You’ve had a lovely time putting together the items you want to use in your latest vignette. You’ve thought about colour, textures, a theme and more.
Now it’s the moment of truth – styling the vignette. But then comes the burning question – do you put the items close together or spread them out in order to make the best visual impact?
This decision can be exacerbated by the surface you’re using. When you have a long, narrow surface, such as a hall dresser, it’s tempting to evenly space the items along the dresser, and so fill up the space.
Alternatively, if you’re not quite so concerned about rigid spacing, you might just randomly place the items across the surface.
No! Stop right there! It’s important that your items are placed in cohesive groups. Otherwise you risk your vignette looking like a box of stuff was tipped out on the surface at random. Or that it was arranged by a robot with a ruler.
The trick is to get a little cosy. Take 3 items, place them together, and make it clear they’re in a group by putting them close together. If you’re stacking items that happens naturally, but otherwise it’s the way you orient the items to each other that creates the cohesive, styled look you’re after.
Ah, I hear you asking, but how do you avoid ending up with a little group of objects looking swamped if they’re huddled together in the middle of a very large space?
In that scenario, have more than one grouping, rather than spreading them out, and if possible add some low-hanging artwork or a mirror on the wall behind so the end effect isn’t too linear. In essence, you create another vignette of 3 using the two groupings and the art.
One thing to remember with cosying up items if they’re on a central table is that they can be viewed from any angle – so take the time to check out the group from all angles and make sure they’re connected, but that there’s still some space to get the full visual impact from every direction.