Abigail Ahern
By the time you guys read this if all has gone to plan I should be about 3 hours away from sitting in a lush garden, drinking espresso martinis and chilling after a mammoth journey. It’s odd to leave the start of a London spring to full-on Chinese summer – hot, humid and steamy this side of the world!
Talking of spring, I love that it’s a time of renewal and of course a major time of revamping in my household. The M’s and G are not such huge fans but hey ho. If you’re not up for a huge overhaul, vignettes are such an easy way to mix things up and add instant personality to any spot! Could be a series of shelves, one shelf, a table, a mantle, it matters not. A lot of people seem to be put-off having a go, like it needs some magical “stylist’s touch”. Not so – if you’ve ever wondered how to create super cool tableaus or vignettes then let me give you a little insider knowledge.
1. Find an anchor
You need to identify a dominant piece. I’ve used my sculptures as the anchor as you’ll see above. They are the basis for this composition and everything else around will subtlety play off of them.
2. Next up introduce tall items
This is the annoying bit as I can’t show you but normally on this shelf is a super tall photograph that sits behind one of the sculptures (it was taken out for the shot when we were photographing my own label) but this could be anything really a lamp, a vase of flowers, anything that has height basically.
3. Add books
Books are integral so if you’ve got a small table or shelf add a stack of them. Books give you varying heights to play upon this. You can then layer up further (layers are super important) and plop a candle, some blooms a t-light on them. If like me you have shelves with rows of mags/books make sure to put some facing outwards, front facers Gem and I like to call them to break up the endless row of spines. The AA way of decorating is all about intriguing the eye and bedazzling it so breaking up rows of spines is super important.
4. Accessorise
Time for the smaller accessories – candles, t-light holders, and moneyboxes anything goes just remember to only add what you love. It will tell a story about you and add instant personality. In the back of your mind try and reign in the colour palette too, so that every piece you are adding does not fight for attention – your vignette will feel far more sophisticated that way.
5. Add some art
Don’t worry about buying ‘fancy art’. Flea market finds, tears from magazines, something printed off the computer, kids art, anything goes!
Finally stand back and critique. If anything looks too messy or fussy eliminate, it will take a bit of tweaking I’ve never pulled off a vignette in one hit, EVER I stand back, pull my hair quite a bit, leave the room, come back in, sometimes huff, occasionally puff but more than anything follow my instincts. If you want to add more add more, if you want to eliminate, eliminate!
And there you have it a mini masterclass in creating perfect vignettes every time.
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