Jamie Laubhan-Oliver is the pro when it comes to styling vignettes. Besides being the Art Director for D Home and the master-mind behind beautiful spaces on the cover of our magazine, she also has a fabulous home of her own. So we asked her for a little advice: What are her top tips for creating smart and sophisticated rooms in our own home? She spilled her secrets here.
1. Have an end goal. Before you start styling a vignette, decide what your end goal is. Do you want a very modern and restrained collection? Or do you want something that looks lived in? Deciding this will help you determine the mix of items and the number.
2. Create a hierarchy of items. You need an assortment of shapes and sizes. This creates push-and-pull within the space, as well as depth.
3. Raise the roof. Okay, not the roof necessary, but the items in your home. Whether it’s books, glass, lucite, or marble: create steps within the space. It’ll help highlight small items, which are just as important as the larger ones. A great way to do this is through stacking books to create a pedestal for smaller objects.
4. There should be one focal point. I prefer to style a vignette with a variety of very complementary items style-wise. Then take one really cool element, whether it be a modern object in a room of French antiques or a pop of pink in a monochromatic collection, to highlight.
5. Texture, Texture, Texture! This is key whether you’re styling a room or a vignette. Having varying sizes, shapes, and colors isn’t effective if all the items have the same finish. Example:
6. You can make anything work. If you love it, make it work for you. Collections should not only complement the room, but your own personal style. If you’ve got something totally unique that you love, style the room around it through finding items that enhance it.
