Display - orderly or eclectic?

Should we arrange our mantelpieces, or whatever you're displaying on (saying 'displaying' makes it sound like we're a bird after a mate!) in the more formal manner of pairs, mirroring what's on one side with the other? Or, should we completely disregard this and go eclectic and add whatever we think goes together? I'm jumping straight onto the fence (ow!) and say I go with both.

We've got two large fireplaces, one in the front room and one in our bedroom. I tend to keep to  more formal arrangement on these. 

Front room mantelpiece.

Apart from Christmas when it's covered with a garland (see the 'Our decorated home' post), the colour scheme for the front room mantelpiece, as well as the rest of the room, during the winter months is red and gold. This is arranged using pairs, but the jugs and Russian dolls are not identical, as are the two red glass candlesticks and the glass tea-light holders.


Front room detail one.




Front room detail two.

During the summer months I change the candlesticks and vase to green glass ones and the Russian dolls go into hiding.

The bedroom mantelpiece is also arranged in pairs (I don't change this one according to season).

Bedroom mantelpiece detail one

Bedroom mantelpiece detail two.

 

Bedroom mantelpiece.

My less orderly, more eclectic displays are on two shelves that are above the radiators in the living room and bedroom.


Bedroom shelf.

The bedroom one has a mixture of items on it. There's a couple of birthday cards that had pictures were to nice to throw away or put in a drawer; an embroidered picture of a rose I did years ago; a couple of framed flower prints; three of my collection of cups and saucers; one of my many jewellery boxes and one of my two glass cakestands used for keeping some of my bracelets on (see the 'displaying jewellery' post) and a scented candle.


Bedroom shelf detail one.



Bedroom shelf detail two.

I also have a string of red battery operated LED lights intertwined between everything - I love these battery operated lights, you don't have trailing wires everywhere and the battery packs are easy to hide in or behind something. You definitely don't need to keep fairy lights just for christmas!

Living room shelf.

I also have LED lights on the living room shelf, along with a lamp, a clock, a candlestick and another scented candle.  


Living room shelf detail one.



Living room shelf detail two.

 The brown pottery bowl at the end came from Scotland, the large pink bowl and jug also came from there. The art deco peach glass vase and lidded pottery dish were presents. I'm looking for a couple of pictures to ledge on the back either side of the plate on the wall. The plate has a picture of Mow Cop, a folly, in Staffordshire.