The Power of Asymmetry in Decor Displays

One of the pleasures of decor is setting up displays or vignettes around the house. They can be totally temporary (tied to a certain holiday or time of year or created to celebrate a new "treasure" that you've just found) or practically permanent (we have some displays that just appeal to us so much that we live with them for years)...

Fresh flowers, photos, artwork, objects, souvenirs, food, letters, lighting...all of these disparate elements (high end to low, from fleeting to antiques) can come together to make a corner of your home really personal and special.

But one part of all of our displays is universal: asymmetry. We think that it is practically a visual REQUIREMENT that something be a bit "off" in a decor vignette. You simply need something off-scale, off-color or off-theme to make things interesting and visually appealing.

You know the (very true) fashion adage that you should always get dressed and then remove one element? We think the decor equivalent should be to set up your display and then add in something to throw it off.

Agree? Disagree? Discuss!

Image: Gemma Ahern Renovation via Freshome

Comments (4)

I have to disagree with the universality / "requirement" part.

I think the key to making visually appealing displays has less to do with following rules about symmetry vs. asymmetry, and more to do with knowing when to apply one or the other.

Symmetry done wrong can look too self-conscious, but done right and used sparingly, it can be a pretty powerful visual statement.

Asymmetry can also exist within a less obvious meta-symmetry.... like the important concept of "balance" in displays -- whereby asymmetrical elements are composed with offset counterpoints that use mass-scaling, color and other visual properties to form larger symmetries with respect to visual weight.

posted by lightspeed on September 17th 2009 at 1:09am
view lightspeed's profile

imo... much like in art/ a painting, symmetry or the lack of it depends on ones approach.

is the theme more traditional/ classical? are the decor part of a modern statement and thus need to have a more "radical" kind of placement?

:)

posted by lawrencevon on September 17th 2009 at 7:35am
view lawrencevon's profile

I agree that complete symmetry can seem forced; however, lightspeed brings up an important point about visual weight. There's a fine but critical line between asymmetrical and off-balance.

posted by ande2994 on September 17th 2009 at 11:19am
view ande2994's profile

Antlers and letters in the same display...me like! That's a wonderful deer head.

posted by aj on September 17th 2009 at 6:39pm
view aj's profile