For the LOVE of Fine China – USE IT – Inspired Table Settings

From the Diminishing Dining Room of last week’s observations, https://patriciandesign.com/category/dining-rooms/, I decided to further the conversation to encourage a new-found appreciation for having fun setting dinner tables!  I found fodder from Kentucky Fried Chicken served on formal silver platters to wipe-clean placements of dazzling designs to dress your tables.  A collection of tireless designers defend the use of fine china – own it, buy it, find it, inherit it, enjoy it, keep it and use it – don’t send it to the thrift shop!!!

Yes, the art of fine dining seems to be set aside in favor of ease and expediency, but this article from The Washington Post’s HOME section (thank you Feath – my clipping service) brings it all home to use and enjoy.  It is a celebration of art, design and playful creativity.

Not everyone loves to entertain, to create the “tablescape,” to even bother to put together an outfit to wear. Not everyone loves to get dressed in the morning – it is a chore, an obligation, a mere necessity. That’s unfortunate in my estimation. For those of us who do – love it – it is all about having fun with fashion or interior design is just that – FUN!

Last spring I began a series  of emails that I blasted to our mailing list called COOK + PARTY. It was (and will continue this next season) a collection of weekly recipes paired with table-top art pieces. In our gift boutique, we represent an incredible collection of artists who create fabulous tableware.  I paired a piece with a recipe each week to inspire and encourage everyone to use “functional” art in their daily lives and specifically for entertaining and even the family dining table.

https://patriciandesign.com/category/art-and-food/

Recent fodder revealed a great source for fabulous wipe-clean placemats from Caspari.  For decades a fine source for the best paper cocktail napkins, Caspari offers these bold patterns and colors, prints of fine china and fabulous fabrics – re-use and easy to clean – why not?

https://www.casparionline.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=placemat

A previous fall blog that I wrote illustrates the open-mindedness of looking around to find inspiration for seasonal table dressings.  The decision for your table-top inspiration can be spontaneous – just go outside and look around!

 

Among the refreshingly optimistic designers that were quoted in the Washington Post article:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/that-old-fussy-china-can-fit-your-casual-lifestyle-designers-talk-about-how/2018/02/21/46761538-0084-11e8-8acf-ad2991367d9d_story.html?utm_term=.3a6fde2e5124

Barry Dixon, from the verdant rolling hills of Warrenton, Virginia, specifically points out that this process of setting your table should be fun!  Don’t pull-out the same things each time – mix it up! Change it up by adding color and pattern differently with every new opportunity.

Seasonal flowers, yellow woven cotton place-mats, embroidered folk-art table runner, basket chargers beneath classic Limoges topped with ceramic napkin rings – it looks like spring!

Designer Timothy Corrigan tells us that many people find it too difficult to entertain with their best things because the onus of proper cleaning and put-away is too much! But Mr. Corrrigan points out the joy of using your best things every day – everyday is a celebration and what you enjoy should be used.

In another springtime setting…organic, rustic things with finery – black stones nestle fresh purple Campatula flowers antique Limoges and basket chargers –  makes an eclectic table settings – it’snot all or nothing…it’s the combinations and scene that is being set.

Hutton Wilkinson – way out in L.A. where casual chic is the practice of distilling what migrated from the more formal sister coast to the east – noted that he believes presentation is the key to success. It isn’t so much about what is served (don’t tell the chefs that), but rather on what it is served and how it is presented.  Imagine buckets of Kentucky Fried chicken served on elegant Georgian silver platters. That simple fast-food chicken becomes  magnificently irresistible. You can’t say you’re too busy to cook with that creative solution! Wilkinson believes that presentation helps food taste better in addition to looking beautiful! He advocates buying china because it’s beautiful – not merely serviceable. I agree…it’s not all about the mundane purpose of eating off of it – but rather the joy of eating off of it!!

Making your guests feel appreciated and treating them to a unique, pleasing experience is a gift to them.  A special treat to show that you care –  going that extra distance of detail and design.

Color combinations, textures,patterns – wonderfully pleasing tablescapes are a treat for the eye. (So special Marsha!)

So don’t say it’s too difficult…keep it simple with Real Simple – the source for easy, ingenious ideas and simple truths……the following link for proper place-settings will get you started.

https://www.realsimple.com/holidays-entertaining/entertaining/how-to-set-a-table

Patti says – “make it special every day.”

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Posted On March 11, 2018 By pattisays In art and food, artistic expression, beauty behold it, Centerpieces, Color schemes, creative process, creativity, design, design process, design solutions, design tips, design trends, dining and design, dining rooms, DIY design, entertaining, fashion and design, fine china, floral arrangement, floral arrangements, floral designs, folkart, Food and art, food and interior design, handmade tableware, hiring an interior designer, inspiration from nature, interior atmosphere, interior design, interior design trends, joy, lifestyle, natural designs, natural integrity of the materials, natural stone, organic design, party themes, personal expression, practical design, seasonal interior design, Spring, Subscribers, table dressings, table top, tableware, textures, trends, value of good design, weavings /  

DIY – Inspiration is All Around!

DIY is so in vogue. Where it used to be chic to hire someone to do everything in your world, now practicality rules! The savings and fun of doing things yourself is huge. There are so many inspirations on-line. Ideas overflow-ith and the possibilities are endless.

Where do you get YOUR inspiration? It’s all around us. I had been contemplating a shower/wedding gift. I always prefer to find something unique rather than picking from a registry at Nordstrom’s or William Sonoma…but this one was a challenge.

Recently, my inspiration came from taking a morning walk through the desert.

The decorative graphic on the invitation was a floral arrangement of soft pastels and antlers. Yes, antlers. This bride-to-be is a hunter. A long, lanky, beautiful, feminine, crack shot! I’ve known her since she was a toddler. I had been picturing that graphic in my mind in an effort to divine some special gift that related to that theme…something uniquely memorable and lasting.

As I walked through the rough desert grasses and around piles of dead tumbleweeds I regarded them with a new-found appreciation. They had such an interesting structural framework that I realized that they clearly resembled antlers.

They became the springboard for a floral arrangement that would replicate the theme of the invitation and, with that, I began selecting them and carefully carrying their rotund prickly selves back to the car.

Next step – what else will make this a successful rendition of the theme I was trying to emulate? Off to the craft stores! I selected delicate, creamy-white wooden roses, soft pink mini silk roses and some fill from both Michael’s and Hobby Lobby. The PERFECT ceramic vessel presented itself in an soft, oval shape glazed in a powder blue, but with edges and character that offered attractive, desirable, intentional imperfection.

As I have mentioned in past stories, a successful designer has a good team. Building a team to realize your dreams is the key to that success and I called on my very special and exquisitely talented floral designer to assemble my gatherings into the image of my intent. Melba has made my dreams come true for years. She gets into my head and interprets my words and elements to create a finished product that has hit the nail on the head over and over again.

I pulled out the many materials that I had purchased. She evaluated each, talked to me about my concept, and studied the combinations that were laid out on the table.

This piece exceeded my expectations. The fine branches of the tumbleweeds were the delicate punctuation amidst the flowers.

When she actually ordered real, bleached deer antlers that became the statuary of the piece, I was thrilled! Not only was the finished arrangement perfection, I didn’t think it was realistic to expect to get real antlers and incorporate them into this design in such short notice. She had less than 2 weeks! It was spectacular.

DIY inspiration is all around – even in dead, dried tumbleweeds. Creativity begins with a concept and progresses with the fun of making it uniquely yours. Team DIY!

 

 

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Posted On June 24, 2017 By pattisays In Albuquerque, New Mexico, art and interior design, art as gift ideas, artistic expression, beauty behold it, Centerpieces, creative process, creativity, decorative arts, design process, Design Team, design tips, design trends, designs in nature, DIY design, dried flowers, fanciful design, floral arrangement, floral arrangements, floral designs, handcraft, inspiration from nature, interior design, interior design trends, lifestyle, natural integrity of the materials, naturalist, nature, personal expression, re-purpose, silk flowers, table dressings, table top, tumbleweeds /  

Resourceful Creative Festive Fun

When it’s time sensitive and just can’t wait – what do you get? A BONUS BLOG!!!  Yes! A mid-week blog for the holidays! It began beneath a brilliant blue sky yesterday as the air, with a teeny bit of a  chill, was contrasted by the then warm sunshine glistening through a deciduous denuded Honey Locust making it’s lonely leftover pods look like birds silhouetted against the sky.

Scattered all over the ground were the same fallen wonderfully twisted mahogany-colored pods writhing amidst the dried leaves.

The color was so rich and warm it was irresistible. As I bent over to inspect one, I was captured by the unique quality of each pod and the amazing contours of their graceful, elongated shapes.

Almost as though they were varnished, they had a semi-gloss that was naturally beautiful. This is art in nature. This is inspiration. I can see this as a magnificent drapery fabric – a grand wall of these intertwined ribbons of organic seed pods.

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However, on a more current and immediate note – I saw a centerpiece or multiple centerpieces as it turned out. I gathered the pods in my fist as though a wonderfully wild bouquet. I then needed a bag (thank you Becky) as I kept dropping them, in an effort to force the ever growing collection.

Here is the quickie result of the awesome autumnal centerpiece. I had a faux wreath of berries and leaves, tossed in a few recently harvested local apples, (thank you Vigils), some leaves gathered from the driveway as the Bradford Pear – which, a little late this year due to our unseasonably warm Indian Summer this fall, has only started to drop its gloriously radiant leaves. And Voila!

I stood back and looked over my shoulder and saw the collapsed plastic bag still spilling pods out over the counter-top.

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I was about to call all my friends and ask “Do you want a piece of this fabulous, festive, fall, focus of attention? And I quickly realized I could expand the joy for those of you with grand tables  needing a longer statement down the center.

So flanking glass vases provided the extension I needed. Now this was quick – adding gravel, sand or moss in the vases would add interest and depth, maybe pheasant feathers, other dried flower pods and grasses – this was just a start based upon an irresistible inspiration scattered before me.

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So keep your eyes peeled for opportunities when you least expect them and make something out of nothing. Save unnecessary expense when you find your design accessories for free!!! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

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Posted On November 22, 2016 By pattisays In beauty behold it, Centerpieces, design, design tips, design trends, designs in nature, dining and design, DIY design, exterior - outdoor design, Garden, inspiration from nature, interior design, interior design trends, landscape design, natural designs, naturalist, nature, Organic art, personal expression, re-purpose, recycle design, seasonal interior design, table dressings, table top, Thanksgiving, yard maintenance /