Ok – Vignettes I get, but Baseboards?! You might be asking yourself, “What the heck is she talking about?” Well, I’ll tell you!
In my ongoing quest for decorating knowledge, I often spend a lot of time looking at rooms I like. And after that, trying to figure out why I like them! (Or alternatively, if I don’t like them, trying to figure out why not.) If I think it’s elegant, why do I think it’s elegant?
After many years of this kind of behavior, it’s inevitable that I would come to some conclusions. And while really expensive furnishings certainly don’t hurt, what I’m talking about can be had for free. It doesn’t matter what decorating style. All the elegant rooms I’ve seen have two things in common.
One ~ You Can See the Baseboards
Now, I know this is a really odd one. But in every room I’ve ever seen where I thought “Wow what an elegant room,” you could see the baseboards. The edge of the floor where it meets the wall is always mostly visible.
You’d think with all my thinking, I’d have figured out the reasons for this phenomenon. But I really only have theories. Maybe it’s the sense of spaciousness you get by seeing the corners and edges of a room. Maybe it’s just that if you can see the baseboards, that means by definition, there’s less clutter in the room. But whatever the reasons, the result stands.
For instance, the picture above. Other than the large mirror leaning against the wall, you can see the entire baseboard in this corner. Before I realized this “see the baseboard” concept, I would have filled the corner with stuff. (For instance, a music rack, stacks of sheet music and books, baskets, maybe a cabinet.) All up against the walls, covering the baseboards.
Which is not to say that you can’t have anything up against the walls. But the more baseboard you can see, the more elegant your room!
Two ~ They Contain Vignettes
Another thing that makes a room elegant, is vignettes. Those little focal points that draw your eye. Instead of just being jumbled on tables or put into corners, vignettes display their owner’s possessions artistically. Besides being elegant and pleasing to look at, they add interest to a room. They’re so easy to do, and give you a chance to express your home’s unique personality!
(A sort of secondary aspect I’ve noticed about vignettes is that they work best when the rest of the horizontal surface is clear. Just like the baseboard deal, the more horizontal surface you can see, the more elegant.)
A vignette can be purely decorative, like this one above. Or it can be functional, like the one below.
In fact, you might be able to use some of the things you took away from the baseboards, to make vignettes in your room! That’s exactly what I did with these weaving and knitting tools. Now instead of being hard to reach and obscuring the baseboards, they’re a pretty, usable vignette next to my loom.
The typical rules with vignettes are to use an odd number of items, and vary the heights. I would also add keep them just a little away from the edges. Also put them close to each other, but not squished. These are good places to start. However, in decorating, no rule is hard and fast. (Unless you’re doing a period room, or competition, or something!) So if, for instance, you have an even number of things, that’s no problem. Just go with what makes you happy.
Collections
It’s great – and convenient – to use items from your collections in your vignettes. If you collect corks, for instance, you might line them up on your dining room window sill. You might have so many that you need two rows!
The really great thing about using your collections, is that they’re things you enjoy seeing! You wouldn’t have collected them if you didn’t enjoy them, right? (If you did, I’d suggest rethinking that, and making space for something you do enjoy!)
Besides corks, there are several other collections we have at our house. One of them didn’t really start out as a collection, it just kind of ended up that way.
We had a young guest at our place one weekend. She told us that she liked coming to our house because it was fun to try to find the animal in each room! I think I said “Huh?” But it turns out, she was right! We did have some kind of little figurine-ish animal in each room!
Books
Books are a really good thing to include in vignettes. They might fall into the collection category. But even if not, they’re great for structure. You can choose them because of the various heights, colors, sizes, or what have you. You can lean them against a wall, as in the picture above.
Or stack them. Or put other things on top of them – the variations are limitless!
CDs, DVDs, or Records
While most music and movies are streamed these days, many of us still love albums, CDs, and DVDs. If you have these, they’re perfect to use in your vignettes. You can use them just like books – line up, stack, lean – and create a little display that makes you happy. Maybe even include an animal, for instance!
Candles
Candles are great – and easy – things to use in your vignettes. Just group some at one end of your horizontal surface! It’s more interesting if you have different heights. And they don’t have to match. These above (from another post here,) are all brass. But if you want a more casual look, you could use different kinds altogether.
Add in a couple other items if you want. A greeting card, for instance. This is one we got from my sister and brother in law for our wedding. It says “Eat, Drink, and Be Married,” which is perfect for us! We love it so much that it lives in our dining room where we can see it every time we eat and drink!
Flowers
Plants and flowers are also a wonderful inclusion. Besides being another element in your vignette, they add instant elegance.
If you don’t have a garden, or don’t want to be buying fresh flowers all the time, there are lovely faux varieties available.
Heirlooms
Family heirlooms are perfect for vignettes! For instance, the wooden music box above. It’s grouped with some of our other beloved possessions, and of course an animal – Phil the sea monster!
So, I hope that’s given you some ideas for vignettes, and creating elegance in your home. I’d love to hear about your displays, and what you think about the baseboard concept! Chime in with a Comment below, and Happy Decorating!
———- Shop for Vignettes ———-
Click on the pictures below to shop. Although a lot of the items in this post are custom or no longer available, I’ve sourced some that are similar. There are also some items that would just be fun to use in vignettes!
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All so pretty!! Makes me want to do a walk around and spruce up my vignettes this afternoon! Thanks for linking up at Charming Homes & Gardens!
Thanks so much Kristin! You always have lovely vignettes – they make me want to go swimming at the lake! 🙂 I’ll see you over at CH&G soon!
What a great observation Barbara. I never thought about the baseboards – I think I take them for granted, being in every home we have owned. In our present home, we have really high baseboards I think 8″ and it really makes a difference in the room as opposed to the 4″ ones. Great post!
Thanks Denise! We have the tall baseboards too – love them! 😊 Thanks so much for stopping by. I love uour comments!