Why bother with the Table? Using Paper-vs-Real Plates.

 Topic: The Art of Entertaining!

Paper vs Real Plates. Really? Yes... This is the topic today.

The week seems to have gotten away from me, so it's time for a post this week. I was actually inspired to write about my topic, based on a Facebook status of my online friend Margie Church, aka the "Churchlady" who is an accomplished and published steamy Romance and Children's Books Author. She writes fun adventures, but her status post was: 


" I have different coats for the seasons, shoes too. Can't live here and not...wouldn't it be cool to have DISHES for every Season?


There were 32 comments. WOW- about dishes...What that meant to me is that I am happy that there really might be an interest for a blog like Design Spark!  discussing "The Art of Entertaining."  There were a couple of comments about, "... why don't you use paper plates if you want a change?" Also, "...we don't have room for more dishes, with limited shelf space, so buying more- wouldn't it be excessive?"


There is a time and place for paper plates. I do love them and use them too, but when you plan to seriously entertain for a small intimate party of 2 to a middle sized group of 10 even if it's casual entertaining, 

Why would you choose paper when it's just

 as easy to use really cool REAL plates?

This place setting has many layers. it is topped with a Willow House Amelia Thimble Dome (pg 24 in 2011 Spring/Summer WH catalog), complete with Faux robin egg inside. The WH Dress-Me-Up Platter(pg 79) works beautifully as a charger base for your Luncheon plates. The dark brown Mario Vitali Italian Stitch plate (WH eOutlet)is topped with the Villa Luncheon plate (pg 6) and one of the Terrace Accent plates(pg 8), with a beaded wreath on top.

 You don't have to spend much on Real plates (unless you want to! LOL), but they make a big different in impact on your guests. Besides you will impress your friends and family. They'll think you think they are special,(which they should be). You know, with real, you'll be going Green- it's better for the environment, just wash it and use it again. Once you make a small investment, you will have the dinnerware forever, or until you get tired of it! It's okay to give it away or sell it on eBay. When you do, pass it on to someone who will appreciate it.

We don't have to always be lazy and choose the throwaway option. 

Now, I'm going to let the pictures do the talking... 

The plates all co-ordinate, they do not perfectly match. 

The two pictures show a table set for four and 

each place setting is unique, none are the same.

You can see through the pictures below that 

You can mix patterns and shapes. and 

Simple changes can give a totally different look. 

A green silk runner makes a great accent placed on the center of table and topped with the Willow House Filigree Iron Candlestand (pg 58). The WH Ruffled bowl holding Manderin oranges (pg 45) is in the foreground, each place setting has different plates as bases topped with one of the lovely WH Terrace accent plates. More details on each place setting are listed below.

This tablescape also has a colorful red silk runner with the WH Lady Jane Bottleneck Vase (pg 6) with Lilies inside as one of the Centerpieces.the Wh ruffled collection- the pitcher (pg43) bowl (pg 45) and the Adair Upside-down cake stand (pg 44) 

Don't be afraid to experiment! 

You can use all kinds of different accessories- placemats, 

charger plates, napkins, napkin rings, glasses, silverware.

Check out all the different options below.

Well, I hope you enjoyed seeing some really great, fun placesettings that you can easily pre-create. Save your paper plates for the Kid's birthday partys or your summer cookouts. Use some great accent pieces to brighten up your table.


References:
The cream colored plates Shown are the Willow House Villa Stoneware Collection Luncheon Plates (pg 6).
The Brown and white patterned plates are the Terrace Accent Plate from our Spring/Summer Wh catalog (pg 8) .
The Red and white patterned plated are the Portico accent plated located on (pg 29).
The different place mats were all bought from Kohl's.

Glass Hurricanes

It's Wednesday- Time to talk about Interiors!

When it comes to designing what goes in your Interior 

or the inside of your home, 

It's ALL IN THE DETAILS.

Today, I want to talk about using Glass Hurricanes. Glass is a nice medium to use to display just about anything that you want. It's great to because if you invest in some great Hurricanes or large vases, it is easy to use them all the time but to change them up with the Season, Holiday or just because you want to see something different. I think I said on an earlier post that you only need to get one item to transform your room. A Hurricane would be one of my suggestions. The height gives you the advantage to make a beautiful display and showcase flowers, candles or something as pretty as Potpourri.It's the perfect decorator's sweet item because they are an interior design "work horse" as: 

"Glass contains, but yet reveals."

Look at the pictures and you can see how versatile and so many great uses you can have with  one great glass container. Here are some of pictures showing the details of what I used in my Mantle article. You can buy hurricanes just about anywhere, I would suggest that you make sure when you buy one that they are a heavier glass. If it's too thin, being a larger object, they tend to break easier. I am showcasing a just a couple of our Willow House Hurricanes as that's what I have at my home and what I've made my displays with. We have even more in our current catalog, they are all very pretty.

Introducing...
The Coronado Stone Pedestal

The Coronado Stone Pedestal  is shown here with the WH Mediterranean Sage Bowl and a ceramic starfish tea light holder. Multi colored sea glass is used in the glass base and a white pillar candle placed on top. The colors and textures of all of the arrangement together leaves you with the impression of the sea. YOu can find it on page 15 of our Spring WH catalog.

This is our newest Hurricane that we currently offer in our Willow House line. I really love the Coronado Stone Pedestal because it is a bit different than the usual glass hurricane. It has a glass body, but the base is almost as big as the body and it is made out of stone with a detailed design and a white washed finish. If you think the picture is pretty, 
you should see it in person.

 The Hemingway Hurricane

We have had this product for awhile and there's a good reason why! This pretty items is just so versatile, you can use it for almost anything. Look at a couple of pictures and I hope that it helps inspire you to get a little creative too!

By the way, I've got more ideas to share about what you can do with these lovelies. But I'm going to save it for another post.

 I'll give you some more ideas too.

This first Hemingway photo shows how a red pillar candle and
matching potpourri can work from Christmas time through  Valentines Day. Find this on page 42 of our WH Catalog

Version Two Hemingway makes us think Spring with Sea Glass
and lovely soft yellow pillar candle.  You could also tie a ribbon
around the middle of this or at the bottom to give it even more detail.

Our third view makes a spectacular display with Winter branches
and potpourri on the bottom to give a base to the display. 

The Galveston Hurricane

I love our Willow House Galveston Footed Hurricanes.
The ironwork gives these just that extra touch of style.
We carry two sizes & they're on page 37 of our WH Catalog

Here are just a few of the many ideas of what you could do with a Hurricane.

If you use Potpourri, I love the Yankee Candle brand, as they have very interesting lovely scents as well as pretty objects inside of there different flavors. I love Pier One for Pillar Candles, they are very nice quality candles and although you may pay a bit more than if you go to the local grocery+ convenience store, they usually go on sale and they are really nice and last a long time.

Design Style 101

It's Tuesday, Let's talk about Style.

Style to me for the most part is up to your individual taste. Not everything that "designers" suggest is for everyone. It's good to keep up on current trends, but don't let them dictate  how everything in your home needs to look. After all, if we all had the same thing, it would be a pretty boring world. My personal style is a traditional, but eclectic look. When my daughter Alyssa is older, she says she wants to have an ultra modern clean feng shei type home.

 You can however, pretty much combine different looks into a couple of styles types. Next week I'll start to discuss what we at Willow House have identified this season as:

Chic Organic 

Cottage Romantic  

Bright and Bold 

You may like more than just one style type too, like I do. That's okay. It will give your home character. Most of us do not have million dollar budgets to hire top interior designers and custom order the furniture and accessories. I'm going to tell you that you don't need to have that kind of money either to have a great looking home.

My best advice to give you is that you should buy something that :

Really strikes you when you see it, You love it!

It is of the best quality that fits your budget.

Don't spend a lot of money on anything that is a Fad.

I hope you know what I mean by a Fad. It's usually something that is really popular, everyone has got to have it. It's fun to by something that is a hit in all the magazines and in stores, but don't invest a lot in it because 5 years from now, it will look very dated.

Well, that's it for this week. Next week and for a few weeks after, I'm going to explore what the current styles are and how you can get them. 


Note: Special Thanks to our Fabulous Designers at Willow House for all their creative inspiration and coming up with the names to the Latest trends out there.

It's Time to Dress Up... the Mantle

It's a New Year... Change up the Mantle!

Part One: Nothing is better than sitting by the fire keeping warm and toasty to kill of the wicked winter chill that seeps into your bones. With that statement, I guess it's no secret that I live in the North! While you are sitting by the cosy fire, it is even better if you can have a lovely looking mantle to make everything look so picturesque.

There are a couple of things that you need to consider when deciding what you want to put up there:

• What is your Theme.

• Have a Color Scheme.

• Highlight some of your "Treasures".

• Pick a Style.

Our Mantle at Christmas, complete with Stockings!

(Click on any of the pictures to view them larger.

THEME: A mantle is the perfect gathering place for setting up a theme. For instance, I bet you all had your mantles decorated to the max for Christmas. I know I do. Every year. Love it. Here's a Picture of it done up for the holidays. But now, the holidays are over and hopefully you are now faced with a clean slate. Using the holidays as your theme again, it's time to get ready for Valentines Day. OR you can use the Seasons as your theme. Right now would be Winter. If you have a special collection, like my mom does of Milk glass, Fenton glass and Lenox Birds, she could use her collection as her theme. 

COLOR SCHEME: Once you've picked your theme, it is time to move on to color. YOu need to have a palette in mind. It can match what furniture you have in the room or coordinate. You definitely do not want to pick something that clashes- everything should compliment the other colors. The only time that that would not matter is if you are going with a color to match you theme. It's ok that you use orange and black when it's Halloween. Just make sure that you use enough of the color together, that it's obvious that it is meant to stand out from other parts of the room. 

This mantle design color theme is picking up on the red colors that took us through Christmas and now through Valentine's Day. I'll give you some close up pictures this weekend of the individual pieces that I'm using. Here are three different versions :

Version One Mantle: Basic with a RED color theme.

Version Two Mantle: Red with a Winter theme.

Version Three Mantle: Sea Blues and Butter Yellow Spring theme.

TREASURES: Treasures are things that you collect because they mean something special to you. Why not show them off on your Mantle? Enough said.

STYLE: Everyone is drawn to a specific type of design style. Whether you love Shabby Chic, French Country, Modern or Eclectic; (to just name a few) each of these different styles also looks better with the way you lay them out. Symmetrical or Asymmetrical. Minimal or Complicated Layers. 

Now there a couple of considerations that could pose a dilemma. One is how high off the ground your mantle sits and how much room you have above the Mantel until you hit the ceiling. Also how wide your mantle is from the wall? Both of these were two huge issues for me as the space between the shelf and the ceiling is not very wide. I chose a large narrow rectangular Watercolor painting to hang above it. Then, because my shelf area is not very wide, it limits how much layering I can do. It's not possible to put many of my lovely treasures up on the mantle as it won't hold them, it's too narrow.

Just make a choice and start to play around with different items that you want to use until you get it to look right. You'll know when you are done. It will just feel right to you.

My last piece of advice to you is that rules are nice, to help you to follow, but they are also made to be broken. Don't be afraid to try something totally different!

My next post will detail some of the different treasures I used in the pieces above.

Until next time- Pam