Creative Walls: How to Display and Enjoy Your Treasured Collections

by Geraldine James

Creative Walls will inspire you to organize and arrange your collections on any surface in your home to create character, charm, and elegance.Any wall is perfect for display, whatever its size, shape or style. In this inspirational guide, Geraldine James, veteran collector of all things beautiful, shows you ways to organize and display your treasured collections to celebrate their uniqueness and your creativity. Collections of quirky items can illuminate a little corner, whereas a teenager’s bedroom will transform instantly when hoarded sports memorabilia makes the leap from the floor to the wall in a bold, clever arrangement. Look for unusual spaces and line up a series of themed prints above a picture rail, set heaps of floral china plates in grand style above the fireplace or simply add a mirror into a display to instantly create another in its image. Chapter by chapter, discover how to arrange virtually anything from scratch, rearrange the collections you treasure to best effect and begin a journey into colour, texture and themes to create elegant displays that give a home character and charm. From a memory wall of sepia family photographs to witty collections of kitsch art, this clever guide shows how to create a look that will bring any space to life.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Art, Interior Design, Reference, Crafts, Adult

Hardcover

First published March 1, 2011

About the author

Geraldine James started her career in fashion as a contemporary designer buyer, and from fashion she moved to home and gift. Geraldine soon developed a passion for collecting and finding the most unusual and beautiful things. She now works as a home buying manager at Selfridges and, as part of her role, spends time traveling extensively to find exciting new products for the store.

Reviews

[Ricki Treleaven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Creative Walls. {Mostly.} I do not know why I tortured myself reading this book because we have very little wall space in our home. I would love to incorporate some of the creative ideas so beautifully photographed in this book on our {few} walls. One of my favorite chapters in the book is Children's and Students' Spaces: It was loaded with truly creative and affordable ideas. Shanley will be living in an apartment next year at college, and I think she will find inspiration in this chapter.

Ideas I Love in Creative Walls

1. Life-size GAP poster from the 1980's filling the wall opposite a doorway
2. Memory board covered in concert tickets
3. Pretty vintage bottles from the collectibles chapter
4. Postcards and greeting cards displayed behind a vintage vanity
5. Gorgeous art collections

What I did not care for: the overabundance of dead animals and dead animal parts on walls throughout the book. I did a quick count, and I counted at least 43 pages out of 224 that have dead animal parts, mostly antlers. But there are also skulls, horns, skeletons, stuffed animals, and other specimens. One bar area had antlers and horns in graduated sizes with a menacing-looking stuffed swan standing guard over the bottles. I do not have anything dead in my house, including dried flowers. This is my only criticism, though. But please do not let this stop you from checking out Creative Walls. I think you will find it inspiring overall.

[Katey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe because I was expecting more of a how-to or DIY type of book, that would show me how to build interesting shelving or displays, but I was a tad disappointed in this book overall. It was good for browsing through, garnering some ideas, but actual tips or sources or even how to make some of the cooler ideas would have been nice. Not everyone can afford to drop a bunch of cash on a collection of high demand vintage signs or art, or have a collection of them all ready to redecorate. Again, I think that was my expectations of the book and not the book's fault, but I think it might have a specific, wealthier audience in mind. Plus I think a lot of things would look good as a gallery display, or for the purposes of a photo shoot, but something about the eclectic asepticism didn't quite make them feel like places where people actually lived, almost as if they were designed for the purpose of the book.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I lament all the empty wall space in America while I fill mine up with artwork, old family photographs and other collections. I don't want a bigger house just more walls. So when I saw the title of this book, I got excited that here were people like me! But this book of photographs was ruined by the style and font used for the author's descriptions. The printing, which varied in size within a paragraph and often used a style imitating wooden block printing with smears and block edges, was distracting to the photographs and created a chaotic look that was a mess. Instead of being impressed with these homeowners creativity and collections, I just wanted to turn the page...

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the cover, but definitely not a book I would buy because there isn't enough eye candy. I didn't read much from the book, which I feel a little guilty about, but I checked this book out for the pictures and not the words. It had a few ideas I liked and did give me some inspiration for the blank walls I have all over my house!

[Kalliopi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing special. Generally photos taken of different walls in weird angles and perspectives in deceptive representation. Also full of stuffed animals, dried sea creatures, antlers, skulls... And special mention to a stuffed baby crocodile!!! It’s like promoting the illegal wildlife trade!

[Brie Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

inspiring gallery walls

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I dithered about 3 or 4 stars, going for the higher in the end because spending the afternoon with this book has been enjoyable, relaxing, and inspiring, even if it hasn't been useful. I love a lot of the ideas in the book, and the pictures make me long to do things with my walls and stuff. However, for an average family with a mix of old and new furniture and living in a suburban semi, the high ceilings, old walls with generations of paint, wide window sills, small bays etc to use these ideas are not as easily come by. However if you want a look that is uniquely you and you have either the old country manor or urban loft from a lot of the examples in the book; or you have the imagination to take those ideas and find ways of applying them to what you do have as I am hoping to, then this book will give you an enjoyable few hours.

[Ligaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This feels like a quality book with its thick pages and substantial cover. Many of the walls that are showcased are very full and the feeling that I got from this book is that more is better. I'm currently in a streamlining mode, and my collections aren't nearly as cool as those photographed here, so I'm kind of on my own! I liked the Supermarket Sarah pages but skipped most of the text, browsing through the photos guilt-free. I found the typography design really distracting. I was really annoyed that I had to puzzle through the larger text that had "overprinted" black rectangle shades over it. A veteran of many renovations, I always wonder how things get or stay cleaned - and many of these shelves have me wondering.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm no minimalist by any stretch of the imagination, but neither am I a maximalist.

From the front cover alone, I thought, "That.... is a LOT of stuff." My husband even commented on it, saying it just looked like clutter.

I liked some of the dining room pics and the occasional pet photo bombs were nice. Other than that, most of this was a big Nope from me.

To each their own, though!

[Laura H · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beaitiful to look at and gave me ideas and inspiration. I had the most enjoyable inmersive hour I've had in a while flicking through looking at all the intriguing pictures and reading the little descriptions.

[Ionela Andreea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much dead animals on those walls for my taste and a terrible typography for emphasising mostly platitudes. On the bright side, the cover has a great texture and feeling, if you're the kind of person that buys a book as a piece of decor.

[IE · Rating 2 out of 5]

Arghhhh the text was almost unreadable in parts and so distracting. I wanted to like this book, I love collections but this was just too much clutter. There was the odd interesting page though!

[Lyndsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plate collages and a tower of acrylic display boxes. While not everything is my aesthetic, I appreciate the “anything goes if you love it” approach.

[Stephanie McManus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Ideas!

[Relyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy Geraldine James' books very much. I love the lay out, the playful design, the extra thick pages, and all the wonderful eye candy. This book is chock-full of terrific ideas and inspiration. After you read this, you'll never look at your walls in the same way again.

[Carolien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely love it. Very inspiring.

[Sherri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. It's sturdy and seemed welldone, however all it showed me was to take your ENTIRE collections of stuff and put it out = clutter.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like it. I tried. Failed.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another of my favorite design tomes. James is an arist and the photos are beautiful. If you want creative, out-of-the-box design inspiration, you'll enjoy this. It's one I re-read often.

[yoli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of pictures, which was awesome. Limitedly useful commentary, but that was expected.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

Eh, this just wasn't as inspiring as I'd hoped for!

[Karol M · Rating 5 out of 5]

For inspiration and originality, this book is great. I am enjoying getting ideas for what to do in my own home.

[Rachel Coyne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the playful, over the top combinations

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

It did have some good tips however the angles that the example pictures were taken at were very odd and sometimes confusing.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great photos of walls filled with art. Inspirations for the budding decorator. Never should a framed price of art sit in a closet. Hang it up!

[Becki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice pics, feel like I've seen it all before though