- someone whom I paid, painted it grey with white trim. And I bought a cheap retro writing desk, which doesn't feel that sturdy, but it works. It is north facing, so not directly sunny, but it does have a big window and feels calming and bright enough to me, even when it's overcast like this morning. It's still a work-in-progress though. Nothing on the walls yet!


One of the things that I decided during the life-changing clear out is that keeping things in boxes tucked away in an attic or a basement is not for me. It certainly does not bring me joy -- and I'm sure that it will never bring anyone else joy either. Because let's face it, it's usually someone else who goes though our attic boxes at the end of our lives. So I've made the more or less perilous decision that everything we have should be on display or at least vertically folded somewhere neatly away. But no more boxes!

Which brings me to my dilemma. As I've mentioned before, last summer my parents sent me my childhood belongings from America when they sold the house I grew up in. I got rid of a lot of crazy things that I've been saving, but there are still challenges lurking around. For example, I have a small collection of dolls that my Great Aunt Ruth brought back from different countries on her travels with my uncle after they retired. She also brought back coins and labelled them for me.

Now as childish or silly as this may seem, these items give me particular joy. I fondly remember watching all my aunt & uncle's slide shows from around the world and I believe that it was these memories and the gifts so carefully brought back for me which inspired my interest in living abroad. So last week when I had some shelves installed in the room, I tried my luck at displaying the dolls and the coins.

Alas -- displaying dolls in a room for adults is really only one thing: creepy. And I tested it out on the Hub, who pretty much shrieked when he came into the room. But what to do, considering my box rule? As with most small problems to solve, I let it stew over the weekend to see if I could come up with a solution.

And eventually one was presented to me. In my study I have a cedar chest, given to me by another relative who is no longer with us, but close to my heart. I am using it as a coffee table for the moment and it just had some spare sheets and a blanket inside, for which I was easily able to find another place. So in went the doll collection and a couple of other bits of sentimental memorabilia which I'm not particularly anxious to display, but would like to hold onto. Such as my "Most Improved Player" award from my high school swimming team, which of course I could never part with, as well as that recently refurbished Girl Scout sash.


Not sure if this is all still slightly creepy, but hey, no one ever has to know, right?

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