How to Create a Beautiful Decor Vignette

It starts with a spark. Maybe a piece of art, or a set of beautiful books, for me it was a photo. Let me show you how I took an inspiration photo and made it my own with a bit of DIY. Let’s dig into the process of how to create a beautiful decor vignette.

First try at creating a decor vignette. A vintage dresser with a vintage ornate brass frame with an Audubon print of a crane. Vintage brass candlesticks and several glass cloches.

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In the world of interior design, Vignette means “Grouping of Decorative Objects“. As a general rule, a simple vignette is the best way to make a room look eclectic. Learning to layer objects is really the most important thing.

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The Six Easy Steps to Create a Beautiful Decor Vignette

Quickly Pull Together a Vignette of Your Own by Following this Outline

A completely recreated vintage bird themed decor vignette. Wooden candlestick holders with glass jars on top, vintage brass candlesticks and various types and colors of candles, antique books green and tan, a glass and brass cloche from ikea, and a crane illustration by John J Audubon in a vintage brass frame.

01 Group of objects you love.

To create a symmetrical vignette choose a variety of home decor in varying sizes, smaller items, and larger pieces. Pick out your favorite items first. Something to add visual interest and an anchor piece to create a focal point.

02 Horizontal surface.

To create beautiful vignettes you can use any flat surface. But some popular choices are a coffee table, countertops, bookshelves, end tables, console tables, a tiered tray, a dining table, or somewhere else in your dining room.

03 Statement Piece.

This is to add a sense of visual weight. Like a large mirror, piece of art, photo frames (like my vintage brass frame),

04 Pop of Color.

Fresh flowers, a bright-colored piece of art, colored candles, etc. You’re free to use a large variety of color, just keep it in one color palette and start gathering things that fit.

05 Vary the Heights.

You want a tall item, at least one, and other different heights to add interest. My favorite way to create any large and small vignettes is to make them appear completely random. I chose to use varying heights of candlesticks, cloches, and even a stack of books.

06 Add Natural Elements.

I love to include actual specimens, interesting rocks, sea shells, faux feathers and bird nests, sea glass, weathered wood, antlers, pinecones or other beautiful seeds, dried flowers, or even potted plants.

A recreated decor vignette with faux bird elements, brass, and wooden. The color scheme is neutral with greens and browns and vintage brass. Two wooden candlestick holders with glass jars on top sit on a vintage dresser. Behind them is a myriad of vintage brass candlesticks of varying heights. A vintage brass ornate frame with a crane illustration from Audubon. Beside that antique books green and tan and a glass and brass cloche from Ikea.

When You Want to Recreate A Simple Vignette From An Inspiration Photo

The Starting Point: Break Your Inspiration Down by Element to Start Gathering Your Items

They say the most pleasing random order to the eye can be achieved with odd numbers. And my inspiration photo has 5 elements that I am striving to include when I create a beautiful decor vignette.

Nature inspired decor vignette inspired by a Benjamin Moore paint advertisement. It includes faux birds nests, eggs, and feathers in glass cloches.

01 The Glass Cloches

These are typically expensive, but I came up with several options besides spending a fortune.

02 The Color Scheme

What variety of color you use is up to you, but I personally love the dark greens, browns, and charcoal they’ve used.

03 The Birds Nest & Feathers

Did you know it’s actually illegal in some states to collect bird feathers? There is a pretty big market and they don’t want you hunting birds down for their feathers. So, faux it is!

And those are obviously real birds’ nests, which I don’t have. But I can replace them with faux options pretty easily.

04 Antique Books

Another thing I am more than happy to oblige. I have an entire collection therefore this step is super easy for me!

05 The Vintage Illustration

This particular illustration is a print by John J Audubon. His bird illustrations are pretty well known because they’re so gorgeous. Consequently, they’re also public domain images and free to download and print.

Wonderland Subscriber Library, sign up to get exclusive access to free pdf printables, ebooks, vintage illustrations, artist prints and so much more free content! Six vintage illustrations, 3 roses, 2 butterflies and 1 beetle.

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A post shared by Benjamin Moore (@benjaminmoore)

I first saw my inspiration photo (swipe right on the above photo) when I was searching for something entirely different on Pinterest. But as soon as I noticed it I stopped my scroll. It says it’s a fall-inspired color palette, but I think it speaks of spring in a real way.

It took me a minute to gather all the core parts of this inspiration photo by Benjamin Moore. But once I did, I had a lot of fun gathering all 5 of the main elements.

The cloches were by far the hardest thing to find on a smaller budget, but I think I’ve come up with several different options if you’re wanting to steal this look. I’ll put them in order of least expensive to most expensive options.

01 The Glass Cloche – 4 Different Options

I wanted to come up with a wide assortment of different cloche options to not only allow myself the ability to create a varied look of size, shape, and style. But also, to give you guys options, too!

Let’s explore the 4 Cloche and Cloche Alternatives I came up with!

Cloche Option One – The Cheapest Cloche Alternative

Glass Jars from Hobby Lobby

To remake a cloche-like object I took two small jars from hobby lobby that had glass marble like objects on the lids. And they fit perfectly on top of my wooden candlestick holders from Target. — These jars from Hobby Lobby are a dead ringer for a “cloche”.

These wooden candle holders were purchased from Target on clearance years ago, so my total cost was the two jars from Hobby Lobby for $1.50 each.

I was hoping to find actual cloches at Hobby Lobby and I did, but I liked the rounded glass button at the top of these jars better than the smooth rounded top of their cloches.

They do a really great job of impersonating an actual cloche. But with the added benefit of being usable for treats if you wanted to do an adorable little snack bar vignette.

If you don’t have candle holders to add that wood element to the bottom there are other options. For instance, you could definitely take a $1 glass candlestick from the Dollar Tree or a thrift store and use E6000 to glue them together.

This would give them the apothecary jar appeal.

The Hobby Lobby version glass "cloche", the cheapest option to create a "cloche like" vignette. They fit perfectly on top of the wooden candlesticks. I put a few faux eggs, a faux bird's nest and feathers inside.

The faux cloche version #1 I created using a couple jars from Hobby Lobby that were only $1.50 each on sale. They fit perfectly on top of my wooden candlestick holders.

Or you could purchase these apothecary jars from Hobby Lobby, or this set from Amazon, both options are pretty fantastic.

Cloche Option Two – The Thrifted Cloche Alternative

A Thrifted Glass Cake Stand

The second cloche-like forgery was a glass cake stand and lid. It's gorgeous and works double time as a cloche and a cake stand! I put a few faux bird's nests, eggs, and feathers inside since this was kind of a bird themed vignette. — This would look just as beautiful with a wooden base, but the glass bases seem to be much more common.

I picked this lovely lady up for $7 at a thrift store. The glass ball on the top of this cake stand is very “cloche-like” and therefore I thought it would make a pretty close option.

Cake stands like this are pretty common in thrift stores where I live. I see them literally all the time. So, maybe you’ll be just as lucky as I was to be able to snag one up cheap!

This is another one of those pieces that have a bonus because obviously it can be used to display a beautiful cake, pie, or any number of assortments of goodies!

The start of the glass cake stand cloche. I layered some spanish moss, then faux bird's nest, eggs, and then finally a few feathers.

A glass cake stand with a "cloche-like" lid. Definitely works to create the same feel of a cloche without the really expensive price-tag. This was only $7 at a thrift store. I layered some faux birds nests, eggs, and feathers to go with the bird themed decor vignette.

And then if you want to build a gorgeous vignette, it’s a pretty solid option to give you that cloche feel.

Cloche Option Three – The Ikea Cloche

Ikea to the Rescue, Again!

The Ikea cloche option, $12 and it's an actual cloche. But still a great low cost option for this vignette. I also purchased faux birds eggs, feathers, and nests from Hobby Lobby. You can find them in the craft section. — The cloche is from Ikea. The birds’ nests, feathers, and eggs are from Hobby Lobby.

I’m an old worn brass type of person. I may need to rub and buff this baby into old brass. But it really is pretty as is, too.

What does that say about me? Basically, I like old stuff.

The ikea glass cloche filled with some spanish moss, faux birds nest, faux eggs, and a few feathers.

Ikea cloche in my decor vignette behind it sits vintage brass candlesticks.

When I create a beautiful decor vignette I typically gather every possible piece from my own collection first. And I typically don’t get to go to Ikea, but this is not a typical vignette.

Cloche Option Four – The Amazon Cloche Set

Beautiful Combination of Wood and Glass – Set of 3

Three small glass cloches sitting on their wooden bases. The smallest perched on top of a horizontally stacked small red antique books. Inside the cloches are faux bird elements like moss, nests, eggs, feathers, and a small terra cotta pot. — The 3 small glass and wooden cloches sit on my table. The aged terra cotta pot was a recent experiment with paint, you can read more about that in this post *Aging Terra Cotta Pots with Paint.*

Though I’m not typically one to run to order brand new stuff, I actually think this was a pretty decent deal. And I know I will reuse these over and over again, making it an investment in my future!

When I want to create a beautiful decor vignette the first thing I do is look at the most creative way I can get the same look without spending a lot. But when it comes down to it, sometimes you just want the real thing.

The top view of the three matching glass cloches on wooden bases. The smallest perched on top of 4 small red antique books. Inside the cloches are faux bird elements like nests, moss, twigs, feathers, and eggs. One has a petite terra cotta pot that has been aged with chalk paint.

The smallest glass cloche perched on top of 4 small horizontally stacked red antique books.

I took a chance and ordered this set of 3 glass and wooden base cloches off Amazon and figured I could check the quality. If I wasn’t satisfied I could always return them. But I was satisfied.

They’re a petite, feminine, and (my catchphrase) so adorable. I have hopes of collecting treasures from our nature walks to display in them. But for now I just added more natural bird themed elements like moss, twigs, faux nest, faux eggs, and in one I put a petite terra cotta pot that’s been aged using a chalkpaint technique.

02 The Color Scheme – A Visual Connection

My love for brass runs deep. A great way for me to incorporate brass was to include my vintage ornate frame and my vintage candlesticks.

I kept my grouping of objects fairly neutral so that the Audubon prints could really stand out. I have a beautiful free printable of Audubon bird illustrations available in my subscriber’s library. Go ahead sign up and print these gorgeous illustrations out for yourself!

There’s really a nice mix of browns and tans which is why I think it works so well with the nature aspect.

03 The Birds Nest, Feathers, Wood – The Natural Element

I really wish I had some actually abandoned bird nests lying around, but I didn’t. Also, I’m also terrified there are going to be bird mites still living in them. If that is even a thing.

So, honestly, the faux bird’s nest, feathers, and eggs were perfect for me. They are really inexpensive at Hobby Lobby, Michaels, or even on Amazon.

Faux bird's nest, eggs, feathers, spanish moss, and an aged terra cotta pot sitting on a glass cake stand.

And I don’t think it would be complete without the wooden element that the candlestick holders add to the entire vignette.

04 Antique Books – A Beautiful Old Stack of Books

The perfect way to create beautiful spaces is to include books. I said it and I mean it.

A set of green and tan antique books of varying heights grouped together on top of an antique dresser. They sit next to a vintage brass frame and a glass and brass cloche. Behind them is a set of varying brass candlesticks.

I’m not typically one to buy books just for their covers, but I found myself at my local library book sale recently and these were staring at me. Plus, there’s a chance if I didn’t buy them (half-price day) they would find themselves in a dumpster.

Three green antique books sit next to a vintage ornate brass frame that holds a crane illustration by Audubon. Two wooden candlestick holders with glass jars on top sit in front of vintage brass candlesticks.

They add warmth, history, and a sense of an educational aspect. I love books. I love antique books. And the thought of them being in a dumpster or cut up, painted, or ripped apart for crafts makes me cringe.

This is a much better use, in my humble opinion.

05 The Vintage Illustration – One of My Favorite Things

Do you know there’s a whole world of free public domain vintage illustrations and art just waiting for you? It’s like a treasure trove. Audubon’s illustrations are some of my absolute favorites and I recognized them immediately in my inspiration photo.

The colors in the illustration are so rich and earthy.

Audubon crane bird illustration in a vintage brass ornate frame. — A vintage brass photo frame is beautiful sitting on my shelf.

John J Audubon has hundreds of illustrations available to download for free, I picked a few favorites and resized them on canva. They’re available in my subscriber library for free!

Dear Friends, I hope I’ve given you some great ideas on how to create a beautiful decor vignette on a budget! Get inspired and start creating!

Thanks for stopping by!

Julie

Author photo of a 38 year old woman with shoulder length dark brown hair, blue eyes, she's wearing a grey shirt with pockets. — Contact Us | About Me

Meet the Author

Hi, I’m Julie! Mother to five beautiful kids, Homeschool Educator, Writer, Handicraft & DIY Enthusiast, Photographer, Thrifter, and Furniture Restorer. Follow along for fun DIY projects creating a handmade home on a budget! Read more about me here→