Illustration for article titled How To Make Vignettes That Really Contract A RoomPhoto: Followtheflow (Shutterstock)

Back when we were allowed to visit other people freely in their homes, you may have noticed that some seemed to have an area of ​​knickknacks or other “decorative pieces” that were somehow grouped and somehow … worked. It didn’t look like random trash taking up space or the check-in aisle of a household item – it looked casual yet deliberate. That was a vignette, and you can do one too, probably with things that are already in your house. Here is what to do.

What exactly is a vignette?

In interior design, a vignette is just a grouping of deliberately arranged objects in places such as side tables, coffee tables, shelves or coats. in the an article for Doornob.comDawn Hammon explains vignettes as follows:

Most of the time, vignettes attract the eye and create interesting focal points within a room. And while they are a great way to proudly display your precious possessions, vignettes can just as easily become crowded eyesores.

Here’s how to create a vignette that balances natural looks – but not some tchotchkes that just fell on a shelf – without looking staged.

How to create vignettes that hold a room together

This takes a little more thought than opening the closet or going to the attic, finding a few things, and then arranging them. Here are six areas that Hammon suggests focusing on that when compiling a vignette:

  1. style
    Your vignette could have a topic, but it doesn’t have to be. The aim is to find elements that complement each other in some way. “When you’re collecting historical artifacts, putting them all together on one shelf can get overwhelming,” writes Hammon. “Instead, try to put all the parts from specific eras into smaller groups. If you only have a few pieces, pair them with framed artwork, historical information, or tapestries. “
  2. distance
    How you put the items in the vignettes is also important: Hammon says they should be spaced a reasonable distance to avoid blocking one object with another. “If you have too many items to cover an area, create two vignettes instead,” she says.
  3. height
    Make the vignette more eye-catching by using objects of different heights so that it looks more like a skyline than a display of the same items in a store. “While the entire collection is made up of seashells, you can put them in different sizes of vases, with larger ones at the back and loose ones at the front,” Hammon writes. “If your items are really all the same size, consider adding risers to the back row to create at least more levels.”
  4. texture
    The presence of several textures in a room – even in a vignette – is also eye-catching. So you can mix glass, fabric, wood, metal, leaves, etc.
  5. colour
    We’re not talking about it in a kind of early 2000s “Pop of Color”, but rather paying attention to the color and background when arranging a vignette. As Hammon points out, white figures on a white background aren’t going to add much to your space.
  6. Personalize
    If you have things that you’ve kept over the years because they mean something, or if you just like the way they look, include them in the vignette. This also ensures that it’s a reflection of you and your interests – and not that you walk into an IKEA and recreate one of their staged rooms piece by piece.

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