Sean Scherer's Vignettes

by Sean Scherer

Designer, collector, and proprietor of the contemporary curiosity shop Kabinett & Kammer, Sean Scherer shares his secrets for composing vignettes of favorite objects, showing creative ways to incorporate both cherished possessions and flea-market finds

How do you make your home come alive with personality, charm, and memory? In the introduction to Sean Scherer’s first book, Kabinett & Creating Authentic Interiors , Anderson Cooper writes, “Scherer has a unique ability to place otherwise ordinary objects in a completely unexpected context or grouping and in so doing change the way you see them.”

In this new book, Scherer focuses in on the art of combining common objects into aesthetically pleasing groupings, or vignettes. Contending that a vignette can set the whole mood and tone of a room, he shows you how to use any surface in your home, from a tabletop to a bookshelf to a wall, to create lively displays of your favorite items. Beautifully illustrated with Scherer’s own photographs, the book demonstrates how to balance color, texture, and shape, and provides lessons on how to create both symmetrical and asymmetrical vignettes. Whether you are an inveterate collector or just interested in giving expression to your unique taste, Vignettes shows you how to group the items you love in ways that can have a big impact on your interiors.

Genres: Nonfiction

208 pages, Hardcover

Published April 16, 2024

Reviews

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very dark, Victorian, and somewhat grim. The taxidermy was an absolute no go.
Atmospheric but tons of repetition in arrangement ideas. Focus was way too tight and claustrophobic. Draw back and let the viewer get an idea of the room. Felt like someone needed to let in some light. Too much of the author's own house/store and not enough from other sources.
Best was intentional (or unintentional) Ikebana branch/flower arrangements. Overall disappointed and glad I got it from the library.

Edit: I had a weird sense of spiritual malaise even touching this book and have since checked out reviews and pics of Scherer's previous effort (with lots and lots of taxidermy including baby animals). Now I understand the bad feeling that was coming through even his "innocuous" shots in this book. The guy needs help.

[Mary Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book for vintage and antique lovers. This book shows you how to become more creative with your collections and why some arrangements work and others don’t. A gem!

[Ronda Canary · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4

[Mary Lynn]

You’ll like it if you like the cover photos. If you don’t like the cover photos, don’t read it. Nothing new here.

[Tina Guenthner · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s a lot of really great content in this book to learn how to decorate and different styles you can use. I was inspired by the different ideas