The first fall decorating is always so exciting! Every change of season brings a feeling of newness, freshness, and that feeling of turning a new page in the book of life.
But…
It can be easy to over-analyze, over-think, and succumb to the need to do everything, all at once, right now.
This year, I’m taking a gentler approach with changing the seasonal decor in my home and it all starts with a simple, inviting, easy Autumn Vignette.
And in this post, we’re going to break it down… to dissect it if you will, to come up with a vignette formula that lets us easily and quickly create islands of seasonal decor.
I also have a YouTube video where I build this vignette live and discuss the way the elements work together harmoniously so check that out if you’re interested!
First, the Non-Annotated Photos
Before we start dissecting things, here are some photos of the vignette I created to start shifting my home into autumn.
I created this vignette on the top of a drop-down writing desk/dresser that lives in the parlor. It’s a clever piece; the top folds in half, and lifting the front half of the top allows the top “drawer” to drop open into a writing surface.
I decided to take advantage of this larger surface and make a fairly deep vignette, mainly because I wanted to showcase this gorgeous lattice-work white ginger jar that was a very lucky HomeGoods find!
It’s a fairly large jar and needs a surface to sit on that works with its scale!
To give it some more depth I used pinecones to fill the inside and give the whole piece some more visual weight.
New Items in this Vignette:
Green velvet runner – $14.99 at Marshalls (Tahari Home)
Ginger Jar – $59.99 at Home Goods
Large Gilded Acorns – $5.99 each at Marshalls
Thrifted, DIY, and Already-Owned Items:
Brown Transferware Platter – Thrifted, $1.00 (No Maker’s Mark)
Candles – Colonial Candle, Thrifted, $0.25/each (or thereabouts)
Green Bullion Fringe – Thrifted, $0.25 Can you believe how it EXACTLY matches the velvet runner??
Fluted/Scalloped Glass Bobeches – $2/each
14″ Hurricane Glass Candle Shades – One Thrifted ($1), One New ($5 on sale from Hobby Lobby)
Ironstone Plates – Thrifted, $0.50/each
Pinecone Picks – DIY/Free, see this post and the video below for details on how to make these little darlings from hemlock pinecones and branches from the yard!
Total cost of this Vignette, just for funsies: ~$99.21
Thrifting really does make for affordable, unique, interesting decorating!
And here’s a view of the finalized vignette. Well, for now haha – you all know things will give moved around throughout the season! On the wall is an antique mirror that came from my parents’ estate and the wreath I made several years ago before I’d even considered blogging or creating content for YouTube!
I just love the colors of this wreath, I think they bridge the summer-to-autumn timeframe so well!
OK, lets break down why a vignette like this works! Understanding the visual architecture more plainly will make it easier to create vignettes easily and quickly going forward as the seasons change and new items come and go from our collections!
Visual Parameters
Color
Shapes
Replicating shapes, especially in groups of three, makes the eye really happy!
The way the points form when the candles are lit reflects the point on the top of the ginger jar. The group of three similar shapes gives an impression of balance and equal visual weight!
Another example of shape continuity shows up in the repetition of curves in this vignette. In the three photos below, you can see how this is reflected both horizontally and vertically.
The curved shapes of the hurricane glass reflect the curvy shape of the ginger jar. The glass gives the impression of a shape, especially when the candles are lit and there is shine on the glass, while also being transparent and not being as visually heavy as the ginger jar.
Ok that’s kind of a lot to look at, so lets break it down further!
Curves in the oval mirror, round wreath, rounded acorns, and oval platter.
And here, curves in the round base of the jar, the curved acorns, and the round cream plates reflect the oval shapes of the mirror and platter.
Height, Symmetry, and Balance
Groups of three similar shapes, of similar height. We already covered the similarly curvy nature of these three items, but they also serve another purpose.
Glass items are lovely ways of giving the impression of height without having to fill the space with a solid object. The line at the top of the hurricane glass draws the eye and give it a parameter
Texture & Motifs
The cross-hatch pattern in the Ginger Jar lattices, the striations in the top of the acorns, and the quilted border of the runner all create underlying textural continuity with the similar shapes!
And look! There are tiny acorns quilted into the runner! This one isn’t in triplicate but the effect is nice all the same!
I hope this helped you get a deeper understanding of how simple and easy it is to create beautiful vignettes in any season. Once you understand the “template” or “formula” that pleases our brains, creating beautifully balanced vignettes becomes a breeze!
Go forth and decorate! Embrace the season!
