Structure

As our collections grew we kept trying to come up with better ways to display them in limited space. My mom had her husband build her a white bookshelf for her display.  The problem is that most shelves are too shallow to hold much more than just the buildings and we have LOT of accessories. 

So here is my solution.  I bought some shelves from a hardware chain that are intended for garages.  They are 36" wide and 24" deep.  The only problem with them is that they don't have solid shelves, so I have to put stiff cardboard or plastic on each shelf. 


I now have 2 of these.  I am only 5'2" so I could never see what was on the top shelf, so I took the top shelf off and created a 3rd set.  This way everyone can see displays on the top shelf.  I had to create a bottom shelf using Styrofoam under the two shelves I took off the tops.  With this arrangement I now have 66 square feet to work with.

 

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Now part of my problem is where I wanted to set them up.  I have a mirrored wall in my dining room, and when I set up on that wall, you can see the reflection of all the ugly stuff behind it.  So I went to a craft store and bought some midnight blue fabric that has a variegated pattern on it.  It looks kind of like a night sky.  Fortunately, this is fabric they have all the time, so as my village expanded, I could get more.   This fabric also hides all the cords running down from the top shelves.  On some of the backdrops I painted snow flurries and on some I painted stars with glitter paint.  I left most of them blank.