Ponies on display v. "grown-up" decorating

[InkyMilk]

Forgive me if this post is all over the place.

I've recently been granted access back to my entire room (for a long time it doubled as the playroom for when we babysat my nieces and nephews), and it's amazing having so much space again! For the past couple days I've been turning it back into MY room and not a room for the kids. But the toys...MY toys, that is, my ponies, are leaving me feeling conflicted. Granted, most of them are in storage, the only ones I have out are 4 fashion style ponies and my nearly complete collection of G3 babies which take up one little display all to themselves.

Jumping ahead, my boyfriend and I are pretty serious and have a rough timeline of moving into our own place in a little over a year. I'm very excited and he knows about all my toys and he likes them and doesn't mind them. Even so, they're bothering me. When we move out, it's really important to me that we have a home that feels like it belongs to adults, that feels mature and not like a college room dorm. I don't delude myself that we can afford to move into this huge, multi-room home, and likely will have to settle with only one, maybe two bedrooms. So...where to put the ponies? Is there any way to display them in any way that will still look....grown-up? Or should I just put the rest away in storage and only pull them out when I want to look at them? If we have a second room I know logic would reason to put them in there, but I know that second room would go to our future child, and even though that not until at least 5 years away, I still feel strange putting something away that's only temporary.

I'm probably really overthinking things. All I know is I'm tired of feeling like a big kid (and I'm not picking on those who enjoy feeling this way, different strokes for different folks), and I think the fact that I have other toys (TMNT, BJDs) that I love and don't want to part with also doesn't help.

[ringwraith10]

Maybe get some glass cabinets for your ponies. That way your statement is: "Look, I can afford glass cabinets like an adult, and here is the adult collection that I keep in the cabinets!"

But I don't know. I'm eager to move back into my own place (currently I'm living in a house with a roommate) so that I can put ponies EVERYWHERE, instead of just in one room. So I guess I'm a little opposite from you.

But anyway, lots of adults collect things. Just don't think of your ponies as toys -- think of them as collector's pieces. That might help.

[Rainbowrific Renia]

Just like the post above said, think of your ponies as collectibles and not toys!  That'll make things much easier.

Right now my fiance and I are living in a one bedroom apartment with a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a small hallway.  We have attic space as well as a huge back room where we keep a lot of boxes and such.  Our living room and bedroom are full of ponies and other collectibles that we both enjoy.  Although we joke that it looks like there's a child living here and not a 24 and 25 year old, we're quite proud of what we have because we've spent our hard earned money on our "toys".    Next year we're hoping that we'll be able to move into a house with at least two bedrooms (although 3 would be ideal) so that I can have my very own pony room.

Anywho, I wouldn't put the ponies in storage.  If you want to have them out, have them out!  Dedicate some shelf space to your favorites, or get an entire bookcase to set them all on!  If you love your toys, show them off and don't be embarrassed!  There's absolutely nothing wrong with being a big kid, so long as you have your priorities and responsibilities straight.

[Al-1701]

I forget the exact quote, but C.S. Lewis said something to effect of "I came to a point when I had to put aside my childish things...like thinking things are childish and that I have to act like a grown up." 

Decorate with your ponies.  If your boyfriend is fine with it, there's no problem.

[reanna-mator]

I forget the exact quote, but C.S. Lewis said something to effect of "I came to a point when I had to put aside my childish things...like thinking things are childish and that I have to act like a grown up." 

Decorate with your ponies.  If your boyfriend is fine with it, there's no problem.

Ahh, I just love that quote!

Anyway, I can identify with your conflict. My husband and I are about to move into our own place; we'd been living with one of our best friends for a while and we decided we need our own place, and I also have the desire to make it seem like a place that is lived in by adults, while not neglecting my toys. I have a lot of toys too, not just ponies. I'm still working out how to manage this myself, but we have a large walk-in closet off of our bedroom and my husband is fine with me using part of it as a mini pony room. My plan is, then, to have a minimal amount of my collection outside that room, rotating a few ponies every now and then.

I think probably the best solution is to keep them from being scattered throughout your room so that it doesn't look too cluttered. If your collection is organized, I think that will definitely help. Good luck!

[Vertefae]

I collect ponies and dolls, my hubby collects transformers, Legos and warhammer figures. We mix them in with our books. For example we'll have a bookcase with a few books on a shelf and then a star scream standing next to them. My ponies do have their own bookcase. The point is to make sure it isnt cluttered. Then it looks like a collection and not a bunch of toys.

[Katika]

When we lived in a house that I was uncomfortable declaring a room as my pony room, I chose instead to line a closet with shelves and "display" them in there.  It still allowed everyone to be out of storage, but also let me easily cover them in a hurry if I was wanting to make the area seem more "grown up".   It's easier to find an extra dresser for clothing while keeping a non-collector-looking space than it is to find showcase-type shelving, in my experience.

While I do consider my ponies as collectibles more than toys, and my husband is infinitely patient and supportive over that, I also realize that professional connections may not understand that, and that's the only reason why I try to keep my ponies in their own area as much as possible.

[ponyqueen]

I agree with displaying the ponies. Over the years I have had pony rooms, isolated display zones, and ponies in storage.

Having a pony room is definitely a huge luxury... but sometimes our very favorite ponies or sets get under-appreciated. A happy medium is what a lot of others have suggested- have a dedicated pony display space- a really nice space- to rotate ponies on display.

Something I would like to do in the future with my collection display- have custom built display closet with beautiful Shoji pocket doors (and tatami mat flooring- why not it's my fantasy! ). When closed the room is a Zen peaceful guest room, meditation space, tea room etc, when open it's a pony room.

Shoji doors: https://www.cherrytreedesign.com/shoji/applications.php?category=shoji-closet-doors

[Kiwi]

My ponies now have their own room (although a few has snuck out to my desk and hubby's bookcase). In our smaller places, I'd have a few on a bookcase (usually newer ones) and most were stored away.

[sharnofshade]

If displaying your entire collection at once feels a bit overwhelming to you, you might enjoy a smaller display that you rotate regularly. This is how I currently display my collection - I have one shelf, and I display 4--8 ponies at one time. I have a few different backgrounds I use (including a simple white liner for when I want to keep things as minimalistic as possible), and I occasionally include props from different playsets as well.

I think it strikes a nice balance between enjoying something you love without having that thing be a focal point of your home. It functions almost the same way a vase of pretty flowers or colourful knick knacks do in regular decorating, but with an additional meaning for you.

[amazonarabian]

Everyone here has such good ideas!  I like the thought of ponies for bookends 

For your enjoyment, a comic about what it truly means to be a grown-up:

 http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/grownups.png

[ponyqueen]

Everyone here has such good ideas!  I like the thought of ponies for bookends 

For your enjoyment, a comic about what it truly means to be a grown-up:

 http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/grownups.png

Great to meet another xkcd fan! I can't get enough of this comic!!

[Al-1701]

I think that comic explains things perfectly.  You're the adult.  Meaning you can say proudly displaying your beloved collection of ponies is adult decoration.  That doesn't mean put them everywhere sloppily, but a dignified decorating scheme with the ponies is mature.

Hey, a hundred years ago, people would have porcelain dolls on display in their homes.  How different are ponies when you get right down to it?

[Moonracer]

Well, as I'm still living with my mom and only have one room to myself, I can't really relate to what's being said here. Though I can understand your concerns and where they're coming from.

My room isn't something what you may call 100% grownup: on the one hand there's my bookshelves full of "grown-up" literature and my small DVD collection with films such as Amadeus. But then there are other shelves which have ponies, transformers, Monster High, manga, 3DS/DS video games and plushies. That and the manga posters hanging around the room.

Heck, I dare even say that my sister's room looks way more "mature" in comparison to mine, lol.

I think the only solution to the problem is, like others have already said, to arrange your collection in a manner that it appears to look "adult". I try to do that with my ponies - in my case, I arrange them by their pose and try to work small compositions that would make somewhat sense and look elegant. Same with my transformers. With my Monster High dolls, I just line them up in order of their release (I only collect signature dolls so that's not a problem). Though I think with MH it's a lot easier because they already look like collectable dolls - if you try hard enough you can almost pass them for quasi-minature BJDs.

But, coming back on topic, I think that this is a good solution. Other one is purchasing one of those glass cabinets - that way it'll really give the impression that those are not just some regular "kids toys".

[InkyMilk]

Thank you all so much for your responses! I really like the idea of putting them behind glass or a more grown-up type of display- I remember going to a friend's house whose sister collects those Disney Funko things an she had them in a glass cabinet which I thought looked really nice and fit in with the rest of the decor of the house. It's a bit of a shame though since my G3 babies all fit wonderfully in this perfect little floating shelf like it was made for them haha. Oh well, it might be better if I only keep a smaller number like 4 out at a time instead and as you guys say, rotate them regularly with the seasons or something. Either way, a glass case might work well for my TMNT figures and maybe even my BJDs (if it's large enough) as well, which is also really nice.

Thankfully my collection isn't huge (they currently fit into two large, but not enormous, decorative boxes and one "sell/trade" tub), and my wishlist isn't all that large either. I think keeping them in a smaller number helps keep me calmer, especially since I know I'm only keeping my absolute favorites, and I'm sure in the future I'll be parring them down more as well.