I had it all stuck up on an old bulletin board, but that just seems too . . . college-student-ish for my new classy space.

Do a fabric covered ribbon board beneath the shelves. Sometimes they're twee looking, but you can avoid that by using plan fabric. Maybe even match the wall color.

Do it on a large scale and it won't look student-y:

I feel your pain. I have a pretty big collection of teddy bears gathered on my travels that currently "live" in a box stuffed in the closet. They're sweet and highly sentimental, but they feel too childish for my current home. That makes me a little bit sad, but it is what it is.

Would you be averse to arranging your treasures pleasingly, photographing everything, and turning it into "artwork" to make a wall calendar from? Or maybe use the photos as screensavers or incorporate into a digital picture frame? That way you'd still have your items with you - without actually having the items with you. ;-)

I like the covered cork board idea.

Where did you get that monitor stand? I must have it!

p.s. great space. We painted dd's bathroom Sea Salt. Pretty color.

We have a big linen-covered bulletin board from Pottery Barn, not sure if they still carry it but might be worth a look. I wonder if you could make a gallery-type grid of inexpensive wall frames (even those plastic box frames) and display your items in them? Maybe even back the frames with a linen or burlap-ish fabric?

You got me to go look, Sueb. Yeah, they still have it and a bunch of others but heck, anyone, anyone can make one for about a tenth of their price or less. I liked this idea, too, also super simple to DIY:

I really like T.R.'s idea about photographing them. You don't have to get rid of anything, just not display it all.

...can't comment without seeing hunky Aztecs.

i think farside cartoons are worth framing!! :)

not sure about the hunky aztecs either!?

lol-- i guess if you have 12 pages of the calendar and u love them, you could frame and hang them like a photo gallery wall... when the kids were young, i framed awesome dinotopia calendar pictures and hung them together in a bedroom- they looked really nice! :)

With my utmost apologies to Jesus Helguera.

You can't just put that guy away. I don't suppose you could put glass tops on your desk and shelves and slip him and his friends under glass, could you?

OMG, I never knew the artist's name! Thank you! And between a volcano and a bar, I'd pick the bar.

I only have three calendar pages, I think. They do one calendar per year with all the months printed at the bottom. (OK, technically I've got a fourth, but my husband thought it was a tad risque to have our son wander past daily.) I'm leaning more toward the framing every minute.

Oh, and the monitor stand -- it's a super-simple Ikea hack. Put the Alex Ekby shelf on Capita legs (the shortest of the Capita legs.) I love it. I'm planning to get a second monitor this year, and this is easily wide enough for two, plus handy-dandy storage for pens and paperclips.

This is my 'wee' office, which is used for nothing more than my pc. It's a family room closet, and the shelves were already there. I just needed to re-configure one to accommodate the pc. I painted the walls/ceiling black, added wall lamps, and misc 'stuff' which I already had. The cat is actually a small fan, since it can get a little stuffy sitting in a closet on a pc. lol

Fori, it might be weird to have him peeking out under a stack of bills. I'm not warming to the idea of writing on glass. I think he needs to stride magnificently across a wall.

Re the artist: He did one of my all-time favorites. I used to have this hanging in the kitchen of my previous home, but ended up giving it to a young waitress that we came to know who was the spitting image of this beautiful woman.

Only 3? Frame them!

Thanks for the IKEA hack tip on the monitor stand. I'm gonna do that!

Wow, yeah definitely frame the hunky Aztecs. Love your space and maybe you have given me the incentive to update my home office/guest bedroom. When I was working and had a real honest to goodness grownup office, I had a collection on banana stickers on one wall. I'd have a banana with lunch and stick the sticker on the wall. I became a banana sticker connoisseur. I tried to buy my bananas at out of the way mom and pop stores because they tended to have bananas from more exotic sources than regular grocers. One day someone stuck an apple sticker on the wall. I spotted it immediately and unstuck the interloper. After a while, the whole wall was covered with banana stickers. I worked there a long time. Funny how we decorate our work spaces. Mine have always just kind of grown without a plan.

I remember collecting banana stickers during some Olympics. We'd swap them in the grocery store when mom wasn't looking to get the different sports. Lake Placid?

That's awesome! Banana stickers--who knew? My sister-in-law is an executive at a high end fashion retailer, and the centerpiece of her office is her collection of Pez dispensers. I happened upon a three-piece Elvis Pez set last Christmas (Young Elvis, Army Elvis, and Old Jumpsuit-Wearing Elvis) and WON the family holiday gift exchange.

OK, I'm convinced framing is the way to go. I'll start scouring thirft stores for cheap frames I can repurpose. You guys are awesome.

You do realize that we want to see the one you hide from your children.

Patty where does one get such a great fan???

Starnold, Just do a search on Amazon for Decobreeze fan. You will find all sorts of small fans masquerading as animals, birds, lamps, flowers, etc.