“For me, a wall is a beautiful blank canvas. A great big opportunity. I can’t wait to get ‘painting’…Cold minimalism has its place, but not at my place,” says Geraldine James.

In Creative Walls: How to Display and Enjoy Your Treasured Collections, she demonstrates that decorative objects are a boundless universe. And in the hands of a creative thinker, the most curious things can be used to create attractive displays.

On a wall with distressed patina of soft, earthy hues, a stuffed baby crocodile appears to scramble next to a gilt-framed portrait. Animal skulls and horns are arranged on nearby furniture. Bizarre, yet beautiful and decidedly not your ordinary wall decoration.

Not all is edgy. A subtle mural of oversized female figures is painted in white on taupe background for a restful, airy space.

Impressive collages are made from family photos, Vogue magazine covers and road-trip mementos. Art work mixes with PEZ candy dispenser and Andy Warhol cut-out. A posy of teddy bear glass eyes hangs from a hook in a wall composition that includes feathers, bead necklaces and a rusted whistle (among other things).

The goal is a happy marriage of interesting collections with artful arrangement and the very effective approach is the integration of everything on the wall, including the furniture.

Speaking of interesting collections, In Flagrante Collecto (caught in the act of collecting) is the witty title of a book about building collections from just about anything. “From Marilynn Gelfman Karp’s perspective, collecting is a calling, not a choice,” reads the book jacket. Karp says, “Collecting is not about what you collect as much as it is about who you are.”

It has me wondering what my collections say about me? How about artsy person with OCD?

(I am still coming to terms with you-are-what-you-eat.)

*(Hello,hello) Classic hurtin’ song written by Willie Nelson in 1961. Now that I've planted the earworm, find a version to strum in our Sheet Music Index.