Designing Horror Vignettes For Your Home

I love being single, especially because my ex was not a horror person--at all! I can now let little bits of my horror tendencies out, along with other loves like gardens and Celtic/Nordic touches. Around my home, I have little vignettes to remind me of important influences. Here's just a few I put together and how....

Cemeteries



I have spent a lot of time in cemeteries and I just adore their beauty and their mournful qualities. I had some garden statues of gargoyles and a cherub and celtic cross, so I put them up atop of a book case with some plants woven into them to make them look established, and I have a nod to cemeteries.

"The Birds"



The movie "The Birds" was my favorite horror movie of all time as a kid. The scene at the playground with the birds on the monkey bars I thought was the best single impact horror scene ever. I wanted to recreate that in my apartment. I took the old wood screen I found at an abandoned trailer park and put it in the corner of the apartment to help keep some of the extra light from coming in because I like to watch horror movies in my bright room, and I put a steamer trunk (from the same site) on its end with a plant woven into the screen to make it look like it's always been there, then lined up lots of black birds. The effect is stunning, especially when backlit during the day.

Instructions on how to make vignettes

If you love something, do not spread it all around. Like saying "I love you," it ends up meaning less when it's used too freely and all over the place. When you do a vignette, it should take up no more than 4-feet wide. The exception to this would be if you chose one wall for tons of pictures. If you do that, I suggest you either make the frames all the same and the mats all different or the mats all the same and the frames all different so that the eye travels around with interest instead of seeing a neat, orderly row of similar frames and mats and assuming the content. Also, considering mixing other things in with photos. In my home office, I have my book covers on canvases and mixed them with Halloween masks.



Try and make it fit in. If you're using a modern table but vintage old clocks, consider putting down a lace cloth. Add plants and rust to items to try and make them look like they've been there forever instead of having a shelf full of dolls that say LOOK AT US! Try and mix your dolls up amongst your stacked books on the shelves.

One vignette a room is enough. You will end up making a museum if you try to put clusters all over the room. They lose their impact, as well. If you think your vignette says who you are and is awesome, consider up-lighting it with can lights to really show it off.

Have fun with groupings looking for elements that integrate nicely. I had a mirror with rusted leaves and two sconces with leaves that were rusted which I hung in my dining room to show my love of autumn. I then took an autumn leaf from my Bigfoot hunt and dipped it in wax and hung it from the mirror and added two beautiful prints from Gothicrow that add to the autumn feel and show art that I adore. Now, my dining room is an autumn theme without screaming because it's a mix up that looks like I added things on over time.



Let me know what kind of vignettes you have around your place. I'm curious to learn what others are doing.

Comments

  1. It looks like your place is coming along nicely.

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  2. mine is more of a horror movie memorabilia museum ha ha ha

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  3. Shouldn't a horror vignette be a body outline on the floor? lol

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  4. Oh, I do this too! The shelves above my work desk have crows, black cats, a zombie bunny, reapers, cemetery weeping angels, etc. for delightfully dark inspiration. In my living room is a vignette which pays homage to the movie 'Bell, Book and Cande' with framed lobby cards from the film, and miniature Mid Century Modern furniture - not horror, but witchy. If I had more room, I'd have them everywhere. :)

    By the way, I've always loved that image of the mannequin by Gothicrow. It's so haunting!

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  5. Hey LGH. I love that Gothicrow has abandoned places, crows, cemeteries and mannequins--it's all my favs in one thing. That is definitely my very favorite art I've ever found. It's like it's made for me. Bell Book and candle--I love that movie. What a great idea... I need a pyewacket, except I'm allergic to cats.

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