Nature's Neutrals for a Winter Farmtable

One trend I've seen in the bloggyworld this last few weeks is that so many of us are leaning into January and winter weather using nature's cue with more neutral colors. Whatever our basic "style" might be, doing it in neutral colors, is a clean feeling way to start the new year.

French Country Christmas in the Dining Room

Hello, dear friends. 
I hope you're all well and keeping your Holiday spirits high.

In the Fall I knew I wanted to do something different here in the Dining Room. I didn't really realize how I'd been using the same tabletop decor year after year until I did the "Lookback" post on the dining room last week. So this year after decorating the table with something new for Fall, I decided to keep the basket, tapestry and demi-johns to see what I could come up with for a new look for Christmas. I ended up with a bit of a French Country feel to the tabletop.

Farmhouse Table Valentine Tableau

My Garden Room farmhouse table needed a new look once February arrived. I'd been using my rustic vintage wooden ice cream-maker bucket which I've loved, but I wanted something a little more garden-y and "french-y" for Valentine's Day. I cleared the table top and tried something fresh for February.

Farmhouse Sunflower Tabletop

One of my favorite combinations for Summer is Sunflowers and Ticking... nothing fancy, just rustic and vintage. I thought I'd try something very "summery" this year on the Dining Room table, using one of my old wooden ice cream maker buckets. This old bucket had been a pretty vintage blue/green, but I painted it out in an antique white to make it more "decor friendly". Filled up with faux Sunflowers, sitting on an Indigo Ticking table runner, it says Summer Farmhouse to me.

Basics for Building a Tabletop Vignette

Although I haven't been changing things up around here too much lately, boredom has set in big time, and I needed something fresh to look at here in the Living Room. Each time I think of putting together a vignette or grouping I panic. Good Grief, where do I start? Then I spend a lot of time hunting down and trying things, moving stuff around, then discarding them; generally wasting my time. Decor books and magazines help, but even then I'm sometimes left without an idea of where to start.

I LOVE doing seasonal vignettes, but no matter if I'm decorating for a specific Holiday or Season, or just something basic, I've learned some foundational "building blocks" that make it pretty simple to put together an "Easy Change" Tabletop Vignette.

Easy Festive Votives with Plaid and Boxwood

Hi Everyone, I hope you're having a wonderful weekend.

 Getting the Christmas decorating in hand, shopping,

making plans for this busy time of year...

 and enjoying your loved one's companionship.

Thanksgiving Table-top Vignette

Through my inevitable "process" of tweaking and changing up,

I finally decided on the tabletop vignette in the Dining Room.

Enough of you have confided to me that you're as OCD as I am, 

and cannot... will not, leave something alone.

Not until it's been done to death 

and we reach the place where it "works".

First Fall Tablescape

I'm not even going to try and name this "Early Fall Tablescape", because I'm sure I'll change this up in a few weeks for something a little more "Fallish" with some colorful leaves and berries. So let me be honest here and just call it, "First" Fall Tablescape. te he. I've already turned my calendar page over to September. I did mark a "31" on today's date, but I am ready to move into one of my favorite months and seasons. yep, more than ready. Last week I painted a French-y metal basket for the Dining Room table, and put together an arrangement that whispered the first nuances of Autumn. Here are some pics of the rest of the table.

Table top Conservatory

Little by little I'm making headway with some of my display pieces. This table top conservatory made of old windows and siding sat empty in the corner of the basement living area for months. I'm hoping, now that I have a few more decorative pieces unboxed, that I can keep it up to date with the seasons. So far I've only made one attempt, and that was in May, so it's still dressed for Spring... or late Spring... or early Summer.