A vignette is a pretty grouping of items on a tabletop, such as a nightstand or bookshelves, or in a small space, like an entryway or the end of a hallway.
Its like a snapshot or a still life and can help make a room look more polished and put together. Arranging accessories helps give a home its personality-- its what makes a house a home!!! Here are some tips for creating vignettes.
Pick A Spot, Any Spot!
Obviously there are places in your home that naturally scream "Accessorize Me!" like console tables, mantles, dressers, and nightstands, but you can create a vignette pretty much anywhere, like an odd corner in your living room, at the top of the stairs, on top of the fridge, or a windowsill. Use your imagination! Think outside the box- or tabletop, as it were.
Choose A Theme.
A theme can be centered around an idea, like vintage, love, or travel, a color, or a specific object or collection.
Inject Some Personality.
When creating your vignette don't just go to your favorite home furnishings store, pick out the first pleasing arrangement you see, buy it and plunk it down in your home. While it will probably be pretty it won't be "YOU." when I create vignette's in my home I go about it the way an artist goes about creating a painting- it’s a labor of love, created with materials I love, objects that mean something to me. Go through your home and find special items that mean something to you. Your wedding photo in a beautiful silver frame, great! Grandma's antique teacup you inherited, perfect! Seashells you found on your honeymoon, fabulous!
Color Your World.
Vignette's can be wonderful opportunities to inject some life into a stale room. choose colors that compliment the room's dominate color scheme and will help the vignette blend in. that being said, sometimes I will incorporate little "pops" of contrasting color into a vignette which helps give it life and makes things interesting. Flowers and fruit do this incredibly.
Play The Odds.
One of the first things I learned (from my creative and artistic Momma) about accessorizing a space was that items grouped in odd numbers are more visually appealing than items in even numbers. For some reason it is just more pleasing to the eye. Does this mean you can't use the pair of beautiful crystal candlesticks you love? No way! Absolutely use them! Just put a vase filled with flowers between them! So long as you end up with an odd number of objects in the end.
High And Low.
Vary the height of objects in your vignette. If everything in your vignette is the same height it becomes boring. Use books or boxes to help elevate items and give them a stage on which to shine!
Back To Front.
Layering your items helps to create a sense of depth and helps to keep the eye moving, making a vignette visually appealing. Create a backdrop by hanging a mirror or painting on the wall behind a vignette or by simply leaning it against the wall. Arrange items from back to front instead of simply in a straight line along the length of your surface. This helps draw people into your vignette and study it, and isn't that the point?!? Why spend all that time and effort just to have people pass it by? Layer, layer, layer.
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| {Elizabeth Kimberly Designs} |
Texturize.
Mix up the textures of the objects you use in your vignette. Hard and shiny next to rough and natural. Place a shiny silver photo frame next to a vase filled with soft fluffy flowers like hydrangea. A piece of coral placed on top of a mirrored tray along with a pretty candle.
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| {Veranda} |
Mix It Up!
Think of your vignette as evolving. Keep it fresh by changing things up. You don’t have to display everything all at once by changing things up you get to "rotate" your accessories. Incorporating seasonal items is another way you can do this.
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| {Decor Pad} |
Take A Chance!
Experiment! Play! Use your imagination! Designing vignettes is a great way to play creatively without spending a ton of money on new furniture. Have fun!
