{inspired} festive table settings

It turns out that I'm going to be hosting Thanksgiving this year! We usually spend the holiday with one of our families, but we decided this year to host a couple friends in our itty-bitty house. And, we're so excited! Since the decision was made this week though, I have a lot of planning to do!

First up, I've been looking at table decor. My favorite part :). Remember, that we we have a wee farm table, which means not a lot of space to work with. But I've gathered up images that are both beautiful, and could work on a smaller space table.

jenny steffens

style at home

layla grayce

studio ten 25

lauren leonard interiors

by stephanie lynn

The theme running through all these photos is neutral + non-traditional colors. A blue thanksgiving? Lovely. I know for the most part I'll be working with what I have on hand, and what I have on hand it not really geared towards thanksgiving. But you can be assured that no matter what I end up doing, I'll share the result with you all. :)

What table setting is your favorite? Have you ever hosted Thanksgiving? How do you decorate your table?

{inspired} Mood Board Monday: dinnerware

Happy Monday friends! 

Today is an extra special monday because it's .... Moodboard Monday again! Moodboard Monday is a monthly event hosted by the lovely Sarah of Pewter and Sage. Each month Sarah teams up with another blogger to pick the theme for the moodboard. This month's theme is dinnerware, and how it fits into a dining room. Sarah gave us four different, all beautiful, dinnerware sets to choose from. I chose to design a dining room around David Stark Wood Slices. I just love the gold, it's so perfect for this time of year.

For this board, I set out to create a room that is a a little moody, a little rustic and a little refined. I set out to pull in some darker wood tones and offset them with a lovely khaki green, gold highlights and a pop of light blue to keep the room from being too serious.

• The wall color would be a deep blue grey, Divine Almond from Miller Paint. Accent colors are khaki green, gold and dark wood.
• The Oslo sideboard is a perfect deep toned, but still modern, spot to serve food, hold accessories, etc.
• Above the sideboard is a lovely dining scene by Janet Hill Studio. I chose it for the lovely blues, yellow and pinks, but also because regardless of the lovely colors, it manages to still come across a bit moody.
• I would pair the woodcut dishes with rustic chargers, to keep them from looking too fancy, and striped blue napkins to add a dash of color and texture. A blue serving tray rounds out the color and adds a serving functionality.
• The dining table is the classic West Elm Parson's Table. Simple, beautiful and again, wood-toned. The Crate and Barrel side chairs bring in the khaki green color and are streamlined, yet still comfortable. The Anthropologie end chairs are just plain gorgeous :). A neutral patterned rug ties the dining space together and adds a dose of texture.
• A fun, funky light fixture hangs above the table and keeps the space from being too formal.
• Light, airy curtains balance out the bolder, darker, colors, texture and fabrics.
• Gold chevron diy artwork hangs on the opposite wall from the buffet.

Last night I was very ready to give up. Mood boards are not easy for me, but I'm glad I kept working at it. I really love how this room came together and it makes me really wish I had a dining room in my house!

Make sure you hop over to Sarah's blog and check out the other mood boards. They're all GORGEOUS!

{inspired} quilts of Gee's Bend

I have quilts on my brain. Again. Probably because it's turning cold - super cold - here. But, most likely because I haven't sewn in months and I'm itching to sew something. Anything. But, preferably a quilt :).

 

auburn

I lived in Boston for a couple years, for school. When I was offered a job in Portland, I had to make the decision to move pretty fast. I had just a couple weeks to cram in as much of Boston as I could. One sweltering July day I took myself to Boston's Museum of Fine Art. Mostly because there was air conditioning :), but also because I actually love art museums. I don't love the weekends crowds; having to stand in line to get in and trying to shove your way through a crowd to see a painting. But, I was an art minor in college for awhile and there's just something incredibly inspiring about wandering through exhibits of amazing art. I highly recommend a quiet weekday afternoon stroll through a museum. That day happened to be my lucky day because the museum's featured exhibit was the Quilts of Gee's Bend.

auburn

Friends have you heard of these quilts? Since that fateful July day, I haven't been able to shake the beautiful quilt designs or the amazing story behind the quilt makers.

Gee's Bend is a small rural community in Alabama that was formed by freed slaves just after the Civil War. Read: poor. For the woman of the community, making quilts were necessary to keep their families warm in their unheated, primitive homes. 

auburn

They created more than just cozy quilts to keep warm though. They unintentionally created works of art. Woman would piece together scraps of whatever fabric they had on hand: clothes, old linens, etc. They free-form quilted by hand, and what emerged was a quilting style that was highly improvisational, especially when compared to the more strict, tight-lined European style quilts. The Quilts of Gee's Bend look like modern abstract paintings.

google

Today, the original quilts tour art museums. And photos do not do them justice. I spent hours looking at them that day in Boston. The part I love best about this story, though, is in 2003 50 women of Gee's Bend founded the Gee's Bend Quilters Collective. This group of women have the exclusive rights to produce and market the quilts, and are still producing quilts today. Each quilt coming out of this group is individually made and authentic. So awesome.

If you are interested in learning more about these amazing women and their beautiful quilts, go here.

If you are interested in purchasing a quilt, there's more info here.

Happy friday friends! I hope you've enjoyed this little slice of history, and I hope you have a great weekend! :)