I was very slow to take down my Christmas sideboard decor, as I loved it so much this year.
It was TIME. Really. So out came the pink for Valentine’s Day.
Staffordshire Cup and Saucer
Sideboard Love
Category Archives: Winter Tablescapes and Vignettes
A Global Vignette
One of the things we said when we married thirty one years ago was that we would never live in a split-level house in the suburbs. Well, guess what? We were wrong. When the time came to buy our empty nester house, a split level offered us the most bedrooms and baths, along with flexible living spaces that would suit our musical lifestyle. The problem is that although we have lots of spaces, every space in the house is a little small — and that includes our entry hall.
This is the after photo. I don’t have any good before photos.
Ice and Snow Tablescape
It’s still snowing here in Chicagoland, and the weather reporters are calling for more snow today and again on Saturday. Under these circumstances, it’s only natural that my thoughts turn to white dishes.
Actually, I was intrigued by Yvonne’s post earlier this week at Stonegable where she enumerated ten reasons to collect white dishes. I loved her layers of different patterns of white, so I tried to showcase my own white palette. Continue reading
Winter’s Blue Tablescape
The Christmas tree is put away, the comfortable chairs are back in the window, and there’s a fresh coating of snow outside. It seems like the perfect day to take a visit to Germany in the Winter’s Blue Tablescape.
I’ve talked about my next door neighbor and her dishes many times. The tableware and decor items that I selected (and salvaged from destruction) from her estate sales have been sources of inspiration for tablescapes, including Paperwhites in a Punch Bowl, Family Reunion Gifts Bring a Sunflower Tablescape, and most recently, Downton Abbey Tablescape for the Servantless Home Decorator. Her house remodel is almost finished by the flippers and it is up for sale; hopefully we will soon have a lovely family living in Oksana’s home and bringing life back to it after almost six years. Today I’m honoring her once again with a tablescape inspired by her set of Hutschenreuther collectors’ plates, each with a different scene from a German village. Continue reading
Pretty in Pink Tablescape
What is it about the color pink that make girls’ hearts go pitty-pat?
Pink wedding dresses, pink shoes, pink handbags, pink upholstery — it’s all about pink for little girls and grown women. There’s the pink aisle at the toy store filled with Barbie and her accessories — and remember when our craft stores were replacing Christmas merchandise with pink and red Valentine’s Day stuff long before December 25?
Pink isn’t all about being sweet and girly. It’s the symbol of strength and fortitude when applied to fighting breast cancer. I remember the first pink suit I bought when I felt I was sufficiently established in my career to get away with wearing pink — and I never went back. In fact, I’m just about to add a new pink blazer to my wardrobe in an unstructured knit to match my new more casual lifestyle — a lifestyle in which my inspiration word is STRONG. Continue reading
Downton Abbey Tablescape for the Servantless Home Decorator
This post contains affiliate links; see my PR disclosure policy for details.
One of my favorite scenes in the movie Julie & Julia is where Julie Powell (Amy Adams) types into her infant blog a reference to Julia Child’s famous words from the beginning of Mastering the Art of French Cooking — “Nobody here but us servantless American cooks.” Julia Child believed that with a little bit of instruction and a lot of good directions, servantless American cooks could pull off the preparation of traditional French dishes in their homes.
The same applies to our servantless home tablescaping — if you know the basic ingredients of a tablescape, you can create your version of even the fanciest decor, using what you already own. Granted, for some of us, our “stash” is larger than for others. If you don’t have quite what you need, you can pick up beautiful pieces for very little money on sale or in resale shops. Just follow any blog written by a home tablescaper and you’ll see hundreds of pieces purchased for a song. It makes me sad to find dish sets and linens that were given away by family members who didn’t want their grandma’s treasured home items, but I digress…
Downton Abbey merchandise at Cost Plus World Market
Over the holidays, Cost Plus World Market was carrying quite a few Downton Abbey-labeled products. Knowing my love for the show, I received a bottle of Downton Abbey wine, Downton Abbey soaps, Downton Abbey mince pies, and I also bought an Edwardian-style table runner and matching napkins that the store sold with the other Downton Abbey products. On sale, of course. Continue reading
Naturally Art Nouveau Tablescape
14 Days until Christmas finds me back at the table creating a new tablescape. This week, we’re linking up to Cuisine Kathleen for a tablescaping challenge.
The Challenge from Cuisine Kathleen: You must show us your inspiration picture from a magazine or internet, and then show us how you copied it.
The Inspiration: from Veranda magazine (November-December 2013) — wait for it.
Veranda magazine cover November-December 2013
No, this is not the inspiration, although I absolutely love the centerpiece with the amaryllis blossoms.
This is my inspiration — statuary with natural elements, back-grounded by wintry snow and recreated on my table as the Naturally Art Nouveau Tablescape.
Photo of statuary decorated for Christmas from Veranda magazine, November-December 2013.
When I first saw this photo, I knew that I had elements of this look to create a beautiful tablescape for Kathleen’s challenge. The inspiration photo screamed Art Nouveau, and I had just the pieces to bring the naturalistic style to life. Art Nouveau is an international philosophy of design that was very popular from 1890 to 1910. It was inspired by natural forms and structures, not only in flowers and plants, but also in curved lines. Designers created art that was intended to harmonize with the natural environment. Continue reading
