Living with the Things You Love

In Collected, expert collectors and decorating experts Fritz Karch and Rebecca Robertson present a tour of peculiar, elegant, and awe-inspiring collections from around the world. The book teaches readers the basic principles of the hunt while exploring the thoughtful and inventive ways people display their various collections, from the accessible and affordable to the aspirational extreme. The featured collections range from dice to café au lait bowls to 19th-century-French sewing tools to sand from world travels–illustrating collections as expressions of personal style. From no frills (“The Modest”) to ornate (“The Exceptionalist”), Karch and Robertson examine the selected collections according to personality type. The book showcases 16 different collecting personalities, each with its own chapter, featuring gorgeous photo­graphs, vignettes showing how the objects are displayed, and a collecting lesson.

Fritz Karch was the editorial director of collecting at Martha Stewart Living for 15 years. He is also a lifelong collector. Rebecca Robertson is the former decorating editor at Martha Stewart Living. She runs her own resi­dential interiors company and curates vintage glassware at her shop Pasanella & Son, Vintners.