Springy Coffee Table Vignette

The weather around here has been crazy nice lately.  In fact, I am sitting here with the patio door open today, since it's so nice out.  Unfortunately, the interior of my house is looking a little dis-jointed.  January is always tricky to decorate for since you put away all your Christmas stuff, but leave stuff that seems "wintery".  Then there's a couple weeks in February where it's acceptable to put out Valentine's Day décor, but come the middle of February, you put that stuff out and are left with....... what?

At my house, that meant a sad (toppled over) arrangement of Love Blocks under a cloche on a wood slice, an almost completely burnt out winter-scent candle and a bird bookend I had pulled out randomly a few weeks ago to fill a void... I didn't even think to get a photo since the arrangement was so wonky....


But since the warm weather has appeared and the groundhog said that Spring should be early this year, I figured it was high time to pull some things from around the house and create an arrangement that was a little more pleasing to look at... at least until I can start putting cutesy stuff out for Easter!

 

I had one rule:  everything had to be found around the house.  Until I find a new full-time position, shopping has been put on HOLD!. 

 

Firstly, I should mention that several years back when we moved into the space, our coffee table was re-finished (poorly) by my ex.  As such, via a happy accident, the wooden shelf under the glass-top has been covered by the floral fabric covered canvas ever since and I still love it, but lately have been thinking about re-finishing it properly, so we will see.....

 

 

Anyhow, I decided to do something different and start with a tray as the base for my arrangement. 

Mine is crocodile embossed silver faux-leather that I purchased ages ago at Walmart.  

similar   

 

Next up, I like to use a stack of books.  These are my current faves for stacking and add a little bit of color in the space, but I definitely need to get some thicker/bigger ones in the future.

They say that every good vignette needs something living, so I added this sweet little out of bloom orchid.  I swapped out it's terracotta pot for a green glass that used to be a candle jar.

 

 

Up next was something decorative.  Since I was trying to keep things Springy, I chose this bird bookend.  As there were already a few colors at play here (pink and green), I decided to keep everything else neutral, so the bright white was perfect, although, maybe a tiny bit too large for the books.... oh well I still like it!

 

 

** One tip I always make sure to do is check the arrangement from the back side as well.

 

 

All my coffee table arrangements need a candle and I couldn't think of anything more suitable for this arrangement than a "Crisp Cotton" scented candle in a plain glass jar. 

 

Since the tray was pretty large and I had the room, I also added the pewter pear in front of the candle since that jar wasn't decorative.

similar - larger  pear

 

 

My coffee table is actually pretty large, so even after the tray, there is still another full side to do but since there was a lot going on, I kept things simple with a large, rope-wrapped mercury glass ball to reflect the light streaming in during the afternoons.

 

 

Here's a look at the grouping:

 

 

 

 

I actually spaced them out a fair bit after the photos were taken to properly fill the table top but I think it's a fun little arrangement for this in-between/off-season time when I don't really have a holiday/theme going on.  Plus I am sure I will tweak it and add to it throughout the month, as I always do.

 

 

How are you decorating right now?  Are you longing to inject some color into your space as well?  Is the warm weather making you think tropical?