Museum of
Ordinary ThingsA little attention changes everything.
A pair of brown leather lace-up shoes on a wooden floor.
The collectionExhibit No. 008

A first step

The interview shoes.

Leather, polish, and a borrowed amount of confidence.

The story behind the object
The storysincere

I bought them the day before the interview and walked around the kitchen until the soles stopped squeaking. My brother showed me how to tie a better knot.

In the waiting room, I looked down at them and tried to imagine the sort of person who already worked there. Someone who knew where the kettle was.

I got the job. The shoes stayed under my desk for years, ready for meetings that mattered. Eventually, I was the person showing someone else where to make tea.

A fictional story, written for this sample exhibit.

What ordinary thing would you keep?

Make an exhibit of your own

Fictional sample exhibit · Back to the collection

Photograph by Unsplash ↗

A closer look · The full photograph

A pair of brown leather lace-up shoes on a wooden floor.

An ordinary thing, given extraordinary attention.

The Museum of Ordinary Things

Nothing ordinary
about what we keep.

A ticket. A chipped cup. A watch that no longer works. Some objects matter for reasons no label can quite explain. This is a place to try.

This early exhibit explores how a photograph and a few words can give an everyday thing extraordinary attention.

Create an exhibit with your own photograph and words. Save it privately, then choose when to publish it. The two stories in our sample exhibit are fictional.