How to Create a Vignette

One of my favorite things to do as far as decorating goes is to put together little decorative vignettes. In the design world, a vignette is a grouping or arrangement of things, usually on a shelf or a table of some sort.

It’s not always easy to arrange things and have them look balanced or “just right,” so I thought I would share some tips and tricks with you that I’ve picked up along the way.

I’m not a designer, but I think my years of binge watching HGTV, er, I mean, immersing myself in the design and blogging world have allowed me to learn a thing or two, so I’ll try to simplify it for you and share some of my favorite items to incorporate, plus break down the basics of how to create a vignette.

How to Create a Vignette {The Basics}:

1. Mix Materials and Textures

Combine a variety of color, pattern, texture and materials to create interest. Mix wood and metal, for example, or soft textiles with brass or marble. Mix it up.

2. Vary Heights

Layer and vary the height of the items in your vignette.

Allow your eye to gradually make the transition from tall to short by adding items of all different heights. Start with something tall in the back, and then a little shorter, and then a little shorter, until you make your way to the bottom.

If you have something super tall and then something super short and nothing in between, it doesn’t look well balanced.

{Living Room/Mom Cave}

3. Incorporate Natural Elements

Add life to your arrangement with a small houseplant or vase of flowers. Whenever I am photographing a vignette, I never feel like it’s complete unless I have some sort of plant or flower or something “living”.

{Family Room}

{Dining Room}

Even dried flowers will do in a pinch. I also love adding other items from nature, like the geodes in our entryway (which I gilded with liquid gold leaf), or seagrass baskets.

4. Use the Rule of 3/Odd Numbers

This is actually a design principle, and apparently items grouped in threes or in odd numbers are more appealing to the eye.

It creates visual interest, and you’ll find this principle often in interior design and even photography. (The “Rule of Thirds.”) You’ll find that the more you play around with decorating, the more you will do this by accident, just because it naturally looks best.

I attended a photo styling class at the Haven Conference recently, and Lucy from Craftberry Bush touched on this during the session.

I also noticed this recently when I was styling this photo of a bowl of cherries (below), for example. I ended up putting 3 cherries on the table. It wasn’t something I consciously did, it’s just what looked best to me. The same principle carries over into decorating.

My Favorite Vignette Items:

Some of my favorite items to include in vignettes are:

• Books: You can find inexpensive books at thrift stores or antique markets if you don’t have many in your collection and you don’t want to spend a pretty penny on them. You can use pretty gift wrap or decorative paper to make custom book covers, which creates interest and makes them blend seamlessly into your decor.
• Art/Photos: I love to create my own art (like this, this, this or this), but free printable art is readily available on the web. Minted is another favorite source for art, and of course you can always scour thrift stores or find art secondhand.
• Plants/Flowers: I often pick flowers from our yard (we were lucky that the previous owners planted a rose garden and hydrangeas), but my favorite source for reasonably priced fresh flowers is Trader Joe’s.

When I’m putting together an arrangement, the first thing I usually do is “shop” my house and go around collecting things from different rooms that I might not have normally put together, and I play around and see what works well together and what doesn’t.

I also love incorporating thrift store or flea market finds in my vignettes because it saves me money and I can often find more unique and interesting items to put together, making the room look and feel more “collected” rather than generic. Using decorative trays is a great way to group items together too.

I hope this is helpful and that you’ve gathered some ideas to put into practice at home! I think the best way to get started is to pin images or look through magazines and figure out what exactly you love about the vignettes you see, then try to put your own spin on it and replicate it in your own home.

What are your favorite items to decorate with? I would love to know!

For more blog posts, check out my project gallery here.

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Thanks for visiting!

-Erin