The most wonderful time of the year will be here before we know it- Christmas! I love Christmas, the sounds, the smells, the events, and of the course the decorating! I think I was born in the wrong era because at Christmas I want to ditch any signs of minimalism and pull out everything; garland, greenery, and Christmas bulbs – oh my! My heart starts fluttering just thinking of it all.
But of course it’s not quite as simple as all that; we want the garlands, greenery and Christmas bulbs but it also takes planning and consideration to decide what color themes and look we want to stick with. Capsule theory – Cohesive Color Pallet
The most renown color theme for Christmas is most definitely red and green, tossed with touches of silver and gold. Now, what I call a traditionalist when it comes to décor- meaning I love red, green, silver and gold, and generally don’t hunger to switch up this pallet too much. This works for me but I also live in a neutral colored house that adapts easily to this color scheme- but what if your house doesn’t?
One of my favorite things is to play with color- there is nothing like a new box of crayons, or looking at all the color swatches in a paint store to make me excited-yes, this is a little pathetic, but so be it! I don’t know why all the different colors excites me so much, but they sure do! There are endless combinations and pretty pallets to be created, if one only takes the time and encourages their creativity, the same is true for Christmas decorating!
You may have a house where your walls and decor are primarily blue, and you don’t want a bunch of red and green. Your house may be bright and welcoming with yellows, beige and other warm tones. You can add red and green because after all it is Christmas but what if you want a little more cohesion and less tension within your color decor?
May I suggest you work with what you already have in your home. If you want cohesion and your house is full of blues and grays, make a Christmas color pallet, (insert capsule the Rory) of 5 or more colors made up of gray, silver, navy, gold and perhaps a touch of burgundy.
If your house is inclined toward the warmer side of the color wheel, try a color pallet of gold, cream, white, silver, and a soft greige.
Do you love pastels? Blush, gold, silver, gray, and navy make a breathtaking outline to work within.
Below I have included several sample color pallets to get your creative juices flowing; have fun! You don’t have to follow all the rules, and if you need even more inspiration search color pallets on Pinterest and then let your creativity run rampant!
I’m sure you’ve heard of the capsule wardrobe, it has been around for many years, and has one again become popular over the past few years. This theory teaches the principle that you have a small core wardrobe in which all items are interchangeable and small accents can be added to give more pop or flair to an outfit. This same principle applies to décor.
While generally it is the rule to build your decorating style off several different looks, rather than buying pieces that are all the exact same style,(think all rustic farmhouse themed, or all mid century modern), this is not something we always apply to seasonal décor- but we can and often should. Imposing this filter on our décor will help to simplify our lives immensely!
If you read my post How To Create A Cohesive Color Pallet, you may already be familiar with and utilizing these principles but as a quick refresher it is a good idea to create a color pallet for your home of about 5-12 different colors, having 1 or 2 main colors, about 3 accent colors, and 2 or 3 colors that you use vary sparingly. Now you may already be doing this but do you follow these guidelines when it comes to seasonal decor?
If you have a neutral color scheme in your home, with a very small color pallet, then you have a lot of room to play when it comes to adding seasonal decor. However, you may have more colors in your home; you may like pastels or yellows and oranges which can make for challenging decorating when it comes to certain seasons. Enter capsule decorating.
If you have a home that is decorated in pastel purples, blues, and greens then you may not want to plunk down a bunch of orange pumpkins in the fall. But what you can do is plunk down a bunch of white ones. You build your base of white pumpkins, and then add a few soft brown twine balls, maybe a pair of deer antlers, and some eucalyptus greenery sprinkled about. Then the next year you build off of this base. This gives you a framework for your decor; when you can’t decide between an orange and brown welcome fall sign, and one that is designed of beiges, grays, and creams you can easily make a decision to go with a neutral sign and therefore simplify your decorating.
My base for the decor elements in my home are white, wood, and vintage. The white keeps things clean and modern, the wood keeps things rustic, and the vintage is all me- an expression of my personal style and what I like. When I cull through my decor and find the pieces that I use every season I see a theme, which I can then follow to help in the selection of new decor pieces. I picture the decor that I love the most and ask myself if this new item will find a home among my other pieces. I sometimes stray from this rule but it’s very helpful when I’m under a lot of shopping pressure!
Capsule decorating is an easy formula to follow to add seasonal touches to your décor without feeling like you have to do a huge overhaul of all of your décor. Capsule decorating isn’t about hard and fast restrictions that you can never stray from; rather capsule decorating is a tool to simplify your life. Who among us doesn’t need a little more simplicity these days? I hope this helps to simplify and give you more freedom in your decorating!
Vignettes are the secret to up leveling your decor! Learning how to create a beautiful vignette will take your decor from looking like a bunch of things plopped down on a tray to a curated collection, purposefully put together. They can also be a great way to add seasonal elements to your decor, for more on adding seasonal elements to your vignette check out my post:
A Vignette is a collection of items, or furniture, that are styled together. That’s it in a nutshell but let’s dive a little deeper! You will typically use a vignette to gather items that you want to display together, styled in a way that makes sense and is pleasing to the eye, and one that tells a story. As I mentioned above a vignette can be as simple as hand soap and lotion placed on a dish, a collection of cutting boards, an herb plant, a pretty container holding your favorite kitchen utensils, and a lemon or lime stuck in for a pop of color. A vignette can also be as large as a floor lamp, a chair, and a stack of books on the floor; a vignette such as this tells the story of a lazy Saturday morning spent reading, or cozy evenings with your favorite books. There is so much room for variation in a vignette, and they are the perfect time to have fun and express your individual style!
Where to do a Vignette?
The great thing about vignettes is they work almost anywhere! I love to use a vignette to corral odds and ends in my kitchen example: I use a tray to hold a decorative hot plate that I use all the time, my pour over coffee maker, my basil plant that I haven’t yet killed, a utensil holder, my salt and pepper shaker, and other odds and ends.
Other places that are ideal for vignettes are: Mantels, end tables, coffee tables, dressers, shelving, countertops and anywhere in between!
Where to Start When it Comes to Creating a Vignette?
I like books and therefore I like to think of my vignettes as a story. The height of different objects acts as the emotional ups and downs that a good book will take you on, the varying textures in a vignette are the different colorful characters. Just like the setting in a book might be strongly textured and central to the books plot you may have a tray, box or bowl that is your vignette’s foundation, or you may not have your items on a tray and instead have the grouped together using colors to pull your vignette together just as many books have strong characters that pull the plot together.
The other thing you want to make sure you are doing in a vignette is layering! Simple vignettes are great but sometimes, (like on a coffee table), there are items that are necessary to the functionality of the room. For example; you might have a large book with a vase, candle and small sculptural object on top of it. Then you have 2 stacks of smaller books next to it, making the shape of a large rectangle. That’s cute! But what about the remote for the tv? And where did you put those matches to light the candle? Save yourself the trouble and replace one stack of the smaller books with a tray that will hold a small box of matches and the remote- your husband will be happy and you’ll use your candle more!
Or maybe you just have more to display! If you love art and have lots of it to display you might start with a large painting on your mantle, then by layering smaller pieces of art in front of it, you’ll gain a more collected look.
What are the Rules for Creating a Vignette?
There really are no rules when it comes to creating a vignette, but I know that isn’t helpful so here are a few things to keep in mind:
Pick an odd number of items: Usually my small vignettes end up with 5 or 7 items. You can go with more or pair down to 3, but generally the smaller the items the more you can get away with. Our minds like to group things together, and are always looking for shapes that it can group together. One of the most pleasing shapes for our mind to spot in a group is a triangle. For this reason you will typically want to include at least 3 items, and generally always an odd number of items. However, in case you can over analyze the situation as I have been known to do, this doesn’t mean that you can’t have 8 items- if the items read to your minds eye as more like 7 items. Example: If you have a stack of 2 books of the same size your mind will see this as 1 item, not 2 items. Create a little tension. My natural tendency is to make everything absolutely perfect and lined up, but when it comes to styling it’s often better for something to look slightly lived in. You want your eye to travel through the peaks and valleys of your vignette and then slowly be led off to the other decor in the room. Making things too perfect will keep your eye recirculating on your vignette and not let it wander to take in the rest of your beautiful room! Vary the heights of the objects in your vignette. Take your viewer on a tour of your vignette- and make it an interesting one! Vary textures! If you add only things that are smooth, shiny, or rough, it will be like reading a magazine in black and white. Companies add color to their magazines to grab your attention, and that is what adding texture will do for your vignette! Add personality! Books, decor items, pictures, coasters- these are all great but also toss in something unexpected. Like any decor you want to add just a little bit of visual tension to your decor- think plot twists in a book! So here is the place to drop in any odd keepsake you’ve been wanting to display but haven’t known where or how to!
On what should you display your vignette?
Just when you thought you couldn’t have anymore fun with a vignette the options once again opened up! A tray is probably the most common way to showcase a vignette, but a wooden box, a large bowl, a round slice of wood, a blanket, a mirror, a mantel, or a large book are all possibilities. A small end table or accent table will automatically act as a tray for grouping items. Get creative! What do you have around your house that you are under utilizing? Use that thing!
All Done?
It can be hard to know when to stop when it comes to vignettes! Sometimes analyzing all the details and tweaking so many things, so many times it can start to feel like nothing is working. When this happens it’s time to stop, and walk away for a while. Come back several hours later or the next day and take another look, oftentimes you will think it looks great, and if not the answer will most likely be much clearer! Walking away for a bit will save you so much time and frustration so don’t hesitate to try it!
A Vignette is a collection of items, or furniture, that are arranged together.. That’s it in a nutshell but let’s dive a little deeper! You will typically use a vignette to gather items that you want to display together, styled in a way that makes sense and is pleasing to the eye, and one that tells a story. As I mentioned above a vignette can be as simple as hand soap and lotion placed on a dish, a collection of cutting boards, an herb plant, a pretty container holding your favorite kitchen utensils, and a lemon or lime stuck in for a pop of color. A vignette can also be as large as a floor lamp, a chair, and a stack of books on the floor; a vignette such as this tells the story of a lazy Saturday morning spent reading, or cozy evenings with your favorite books. There is so much room for variation in a vignette, and they are the perfect time to have fun and express your individual style!
What should you include in your vignette?
Have I mentioned that there really are no rules when it comes to vignette? I know- no help! So here are a few guidelines to follow!
Pick an odd number of items: Usually my small vignettes end up with 5 or 7 items. You can go with more or pair down to 3, but generally the smaller the items the more you can get away with.
Objects of Varying heights. If you thought of each object as something in nature, what landscape would make for the best views? A vase or larger picture will add height, a small sculpture will bring interest to the details, a stack of 2 or 3 books will act as a bridge.
Vary textures! If you add only things that are smooth, shiny, or rough, it will be like reading a magazine in black and white. Companies add color to their magazines to grab your attention, and that is what adding texture will do for your vignette!
Add personality! Books, decor items, pictures, coasters- these are all great but also toss in something unexpected. Like any decor you want to add just a little bit of visual tension to your decor- think plot twists in a book! So here is the place to drop in any odd keepsake you’ve been wanting to display but haven’t known where or how to!
On what should you display your vignette?
Just when you thought you couldn’t have anymore fun with a vignette the options once again opened up! A tray is probably the most common way to showcase a vignette, but a wooden box, a large bowl, a round slice of wood, a blanket, a mirror, or a large book are all possibilities; what do you have around your house that you are under utilizing? Use that thing!
Add a Touch of the Season
Vignettes are probably the thing I change up most season to season. I have a wooden bowl that my uncle made on my entryway table. I love to add different touches of the season to this bowl, it helps to set the tone for the rest of my house from the start.
For fall I love, Love the little baby pumpkins. I love the orange ones, white ones, and the ones that are a combination of both! But there are soo many options such as:
Pine cones
Twine Balls
Cotton Bolls
Antlers- Faux or Real
Bottles
Strands of faux berry branches
Feathers
Leaves- you can spray paint faux ones to match your decor!
So many options, and still this list isn’t all inclusive!
Not Sure if Your Vignette is Working?
I don’t think I’m the only who after putting together a vignette, will step back and think, “Does that even look like anything?” Sometimes isn’t doesn’t and I have to tweak it or start over, but many times I walk away and when I come back a short while later I either love it, or can easily spot what needs to be changed.
I hope this inspires you to have fun with your decor! Vignettes are so much fun and fall is a great time to play around- so play! Have fun and enjoy making your home even more beautiful. And after you are finished creating vignettes of your own, I hope you will tag me over on Instagram so I can see what lovely creations you have made in your home. And for more pictures and inspiration from me come follow me on Pinterest at: EssentiallyEmmaMarie.
I’m sure you do too. In this fast paced world it is so very hard to balance what needs doing, what should be done, and what we actually want to do! My schedule during the week leaves me with very little time in the evening,(I typically leave my house at 6 or 6:30 am and don’t get home till 7 or 8pm), and therefore makes thorough planning essential. This is my plan for how I approach meal prep for a week so I can cook basically only once a week.
Meal Preparation
Now I should mention that in my house at this time it is just my husband and me, and we have an agreement- I cook, he cleans. This means I almost never do dishes- my husband would go so far as to argue that I never do them- he may be right! But one thing I do all the time is the cooking. We don’t go out to eat very often, and because I can be quite frugal in certain areas of my life,(ahem, cheap), I have never used any meal prep services. Instead I do my own meal prepping. I want to spend as little as possible on good food that is reasonably healthy, spend as little time as possible preparing it, have it taste great and not get bored. At heart I am a foodie who loves flavorful food, so I’m really not about having a baked to death pot roast every night. Or ever. I hate pot roast. But I digress.
For breakfast I typically have a protein smoothie which takes literally a minute to prepare. My husband does intermittent fasting and skips breakfast. (For more on my protein smoothies and how I came to eat them everyday check out Kelly Levesque and her two books, Body Love, and Body Love Everyday.) For Lunch I have a salad bowl and dinner is something that I have either prepared in a crockpot or something that takes hardly any time to assemble.
Now because of my frugality I do my meal prepping one of two ways:
I select a base meal, for example: I buy a whole chicken at the store. Cook it in the crockpot on Monday, and serve it with a side. A sample week could look like this:
Monday: Chicken and a Salad.
Tuesday:Chicken Enchiladas
Wednesday: Chicken Alfredo Pasta with Steamed Veggies
Thursday: Leftover Chicken Enchiladas
Friday: Chicken Curry and Rice
Saturday: Chicken Tortilla Pizzas
Sunday: Improvisation day!
By the time we get to Sunday we are usually done with our main dish so I make something that I always have on hand that can be easily whipped up, like spaghetti and meatballs.
2) The second way I like to do cost effective meal prep is similar to the first but instead of selecting a base meal, I have base ingredients that I reuse in various ways during the week. For example:
Monday:Vegetable Mexican Soup
Tuesday: Veggie Fish Bake,(lay the fish on a bed of lever over veggies and bake)
Wednesday: Vegetable Soup leftovers
Thursday:Spicy beef and rice
Friday: BBQ Beef Wraps and Salad
Saturday:Beef Stir Fry over Noodles
Sunday: Improvisation Day!
For a week like this I would prep the soup ahead of time to be cooked in the crockpot. Then I would prep the beef for the crockpot or cook utilizing another method. Lastly I could chop any veggies ahead of time, leaving only fish, rice and noodles to be cooked during the week.
That is typically how our week goes, I find that for the 2 of us we typically get 2-3 meals out of any large casserole or crockpot meal, that means I only have to prep 2 or 3 large meals, and then have a few extra ingredients on hand for meals that are quick to throw together and we’re set!
Now let me back up to discuss the meal prep itself. The first step is to write out your menu for the week. But listen! It only takes a few minutes, for me it usually takes about 15 minutes. I come up with a “category,” if you will, that I want to eat that week; chicken in the first example, or beef in the second. I look in the fridge to see if I have extra of an ingredient to use up, a bag of spinach, or tomatoes, and take my findings into account and try to find a recipe that will use it up. I then come up with or search for recipes using my main ingredient,(typically on Pinterest), and then let whatever sounds good guide my choices, (I like to meal plan right before a meal because then I’m hungry and it’s easy to find recipes that sound good!
I do my grocery shopping and then will spend approximately 1-2 hours prepping at some point that weekend, for me Saturday evenings or Sunday early in the afternoon are usually the best times. I start cooking everything that needs to be cooked ahead of time, while the meat cooks I will start slicing and dicing. Then I assemble ingredients for any casseroles or my crockpot. I also prep my lunch bowls at this time. I would say after doing this prep I usually spend less than an hour during the week cooking.
I hope this helps make your cooking life a little bit simpler! What are your meal prep tips and tricks?
Isn’t fall the best of all? I admit I love every season for different reasons- except for March, I just can’t make myself love the endless gray days that are too warm for snow and too cold for anything else. Besides that I can honestly say that I love every season. I love fall, I love the colors in nature, I love the crisp evenings that are perfect for having campfires, and most of all I love the coziness associated with this season- give me that cup of hot Chai tea, pass the blanket and let me curl up with my book!
Below I have a few ideas, ones that I do and that you may enjoy for fall, but I would like to put in my two cents for those thinking- Why bother? To make life more enjoyable! I love Christmas, so does my husband and we really make an effort to go out of our way and enjoy the season. The sounds, the scents, the decor, time with family and friends, and special events, all contribute to making Christmas a special time of year. But. We still have to make the effort to do them! The same is true with all the other seasons. There are special and fun things about every season and while we may not be able to make every season as special as Christmas, we can emphasize the things that we love about each season and thereby add that much extra joy and happiness to our everyday life! Here are several things I do around my home to welcome the season and make my home that much cozier and more inviting for Fall.
Out with the Old, in with the New!
Every season change is a good chance todo a little audit and do any necessary purging! I know it may not sound like fun, but this is a relatively easy way to stay on top of and developing clutter! Along those same lines make sure that you remove anything that is too summery, and pack away a few items that you know you will not need again until the following year.
Fall Flowers
We usually start to get a few frosts here in PA by the time the beginning of October rolls around. That means that it’s usually safe to get rid of any flowers I’ve had in pots, on my porch or patio. To help things not feel as stark I usually like to get a few mums or pumpkins, or if you don’t want to invest annually, a cute fall sign can help to warm up an empty entry way or porch.
Candles
The first thing I think of when I think of fall is cozy, warm lighting; fires in the fireplaces,candles, candles in lanterns, and of course jack-o-lanterns! I love a big lantern. I think they look great almost anywhere; beside a fireplace, next to an accents chair, a medium lantern as a focal point in a vinette, and of course they are very welcoming outside a front door. If you have a lantern and have had different decor elements inside try pulling all that out and add a candle, I usually do battery operated.
Scents
Speaking of candles- the scents of fall can’t be beat! There are delicious sweet smells; pumpkin latte, apple tart, and cinnamon roll. If you aren’t someone who likes sweet smells filling your home,(no judgement!) then there are candles and essential oils that invoke scents of campfires and falling leaves.
One of my favorite candle companies is the Chestnut Hill Candle Co. They have a variety of scents-all of them delicious- and the scent really permeates your home. I dislike when a candle smells good burning but can only be smelled if you are within six inches of it! Some of our favorite candle scents for fall are from this company are: White Pumpkin, Farmstead, and Coffee.
Cozy Up!
It is officially time to pack away the lighter throw blankets up here in the north! Time to pull out the softer throws: flannel, knit, or even some plush blankets! This is also one of my favorite ways to work in some fall color into my decor. There are really cute fall plaids in a variety of color combinations. Just adding colors in a plaid, even if they aren’t traditional fall colors, is enough to add a touch of fall!
The other comfy, cozy touch is to switch out decorative pillows, for a cute fall pillows! If you don’t want to store a bunch of bulky pillows you can get pillow covers,(look on Etsy or Overstock), and that way you just have a slim cover to pack away instead of a pillow!
Music
Again, at Christmas time we play Christmas music to get us in the mood. In summer I hear a lot more country being played. So why not play fall music for fall? I do think this is very subjective, I like me some Michael Buble, or Sinatra, but others like banjo music. Regardless of what kind of music you like, I would like to challenge you to find something that feels special to you, and to the season, and embrace it as your own special playlist to get you in the fall spirit!
Lights
Little twinkle lights are often saved for Christmas but as the days shorten I like to add a little additional brightness to my life. I’ll toss in a strip of lights in my fall centerpiece, intertwine a strand with fall twine woven throughout my mantle or the top of my piano. Many of these have a timer setting that wil come on automatically everyday. I get all warm and fuzzy inside when I come home after dark-and forgot to leave any lights on- only to see my little lights are all ready for me. It feels like my house is welcoming me home!
