Vi-gnette: A breif incident or scene

Creating beautiful vignettes is one of the quickest and easiest ways to impart style and impact within your home decor. I love creating vignettes when I’m decorating someones home, because it allows me to take treasures, old and new and create the personality spots and points of interest within the space, similar to “window displays” within a store.

Vignettes can take on many looks and cover a small or large area, but regardless of what elements you use or where your vignette is, the rules of creating successful vignettes are the same. Here are the tips and techniques I use to create beautiful vignettes.

* Layering

* Balance

* Depth

* Texture

* Variety

* Connection

* Visual Interest–left to right & top to bottom

Layer, layer, layer! Whenever you create a vignette, you want to make sure that you layer items left to right and top to bottom. The plate in the photo above is positioned at the back of the vignette and draws your eye into the entire arrangement. The lamp is placed on books to elevate it and create a layer of height. And the spout of the teapot intersects the edge of the plate, cretaing a visual layer and depth. Layering is one of the important components of a beautiful vignette.

You can create a wall vignette by massing a group of photos and art together in a creative way. The candle sconces create visual interest that draws your eye left to right and the two images above the mirror draw you eye up. The arrangment of accessories on the chest draw you eye down, all the way to the floor. Check out how there are different heights within the accessories used, creating movement within the arrangement. And the edge of all the accessories and the lamp against the mirror intersect to visually link all the elements together.

Balance is another key componenet in creating a successful vignette. The visual weight of the metal finials is balanced with the mercury glass jar and smaller objects that sit with it. The eye is drawn up with the height of the mirror and down with the basket on the floor.

This beautiful vignette is created with a focused color palette and a variety of items. The mirror frame positioned slightly off center creates a balance for the tall orchid. The books on the ottoman offset the wrapped boxes on the table top and the throw blanket draped over the edge of the ottoman visually draws your eye down to the floor. Smaller objects used on the tabletop fill in the gaps wiwithout changing the composition of the grouping.

This is one of my favorite vignettes. While there are not alot of items within the arrangement, the impact is great. The wallpaper serves and a strong visual backdrop and grounds the entire collection of items. The frames add texture and depth, the lamp adds height and overlaps the frame to create layering. The white urn and chair cushions provide a visual contrast within the grouping. And don’t foret the carpet….subtle texture added to the mix.

This is a classic vignette where lamps are used to anchor the grouping and a variety of accessories are used for visual interest and impact. Love the black framed clock which reinforces the square and rectangular shapes within the grouping while at the same time serving a visual stopping point. The photos and art are layered and the grouping of items on the mirrored tray add depth and dimension. The entire vignette is balanced and connected.

Here are some other images of beautiful vignettes to inspire you!

The artwork is hero and the accessories which are all about the same size and scale are positioned as the foundation to the art.

Larger items are placed on the top shelf and smaller items ont he bottom shelf which connects the to larger furniture pieces on the floor, creating visual balance top to bottom.

Simple and beautiful!

Balance, texture, depth, variety

So there you have it, my take on creating vignettes. Take a look around your home and see if your vignettes need a little sprucing up or if there’s an empty spot just waiting for a beautiful vignette!

Have a great day!