I love a good vignette

First, thanks to all of you who shared your skincare feedback!  I really appreciate it! I will keep you posted on what changes I end up making... Now, it's back to design.

We have this joke in our house that I'm always rearranging things with Philip remaining pretty oblivious to it all.  If he wasn't so good at staying on top of our credit card statement and keeping track of our budget, I could probably get away with making some pretty big time changes.  Often times a conversation between us will go something like this:

Anne:  "Sooo, notice anything different around here?"
Philip:  "uuhhh, I don't know.  Did you create a new vignette or something?"

My witty husband has heard me speak fondly of artfully arranged items, and while his comments are typically delivered somewhat tongue-in-cheek, the fact still remains:  I love a good vignette.

Some of you may find this sentiment to be a bit extreme, but I'm telling you, when things are arranged in a beautiful way, I feel something.  And I'm fascinated, really, by the creative process this entails.  It feels sort of like working a puzzle, only there are a myriad of different ways the finished puzzle could look--each different, yet really lovely.

Ok, I feel like this is getting a little heady.  How about I just share some of my favorite vignettes?

Source: room-polish.blogspot.com via Anne on Pinterest

Source: theglitterguide.com via Anne on Pinterest

Source: littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com via Anne on Pinterest

Source: emilyaclark.blogspot.com via Anne on Pinterest

Source: housebeautiful.com via Anne on Pinterest

source: newlyweddiaries via pinterest

Source: twoellie.blogspot.com via Anne on Pinterest

Our entry table has perplexed me for a while now.  We are using a skirted table that was used in our dining room in our old house, and it's a pretty big surface.  There's also the cut-out for the staircase behind it to consider.  Oh, and the walls are pretty ho-hum (which I probably would have painted were we going to live here for more than a year and if the entire first floor wasn't basically open, making it very difficult to paint just one area) and there's bluish-gray carpeting happening underfoot.  Neither of these things excites me too much, but I'm dealing with it.

I didn't set out and go buy a bunch of things that I thought I should place on my entry table.  I've tried to accumulate things (over time) that I like and that have meaning to me, and then find places to put them in my house.  In this case, after I arranged our entry table, I realized for the first time since living in this house that it felt pleasing to my little eye.  I thought it could be interesting (really for myself, if for no one else!) to sort of pick it apart and think through why I feel like it works.

When I look at my own arrangement, I think that many of the same basic principles that exist in some of the images I posted above are also present, in some degree or another.

• Objects of varying heights are included (vase of flowers and plant are both taller yet not the exact same height, picture frames are lower).  
• The power of three is at play--on both sides, there are three objects of varying heights/shapes.  This wasn't intentional, but analyzing it now, I can see it.  
• Different textures are present (iron/metal lamp base, fabric table skirt, greenery from plant).  
• The color scheme is kept pretty neutral (with the exception of the painting and the tulips), which in the case of a larger collection of items like this keeps the entire arrangement from feeling cluttered and chaotic.  
• While the palette is neutral, the shades vary, so it still feels interesting (and not flat) to my eye.  
• Tones and colors are repeated so things feel intentional and connected to one another (matting in the frame matches color of urn, color of tulips comes from painting, colors in all three picture frames are repeated in each other)

And because I always think it's fun to know the sources, I'll share mine with you.

-lamp: HomeGoods (years ago)

-painting: gift from my brother, Taylor, who is quite the world traveler.  He bought it in Cartagena 

 Colombia!  {Matting and framing done by me at The Pottery in Williamsburg, VA....hands down the 

 most inexpensive place to get custom framing done!  It's worth the drive if you're relatively close!}

-plant: fern in urn given to me by mother in law many years ago

-tulips:  Trader Joes (I love Trader Joes and I love tulips!) in a milk glass vase I found at Goodwill.  

-silver tray: wedding gift, Pottery Barn

-china dish (on tray): Estate Specialists in Lynchburg, Va

-artichoke candle-Christmas gift from my hubby, from High Street Market

-picture frames:TJMaxx, HomeGoods, and/or Marshalls.

-fabric for table:Barbara Barry for Kravet Poetical, purchased at U-Fab in Richmond (at a major 

 discount!)

-umbrella holder: basically free, got it from Craigslist (I was buying something else and they were getting rid of this :)