Dear Melissa:
When I go into furniture stores they have everything arranged on tables so nicely. When I try to do it just looks like I dumped a bunch of things on a table. How do I make groupings look good? K.P.
Dear K.:
When trying to create a vignette of accessories, family photos, and the like, it helps to have an eye for composition. Barring that, try these guidelines. Copy what you admired as closely as possible. If you are more confident, group your accessories by type, size, shape, or color – either to relate them to one another or to contrast them. Try to balance the large, dark objects within the arrangement in such a way that your eye travels around them, and is not drawn to just one place. The aim of composition is visual movement and balance. Vary the height of the objects in the grouping to create a more interesting display. Combine tall and short accessories. If you are arranging a collection of objects of roughly the same size, place them at differing heights on top of books or decorative boxes.
If you are still compositionally impaired, remember that “less is more”. Make a statement with just one really impressive accessory on the table, and leave it at that. M.A.K.
