PILE IT ON

Collecting beautiful things leads to beautiful problems - what to do with all of them? Show off, of course. Pile up those trinkets and treasures, spill out the frills and furbelows, spread about the brights and baubles. But first, a few rules...

THOU SHALT pile on mantels, desks, side tables, coffee tables, entryways, shelves, and vanities.

THOU SHALT NOT pile in closets, under beds, in bathrooms, children's rooms, or block any route you might need to escape in the event of fire, unexpected in-laws, etc.

Lovely mixes of every day things are what photographer Melanie Acevedo captures - these beautiful layerings of pattern and color elevate piles to an art form.

Mixing the practical and the fanciful (books, letters, trinkets) in an ad for One King's Lane - props for doing a fun piece of decor for a decor ad! 

Italian store Flair, NYC, creates a lovely golden palette with nature inspired objects (Lonny Magazine).

Kelly Wearstler makes table piles into an art form. I love her books, often featuring images of her own home(s), where pyramidal constructions of objets d'art tower over table-scapes - and no doubt cause some distress to the housekeeping staff (dusting these must be fun!).

In Herve Pierre's home (courtesy the Selby), the creative director for Carolina Herrera cultivates careful piles of curiosities - books, hatboxes, miniature architectural models, and perfume bottles.

Beloved magazine Domino shows the power of piling accessories - it doesn't hurt if they're all in the same color family.

Designer Todd Romano uses his piles as structural accents; placing similar items in pairs keeps things from looking too cluttered, but avoided identical sets keeps the look from becoming matchy-matchy. 

What about you? Are you a piler? Do tell!
Kelly Wearstler close up, Stylecourt.blogspot.com, other Wearstler photos, kwid.com. Domino vanity, gaitainteirors.com. Pierre apartment, theselby.com. Acevedo's photos, melanieacevedo.com, Todd Romano's room, toddromanohome.com. Others as previously attributed.