It’s all too tempting, when a consignment, resale, thrift shop deals in home goods, to use the for-sale furniture as a handy surface

on which to plop things. And thus do no favors to either the furniture or the sit-arounds. A batch of unrelated goods doesn’t help make any of them look desirable and gives that dreaded “thrift shop” aura to what, in reality, are actually very nice things. Case in point:

This wicker-like lady’s writing desk or dressing table is a pretty and useful piece. But with an unrelated Asian-look art piece, a gift basket, a $2 votive holder and that wrought-iron whateveritis, it’s a mish-mash of what comes across as unwanted, unlovable used stuff.

Wandering through the store, we find some more feminine items which will enhance the furniture and the decor items. This helps up the perceived value of everything shown, from the little delicate fans to the $300 desk/chair. Bonus: it’s the perfect spot to showcase the $200 lamp as well, which had been languishing in a less-trafficked part of the sales floor.

Now it’s not always easy to put together a vignette, and this one is far from ready for its closeup. Here’s how the process went:

• Found the pair of shoe prints. Even though they are priced separately, it’s always important to show browsers that there are two…just in case the customer needs two. They’re feminine, so a good choice with the desk/dressing table.
• Found the little black shoe to relate to the artwork, figured the “armchair” photo frame in the same colors worked with that. The tiny clock was a natural third item. (remember, think in odd numbers, 3 or 5 )
• To underlay them, we were fortunate to have for sale a mirrored tray. Showing it in use, and using it to create sparkle, will make it sell first!
• Two delicate fans, which would be destroyed on the household items shelving, get showcased here in a squat mirrored vase which adds more sparkle.
• To balance the small grouping on the right, I found the glass lamp. Imagine my surprise when I saw that it was valuable, but stuck in a corner with the $20 lamps.

Your groupings can’t always be perfect, based on what’s in the shop for sale at the moment, and this little vignette isn’t. But it does make all the merchandise shown look a lot better, don’t you think?