You are right! I was looking and oh my...am I the only one that finds
some of the curio cabinets tacky?

I think the curio cabinets you refer to are designed for folks who collect
Precious Moments figurines....... :-P Gack! (hoping not to offend anyone
here) puke puke puke (sorry)

I did see one I liked that is made
from rosewood, an open table top design, I liked the feeling of space.
Table top won't do in this house.

Not here either.

I'm hoping to do a gridwork mounting of the frames -- like a more spaced-out
sheet of postage stamps, you know? All together, evenly, on a wall somewhere.
Probably two rows, horizontally, so they're visible and easy to view for most
heights.

Each frame to hold one bead! Eeeeeeee! (I'll do lampwork sets, if any, with
another display treatment....though those usually beg to be made into jewelry,
don't they?) The backgrounds inside the frames will be as plain as I can get
them....a single-color peyote stitched matte-bead surface. Undistracting, the
color will be something to show off the bead itself -- a dull color, but
complementary to the bead's predominant color. (Is this making visual sense so
far?) A pale golden bead will have a muted lavender-grey background, for
instance.

Not all beads lend themselves to sitting properly. How will you do
that, Sooz?

I believe I will get some thin, thin wire, oxidize it so it doesn't shine, and
string the bead either from top to bottom or side to side, depending on the
bead's visual orientation.

This is getting me excited now!!
~~
Sooz
-------
"Those in the cheaper seats clap. The rest of you rattle your jewelry." John
Lennon (1940 - 1980) Royal Varieties Performance
~ Dr. Sooz's Bead Links
http://airandearth.netfirms.com/soozlinkslist.html