The Art of a Tablescape

When decorating a room, most homeowners can figure out the basics of picking a paint color, furniture, toss pillows, wall art, even accessories. But when it comes down to the details, a question I often get is, “how do I arrange everything on an accent table to make it look pretty … like you see in the magazines?”

Well, the term designers use is creating a “tablescape or vignette,” which basically means a small, decorative arrangement or grouping of items that are pleasing to the eye, usually on top of a table.  In a much broader sense, it can also apply to how we set the dining table, but for our purposes, let’s concentrate on smaller surfaces such as end tables, coffee tables, even night stands.

Some rules you should keep in mind when creating your vignette is that you want to vary the height of the objects, group things usually in threes, and for the most part, display items that relate to each other for a stronger visual presentation. The goal is to make the eye linger a few moments as it travels up and down across the vignette appreciating the items.

In the tablescape pictured, I used an orchid plant, a picture frame, candle, and collectibles to create a scene or story that expressed the homeowners’ interests. A great tip if you have smaller objects is to use books and decorative boxes to elevate them and give them more presence.  And there you go … instead of having a bunch of little things scattered on the tables in your home, consider grouping your most valued items in a vignette to make a design statement in the room.