Have you ever stepped into someone’s home, and it has that indescribable welcoming and inviting feel to it? It has a certain je ne sais quoi. You can’t quite put your finger on what exactly it is that makes the home feel special, but you know it when you see it.
I have often walked around my home and felt that there was something missing but I wasn’t quite sure what it was exactly. Everything was neat and tidy (yes, I confess, I’m a habitual straightener upper). Even though everything was in its place it just felt flat, it didn’t have any oomph. It lacked pizazz. It needed some panache, a good dose of va-va-va-voom!
What if I told you that you can take your home from ho-hum, to fabulous by adding only one thing? What if I told you it only takes a few minutes and will cost you little to nothing to achieve? In fact, you probably already have almost everything you need. And…it’s one of the things I love doing the most when it comes to home décor.
So what is this magical, fun touch that will take your home from ho-hum to fabulous with just a few minutes of your time?
Vignettes are the secret ingredient.
I wrote a blog post a while back on creating spring themed vignettes, you can see the post here. Today I want to dig into this topic a little deeper and provide you with more information and design inspiration so you can master the art of creating beautiful vignettes in your home.
and the natural landscape that is just outside our window.
I encourage you to take some time to hone your vignette creating skills and find a formula that works for you. Not sure where to even start? Today I want to share lessons I’ve learned and provide some helpful tips to inspire you and get your creative juices going.
Once you have a little practice, and gain a little confidence, you will see how much fun it can be creating beautiful vignettes throughout your home. You will quickly figure out what works for you. It takes a little practice, but because they are so fun and easy to create, if you are not happy with how something looks, you can quickly and easily change it up in just a few minutes.
A cautionary note! Creating vignettes is addictive and can quickly get out of hand. There is a point where too many vignettes in a room will not add that wonderful feeling of je ne sais quoi to your home; instead, your rooms will look cluttered and make you feel anxious because there are just too many tchotchkes.
Your eye needs empty spaces to rest, otherwise it just becomes too much visual noise. The empty spaces will highlight your vignette(s) and allow them to stand out, get noticed, and appreciated. The goal is to add your personality to your home with highlighted accent pieces in a way that feels natural and makes sense; not a home filled with tchotchkes covering every flat surface. It will feel cluttered, overdone and contrived. Plus your husband will grumble and complain if there isn’t anywhere to set down his beer when he’s trying to relax and watch TV. Grumpy husbands are no fun! LOL!
If every horizontal surface in a room has a vignette, it is time to edit and remove some items. Less is definitely more when it comes to adding vignettes to your home! A good rule of thumb is to have no more than one vignette in each room. If your living spaces are large you can get away with two, but one should be the main focal point and the other should be much smaller and take second stage to the main vignette in the room.
Remember the kids rhyme, The Farmer in the Dell? The end of the song was, “…the cheese stands alone, the cheese stands alone, high, ho, the dairy-oh, the cheese stands alone”. Vignettes are like the cheese; to really make an impact, they need to stand alone. Use restraint, less is better, more is too much!
TIP: Keep your eye out when you’re at thrift stores, craft fairs or garage sales. Look for unique items that you could use as a vase. I have found some of my loveliest, unique pieces at thrift stores or garage sales for just a dollar or two.
For example, let’s say you have created a lovely vignette to accent your coffee table but you also have another one on a side table in the same room. The vignette on the coffee table should be the main focal point; you want it to be where your eye is drawn when you come into the room. The vignette on the side table should coordinate and be much smaller than the main one on the coffee table. The vignette on the coffee table should take center stage; it is the star of the show! The vignette on the side table will only be playing a supporting role.
Having a neutral backdrop makes it so easy to use items in any room of your home, it gives you endless possibilities to create vignettes without having to purchase items that are specific to the color scheme of a particular room. You can easily move items around from one room to another and create a completely different look and feel in a room without spending a penny!
Think about creating vignettes that reflect the seasons and holidays that are approaching. It is so much easier and affordable (and fun) to change up a vignette than it is to move or replace furniture or bigger ticket items.
and a candle to create a romantic ambiance. Simple and elegant.
So think about changing things up! It will keep things in your home feeling fresh and new even though you may be using some of the same items over and over. By simply moving them around and using them in different ways, it will keep your home fresh and interesting.
these red, white and blue paper straws as a nod to the 4th of July.
Vignette is such a fancy word, but don’t let it intimidate you! You might be thinking that an everyday person couldn’t possibly put one together. You may think it takes some special training to learn how to create one. Well, I am here to tell you that anyone can put together a beautiful vignette and it’s not hard to do. In fact, it’s a whole lot of fun to create them throughout your home!
A vignette is a small grouping of objects that creates a pleasing focal point and “tells a story”.
There are a few simple things to keep in mind when you pull one together so that it looks visually pleasing and adds that je ne sais quoi to your home decor. Trust me, you don’t want to be featured on an episode of “Vignettes Gone Bad” or have your picture featured on a “Pinterest Fails” board, LOL!
First order of business; pick a theme. A seasonal theme like summer, fall, Christmas, the 4th of July. A food themed vignette for the kitchen or a spa inspired theme for your bathroom are lovely anytime of the year. Kitchen’s and bathrooms also lend themselves towards vignettes that combine both form and function.
Next you will want to corral your items on a tray. It can be a basket, a wooden tray, a silver platter, a charcuterie board, a table runner, a cutting board, a bed tray or even a placemat; any of these items would work. It will keep all the items in your vignette neatly corralled and grouped together.
It’s time to shop your house! Go through your décor items and start pulling items that you think will work with the theme you have in mind. Try to select items of different heights, pick tall items and shorter items. Your goal is to vary the heights of the items you are using in your vignette. You don’t want everything to be the same height and on the same plane, variations in how tall each of your items are will make for a more pleasing and interesting composition.
I have settled into a very simple formula for creating vignettes. You can use my formula or use a formula that works best for you. Feel free to rift off my formula to create something that is uniquely yours!
I typically use only three items per vignette. I like to keep it simple. I use primarily natural and organic elements in my vignettes. I have my standard set up and change out the flowers and seasonal items; I don’t recreate the entire vignette each time, I just tweak it a little.
My formula for creating the perfect vignette:
- Tray, basket or cutting board.
- Flowers, plants, cuttings, stems or branches.
- Candles, lanterns, or battery operated lights.
- Small seasonal item, i/e., figurine, or seashell, or pinecone.
- Risers to vary heights of objects when needed, i.e., books, coasters, pedestals, or candle holders.
Below is a list of items that I love to use when I create vignettes and will help to get your creative juices going.
Spring:
- Fresh cut flowers, tulips or daffodils
- A nest with eggs
- Bunny figurine
- Little chicks
- Lemons in a bowl
Summer:
- Ferns
- Palm fronds
- Fresh flowers
- Glass bowl or jar filled with corks
- Large starfish
- Small bowl of seashells
- Bird figurine
- Large pinecone
- Bowl of apples
Fall:
- Mums
- Small pumpkins
- Branches with fall foliage
- Bowl of acorns
- Bowl of pinecones
- Bowl of red Pomegranates
Winter:
- Christmas greenery
- Christmas figurines
- Christmas ornaments
- Lanterns
- Twigs and branches
Kitchen:
- Crock filled with wooden utensils
- Candles
- Salt and pepper shakers
- Fresh flowers
- Glass filled with silver utensils
- Stack of dishes used as a riser
- Sugar bowl & creamer
- Bowl of fruit
- White pitchers
Bathroom:
- Perfume bottles
- Candles
- Handcrafted soaps
- Lotions
- Glass jars filled with cotton balls or Q-tips
This is by no means an exhaustive list, just a few items to get you started. Use your imagination, almost anything can be used in a vignette. The next time you are out on a walk look all around you. Mother Nature has all kinds of lovely items that you can display in a vignette and those items are free. Who doesn’t love free?
Both beautiful & useful. Another example of form and function.
I encourage you to give this a try. Just be warned, that creating vignettes is a lot of fun and becomes addictive. Enjoy creating something beautiful in your home and please share pictures of the vignettes you create in the comments below! I would love to see them!