A seashell collector’s storage idea

I find that the happiest collectors tend to be those with the neatest and most organised collections.  Of course the level of happiness and neatness in everyone’s mind are subjective.  To some people, as long as they know where to find their things, it is considered neat and tidy.

I once watched a TV program about a Singaporean guy who collects seashells.  He had hundreds, possibly even thousands of seashells of all shapes and sizes in his collection!  And how did he keep all those seashells? 

Well, when you first step into his house or even into his room, his collection was not that obvious, except for those on display outside.  He had rows and rows of custom built drawers against the walls.  Then he opened up one of the drawers and low and behold, his seashells were neatly stored in it, with ample space between each shell to ‘distinguish’ them!

He subsequently opened up more drawers for viewers to admire his other seashells!  Some drawers were shallow for the smaller seashells, while the bigger and taller drawers held his larger and bulkier seashells.  I think he even placed little labels beside his seashells.  As an avid collector, he remembered how he got his favourite seashells and where they could be found.

Though I used to collect a few seashells during my childhood, I lost them all as I grew up.  Anyway this post is not about seashells (whether they are endangered or not, that’s besides the point), but what impressed me most were the efforts that this seashell collector put in to give his collection such comfortable and ‘luxurious’ accommodations to reside in. 

The drawers kept out the dust and they were not overcrowded with too many seashells.  Maybe he did have a few drawers that were cramped with the common or miscellaneous seashells that he didn’t show the TV crew.  But at least his overall collection was very well-organised.  Some people would say that the collection looked neat and tidy because of filming yadda yadda, but you do get the general idea.

Anyway, the drawer storage method can be applied to model cars and vehicles that tend to be delicate or fragile, especially the model kit ones.  These toys tend to be short (in height) and fit well into customized drawers.  Of course the main drawback is that you can’t view and admire them when the drawers are closed. 

Then again, some collectors prefer to keep their collections ’subtle’ and hidden from view.  Hence this is a toy storage solution idea to consider.