11.16.2014

Entertaining | Mix & Match

People who love to eat are always the best people.

                                                                                Julia Child


There are few things I enjoy more than cooking for others.  Having come from a long Greek line of food pushers, it is simply what I do.  I cook for my family daily and whenever the occasion calls for it, I cook for others.  If you have a new baby, I will bring food.  If you win the Pulitzer Prize, I will bring food.  If you have a death in the family, I will bring food.  If you leave the restroom trailing toilet paper from your shoe, I will bring food.  This is how I celebrate my family and friends, in good times and bad.  Much like my Yia Yia, I show my love through cooking. 

This love of cooking has naturally extended to entertaining. I entertain at home quite often.  Preparing a delicious meal and setting a pretty table thrills me to no end.  I relish any opportunity to raid my china stash.  I have an incurable habit of collecting it so I reason that I should use it as often as possible.  We use my grandmother’s vintage blue willow collection for our everyday dishes, which I have been augmenting since college graduation.  Just last weekend, my mother dropped off my Yia Yia’s blue willow to augment my collection – it was very much like Christmas come early.





The other day I had a few friends by for dinner and set this festive table.  Almost always, I mix patterns and color, just like I do with my interiors.  The pink poinsettias and artichokes are a nod to the holiday season without being overtly Christmasy too early or Turkeyfied too predictable.  No red and green for me, or heaven forbid, brown and boring.  I do appreciate brown, as evidenced in my bathroom, just not in any predictable manner like a Turkey Day table setting.  Instead, you will get a crazy mix of color and pattern at my table, even on major holidays.  I’m frisky like that.



















SOURCES:

monogram napkins | Chinoiserie plates | blue Villeroy & Boch goblets | gold chargers | Blue Willow bowls | green Limoges plates | bamboo tray | placemats | silver  | pineapple print | pink candles

Items without links are things that I have inherited.  My holiday tables will be a similar riot of color with a few more seasonal tweaks here and there.  My equation for a frisky, gorgeous table always starts with classic elements. Classic elements, like bamboo, rattan, and silver help to keep the look grounded, while the mix of unexpected color, pattern, and fresh produce keep the look fresh and frisky. 




I encourage you to not only entertain more this season, but to do so colorfully. #colorismyfavoritecolor

In my book, people who love to mix color daringly are always the best people too!



All designs, layouts, styling, and photos by Emily Vanderputten

kissesmrs. V

11.06.2014

One Room Challenge Linking Event - Week 6 - The Big Reveal








The big day is here!  Reveal day, or the Full Monty, as I have taken to  calling it.  Welcome back to The One Room Challengelinking event. I re-did my bathroom in 6 short weeks, handling all the work between my mister and myself, and have lived to tell the tale, although my marriage had some sporty moments.  This is my 3rd time participating (here and here, in addition to this one) each time it is complete and total hairy eyeball chaos. Thank you for checking in each week, your encouragement is everything!  If you are new to chez V, you can catch up on all the drama, and believeyoume there was plenty of it, including my starting point, by checking out weeks 1 – 5 on the links below:



Today I will spare you the verbal gymnastics just this once, and get right to the goods.  Just know it pains me to my soul not to spin some kind of yarn…














































I love this dear little jewel box of a loo even though shooting it was a lot like that time I did an intense yoga class in Midtown Atlanta.  I had to contort my body in ways that should be illegal to get any kind of shots in this narrow space.  And much like the macho dude who was whimpering next to me in that tortuous yoga class led by a no-nonsense yogi dude with black toe nails, I just might have let loose a cry or two as I surely pulled my groin trying to straddle the toilet while balancing the tripod on my nose.

While my Ms. Mame of a water closet looks pretty during the day, she positively comes alive at night.  The glossy walls reflect the light around the dark, jewel box.  The brass light fixture creates an incredible geometric pattern on the ceiling and the sconces create the most perfect lovely light in the vanity.  These pictures do not it justice...
















That's it folks.  I am beat-to-a-bloody-pulp tired.  Need a vat of wine to properly recover.  I will follow this post up with more details about each of the elements perhaps tomorrow, or next week, or whenever I have found my brain and can string two coherent thoughts together.  In the meantime, if you have any questions you would like answered, ask away in the comments.  I try to respond to every comment, provided you are not a 'no-reply' nincompoop.  PS – Beth C – thank you for the heads up that my subscribe widget is busted.  I’ll get right on that and the font color.  Love me some pink, but my mister also complains about it too. ;) 

Some of the sources are vintage that I have had for a while but I have included links to the places where I found them.  If I haven't listed something than I've likely had it for longer than Methuselah's long ass life.

SOURCES:



Another big heartfelt thanks to Linda for organizing The One Room Challenge™ and the linking event.  I now have 3 knock out rooms in this postage stamp of mine because of participating. Yeehaw!   Cannot wait to settle in and see the amazing transformations of the other 90+ participants.  Check them out here.


All designs, layouts, and photos by Emily Vanderputten

kissesmrs. V