Spring to Summer - 6 Tips for Vignette Styling

Welcome to Quince Cottage!
When it comes to seasonal decor, which part of your home do you most enjoy styling? For Rhiann, it's the mantel.
Follow along as she creates vignettes for spring and summer. Oh, and by the way, some of the items pictured here are available in our brand new Etsy shop! Click here.

Tip 1: the "Power Of Three" is often employed when creating a new vignette. Vignettes work best using an odd number of elements. In other words, five is okay, four, not so much.

Tip 2-5: Mix heights, round shapes and angled shapes, organic with man-made, and if possible, throw in something that is a bit of a surprise!

If you weren't here a few months ago, here's where we were in late winter, sort of a combo of snow and green...

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Tip 6: Old books are perfect for adding height, play around to decide exactly what looks best. You can have the leather or cloth spines showing, or the page side, or wrap the books in white or craft paper, all depending on what look you want.

In this vignette on our dining room sideboard, the three primary vignette elements are the wire cage, the plant, and the shell. Broken down further, the two brass quail and the tiny plant form a mini-vignette with the books (showing their leather spines) acting as a base. On a macro level, the windmill head, the mirror and the cage/shell/plant grouping also create a Power Of Three composition. By the way, that mirror? A $7 score at Willie's (aka Goodwill)!
And this is why I'm linking up to Dagmar's Home Blog because she kindly featured us on her IG account for this particular pic! Thank you, Dagmar! If you're a blogger, please consider joining the link party, it's a great way of making new friends.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Here you see a vignette that straddles the counter between our kitchen and dining. It's got the "unexpected" in the form of a vintage toy tractor (Ron collects those). The organic element is covered by the flowers and cotton. Don't you just love cotton?

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Here's another one, this time from our gallery wall. Three. Round and not round. Organic elements.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

But now back to the mantel. In April, the mood switched to romantic. The left side featured a shadow box Rhiann made from an old clock, if you're interested in learning more about that, click here. Technically there are four elements in this grouping, but the books and clock read as one. Note that the page sides are showing, to create a softer, lighter look.

©Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

We have a nice collection of vintage floral plates that were just itching to be on display again.

©Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

There's one behind the pink hobnail glass piece on the left and she used them on the right side of the mantel too. That ornate gold frame is completely empty by the way, and we like it that way. It's such a gorgeous piece in and of itself, it really doesn't need any art inside!

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Then Rhiann found a little brass bowl, and wanted to see how that looked with some shells and rocks. Note the organic (shells and greenery).

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Then Mother's Day rolled around and Rhiann had to add the lovely milk glass covered box she received! That milk glass bud vase is holding one of our first New Dawn roses of the year.

©Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

She decided to turn the "pretty" to full volume on the left too.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Now that it's Memorial Day, Rhiann thought a summer-by-the-water vibe was in order. No, unfortunately we no longer live near the ocean, but it's still nice to remember those days. Here the three elements are the painting, the shell box, and the creamer with feathers. Aren't those feathers amazing? We found them on a walk with our dogs. They probably belonged to a turkey vulture. Those are both the "organic" element and the unexpected one. They add a little wildness to the composition that keeps it from looking too dull.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Here's the right side. Note that there's a bird here too. Have you noticed how brass is back in a BIG way? From knicknacks to lighting, brass is hot! Here we have five elements. The shell box, the brass crane, the books, the conch shell, and the mother of pearl necklace. There's that unexpected element again. Jewelry isn't normally part of mantel decor, but here it works because it's made of mother of pearl sourced from the ocean, and the color is harmonious.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Finally, here's the whole shebang...

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

This week there's no #MagpieMonday, but we hope you'll join us on Instagram June 6, when we'll be ready to see all your thingummies and gewgaws once again!

©Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

You can also play along with our #HometownCapture hashie any time. Follow us, post a pic of your hometown with the # in the text, and tag us!

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Daisy and Buster have been enjoying the backyard. Literally. They both love eating grass. We don't love all the gacking that follows...

Daisy © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Buster © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Tell us how you like to decorate for spring and summer. We'd love to hear. Hope to see you again soon!

Quince Cottage Style is #agrarianchic - a mix of old and new, rustic and opulent.

Our goal is to make our new subdivision house look inviting, beautiful, 

and as though it wasn't born yesterday!