Beyond Vignettes: The Secrets to Giving Your Home Life and Heart
Inside: How to bring life to your home without being staged and weird. Instead, you need to know how to have pretty things that you use. Yes, it’s that simple.
Vignettes are weird, right? Arranging groups of things in our houses that are supposed to look homey and natural, yet they can’t be touched?
The word vignette is actually a literary term that means to show a glimpse of something, to take a little snippet of a piece of writing to show the whole picture.
And at home, that is what vignettes in decorating are trying to accomplish. They are things from our lives, attractively arranged to tell the story of what goes on in that room. When it happens naturally, it gives a house soul.
The Problem with Vignettes
But…what if your life is not all Burberry raincoats and beautiful scales? What if everything you have is plastic stuff from Kohl’s and is hiding in the closet? Well, then the problems start. Everything is put away when you are done with it…. because it is ugly. So the house looks lifeless, and the urge to set up vignettes starts.
So, the solution we found was to pull out an excerpt from a fake story. “Here is a glimpse of my life, just me reading antique books and enjoying these large vintage dice.”
Or perhaps something like this:
Oh dear.
Embracing Attractive Utility
What if, instead of that, we searched for things that were attractive and actually useful? It’s not theoretically useful, like an antique rake hanging over the mudroom bench. (Even though I think that looks really cute.). But things that will be used by us.
Like a pretty watering can left out on the porch that is also used to water the flowers. Or wooden spoons and rolling pins used regularly, not just sitting there.
And what if the functional things of life were pretty? Cleaners are poured into clear bottles instead of ones with tacky labels. Cutting boards made of wood, not plastic. Dish towels in patterns we like and colors that go with the house.
Then stuff could be out. If people walked into our homes unexpectedly, it would be okay! Because the stuff itself is not ugly.
Our homes would seem alive naturally, instead of looking like a constant Home Goods ad, or like mine, looking perpetually empty because I stuff everything inside a closet or in the office that no one dares enter.
How to Start Making the Shift
Attractive utility will be my new guideline for buying anything I might need. My broom is dying, and instead of replacing it with another hideous, shiny plastic one, I’ll be getting a pretty one like this. Avoiding plastic will generally result in a more attractive item, as will looking for something that could be, or is, handmade.
And while attempting to decorate my empty, beige house, I’ll be looking for things that will function, not just sit there. Except flowers. And pictures. And pumpkins. Now I’m really confused.
Examples of “Attractive Utility” in Everyday Life
- Kitchen:
- A ceramic crock on the counter holding frequently used wooden spoons and spatulas.
- A colorful tea kettle is displayed on the stovetop, always ready for use.
- Open shelving showcasing a collection of mismatched mugs that get regular rotation.
- Bathroom:
- Apothecary jars on the counter filled with bath salts, cotton balls, or Q-tips.
- A woven basket holding rolled hand towels instead of stacks in a linen closet.
- A vintage bar cart repurposed to store toiletries and display a small succulent.
- Living Spaces:
- A cozy throw blanket draped over the arm of a chair, inviting you to curl up.
- A small stack of your current favorite reads on the coffee table.
- A tray on an ottoman holding a lit candle and a vase of fresh flowers.
What do you think about vignettes? Love them or hate them? Or perhaps you are a normal person and have never given them a second thought? Let me know!
By Katie Shaw
Katie shares simple, reliable recipes from her home in Virginia, where she lives with her husband, three daughters, a chocolate lab, and over thirty chickens.
Wow! Another person like us! My husband and I joke about how our tiny cottage of a home is a repository for our families’ cast-off items, particularly vintage and antique collections. (Think milk glass, clay-ware dinnerware, furniture, etc.) We chuckle, however, most people who enter our home immediately comment on how warm, cozy and inviting our home is. We always. take it as a compliment! Our taste is very different from most folks we know and we are glad for it! We have been doing our own version of “Cottage/Dark Academia/Gothic Core” for years and now they are all a thing! People always ask about our very well-loved entertainment center, which is actually an antique buffet my mom painted black back in the 1960’s and where we got it. It is a very unique piece with chipped paint and some bowing, but it is a charming piece that I literally grew up with. I am so glad I asked her for it when she was going to get rid of it to move to another state. Honestly, it is one of my most prized possessions!
We also have a 1940’s floor lamp that had belonged to my
maternal grandparents, that makes our home super cozy with a flame effect bulb in it. It needed to be rewired, so I did it right before lockdown in 2020. When I saw it lit for the first time since I was a kid, it made me cry to know a piece of my grandparents’ home was brought back to life. It is now connected to a timer and used every night! Such a treasure to us!
We have only really purchased 2 big pieces of furniture ever for our home, as most has been given to us by family over the years. We are so blessed to have these treasures!
Anyway, I feel you would appreciate our little home and its much loved and eclectic contents!
Our next project will be to refinish the wood top of a 1990’s baker’s rack a dear friend gave us that has become our coffee/tea bar. It will be fun!
Keep doing what you are doing and you will have the coziest home on your block! Grandma Core rules, too!
Excellent article, I recently donated a load of stuff that I neither used or liked. Now old meaningful items which I love and use take there place. If it doesn’t bring a smile to my face it goes. Life is too short to worry about an item not fitting in with current trends.
The only time I will be using a vignette is when we put our home on the market later this year but I’ll still try and keep the essence of this family home.
Hey Diane, thank you! It sounds like you’ve made great choices for your home. Keeping things that bring you joy is the best way to create a space you love. And I agree, trends don’t matter as much as what makes you happy. Good luck with selling your home! Keeping it feeling like “home” while staging it sounds like a great plan.
Hi Katie! I so enjoy reading your blog, I love your ideas! I am one, who loves vignettes. I enjoy putting items together, on a tray or in a basket. I decorate with some things, that I do actually use. I appreciate your words of wisdom.
We took two antique wooden ladders from an old barn, refinished them and use them to hang cozy blankets. Double win….freeing up closet space.
wonderful post, favorite line “Or perhaps you are a normal person and have never given them a second…” 😂
I am not a normal person and I love vignettes, especially functional kitcheny ones!
Hey Sarah, thank you! I’m so glad you liked that line.
So glad I found you! I’ve been trying to prettify the practical for a while now.
I tend to overbuy things I love and then have to try to squeeze them in, though.
Work in progress.
I also just started preparing myself to pick up the new hobby of sourdough, so this is a double win!
Have a blessed holiday!!
hi Karrie! we will be best friends now! 🙂
Vignettes displayed in the rooms of our homes. are a reflection of the people that live in those homes. They display our curiosities. our passions, our interests and they tell a story of who we are, where we came from and what sparks joy in our lives. Those vignettes are a window into the life of who lives in that home. Be they a stack of gardening books. family photos., cherished antiques, a basket of quilts, a box of beautiful shells or rocks acquired on vacations, or a collection of some kind.
All those “things” make your house a home. So don’t cram them away in a closet or a cupboard, set them out and let the world see who you really are.
Hi Lorraine, thank you so much for sharing such a thoughtful comment!:)