apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time


Looks Neat, Stays Neat: Using Vignettes To Tidy Your Home

112508-vignettes.jpgVignettes -- small groupings of objects -- are not only a pleasing option for decorating your home and for showing off the small collections of art or trinkets you've amassed over the years, they can also make your home look orderly and neat when they're thoughtfully arranged. After the jump, a couple of tricks that help you arrange the objects in your own home...

 
 
  • Group your objects in odd numbers: For some reason this is most pleasing to the eye
  • Group objects together by colour: Put objects together that are all the same colour and suddenly, your collection goes from messy to ordered. You can also group objects by tone. Warm coloured objects (reds, oranges, yellows), cool ones (greens and blues) or metallics.
  • Group objects together by kind: For example, a group of square picture frames, balls piled in a basket or curvy perfume bottles.
  • Perfectly balanced not so good: Better if some objects are taller and some are shorter. Different levels also work.
  • Advanced: Bring in one object that stands out from the rest of the group in some way but still ties in. Try mixing two groups together.
Don't limit your groupings to a coffee table or a book shelf; try it in your linen closet, under your sink or in your clothes closet to bring order to these often messy spaces.

The One and Only Jet Guer's Flickr, from the Apartment Therapy LA Group Pool

Tags

organizing, vignettes, groups, arranging, putting things in order

Related Links

Share

Comments (6)

A design trick: arrange everything in triangles. Note the picture frames above.

posted by whytephoenix on November 25th 2008 at 3:01pm
view whytephoenix's profile

I believe that the reason odd numbers work is that the human brain easily and automatically divides by 2 for any group of objects under 8 total.

Since odd numbers cannot be divided evenly, they are more pleasing since this mental impulse to divide cannot be done.

It's like magic. :)

posted by amygdaloides on November 25th 2008 at 3:12pm
view amygdaloides's profile

Wow, that's a really gorgeous vignette in the lead pic!

posted by ChrisToronto on November 25th 2008 at 4:24pm
view ChrisToronto's profile

But I do love symmetry. So many things are better in pairs.

posted by Palmetto on November 25th 2008 at 5:11pm
view Palmetto's profile

I prefer the word tableaux. It is more fun to say.

posted by Seaside on November 26th 2008 at 10:40am
view Seaside's profile

I can't wait to make little vignettes under the kitchen sink...
well, maybe I can.

posted by gordon on November 26th 2008 at 1:13pm
view gordon's profile