My Jewel-Toned Turkey Table

I got it together and styled my Thanksgiving before the holiday in the hopes of helping you gather some inspiration for your own table.

As you can see, color takes center stage this year on my turkey table:

It all started with Caspari's Kilim Spice napkins and their kaleidoscope of juicy color. I fell in love with all of the berry jewel tones punctuated with soft yellow, orange and turquoise.

And naturally, I paired the napkins with some of my favorite Caspari paper plates...I actually wanted to go back to using my china this year but the napkins were non-negotiable and mixing them wasn't really working.

I also blinged out the table with some awesome golden touches. First up is a pair of Addison Weeks' Dewey Cups (next to last picture) - gorgeous brass julep-type cups encrusted with a gigantic jewel. They make the perfect bud vase but I could also see them holding straws or cocktail stirrers on a bar. So chic.

And those awesome cheetah napkin rings are from Annapolis shop Strawberry Banke Studio, a recent find that I'm so glad I know about. Their curated website is perfect for your upcoming lady gifts - a tray for you sister, a clutch for your mom, a silver bud vase for your best friend...it's all there.

Now, I am no flower arranger. I hope to one day hone in on that skill, but I can pick out flowers based on color and shape and I adore how the carnations (always my go to) looked bunched together in the Dewey Cup. And the pink flowers in the middle (I'm not sure what they are called) had the loveliest drape but needed some height, so I threw in some feathers - always appropriate at Thanksgiving.

Hope your table is coming together if you are hosting. I would LOVE to see pictures of your own table in the comments or on Instagram (use #aotable so I see it)!

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My Paper Plate Thanksgiving, Caspari Style

I had just about the best time putting together this Thanksgiving table.

After my visit with Caspari, I came away with so much inspiration that this table practically set itself. Welcome to Thanksgiving chez AO:

Highlights:

- Yay for hoarding tableware! Nothing I already owned was off-limits for this table and I mixed and matched my little heart out.

- Centerpiece vase is the iconic Tobacco Leaf that my mother-in-law was going to toss! It's really shining bright in the center of my Imari tray. And the silver service was my mom's. Crystal is our wedding crystal. The little black eggs are a collection that I've had for YEARS and never see the light of day. Love shopping my house when setting a table and pulling out items with history to use as accents.

- Black candles! I had squirreled away this idea for four years and I love it here.

- I beat Kate and team by using SIX layers on my head place settings. Note that the head place setting (last picture) and side settings (first picture) are slightly different. I only had enough Imari placemats to go around for four since I doubled them up to create more of a rectangular placemat. But I LOVE the result of having the two head settings slightly different - especially with that touch of silver peeking out from behind the plates!

- Yay for hoarding fabric! I have had that green stripe fabric since we moved into this house and have never found a place for it...using it on this table was my nod to my recent Greenbrier escapades. 

Now, if you do the math, you'll notice Thanksgiving is still a week away. Meaning that I will now need to dismantle this table only to recreate it next Thursday as little hands were eager to experience the Gilded Gobbler:

Oh, Ana Claire.

I want to give a huge thank you to the Charlottesville Caspari team for loading me up with tips and inspiration and the paper products I'm using here. Such a phenomenal brand that is my holiday go-to. I'll be posting some more Christmas inspiration from the store in the coming weeks. 

Get the Gilded Gobbler Look:

Imari Paper Tray  •  Decorated Pears Cocktail Napkins  •  Harvest Gathering Salad Plates  •  Aubergine Grosgrain Border Dinner Plates  •  Highland Spice Guest Towels  •  Imari Placemats

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Black Doors

Done and done.

Before:

And After!

Photos by Crystal Downs

WHAT TOOK US SO LONG????

Not only did we paint the doors black, but we also replaced what were puny, hollow doors with sturdy, solid paneled situations. This simple change made a huge impact in our little hallway. Carter and I were both patting ourselves on the back after this one. The plan is to do this to ALL doors in our house, except maybe the french doors leading into the dining room.

Yay for small, easy changes with big impact.

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Update From My Plates

My plates wanted to give you an update on their status.

They have been installed in the kitchen and are quite happy. And chic. Happy Chic, if you will.

They are exactly what I envisioned and fit so well with the kitchen. They are much heftier than my last set so we had to do a little reorganization of the cabinets, but I think this set-up works better than our previous one so I'm pumped.

The set looks great. Feels great. Let's hope it holds up to some wear over the coming years.

And not that my coffee mugs are hanging out anywhere near the wall"paper" at any point during any day, but they look real good together:

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Candy Christmas Tree

We have two Christmas trees.  I think this might have been the primary reason why I was so thrilled to renovate the basement into our family room - the opportunity for a second tree!

And I knew exactly what I wanted to do in our family room...a candy tree. Something bright, colorful and sweet. We debuted the tree last year but seeing as how I was super-dee-duper pregnant I didn't get around to blogging about it.

So here it is this year:

And if you remember what our family room looks like, you'll see that the bright pops of candy color are right at home in this room. In fact, I'm pretty sure the desire for a candy tree might have influenced this room's color palette.

Every Christmas, my mother-in-law takes me to my favorite shop in Columbia, SC called Madison Hall where they have a gigantic Christmas room devoted to ornaments which is where I purchased the majority of the ornaments for this tree. I can't wait to go back this year and keep adding to this one...and I hope as Ana Claire gets older, she comes to love her sweet candy tree as much as I do.

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Raggedy Ann Christmas Tree

Do your children have a color palette? Ana Claire does. Is that because I'm a weird designer mom or do parents do that? Since before she was born I gravitated toward the combination of red, pink and blue. There is nary a yellow, green or purple outfit to be found in her closet.

So being that the child's palette is red, pink and blue, a Raggedy Ann themed first birthday party was an obvious choice. And celebrating Ana Claire's birthday so close to Christmas meant that, clearly, our Christmas tree had to match her birthday party theme. I couldn't have an all-green and white situation competing with my her red/pink/blue party.

Also, I kind of switched up the Christmas color scheme in our living room last year to a more traditional palette of reds, greens and blues. Remember our stockings?

SO WHAT I'M SAYING IS, the tree got a makeover this year. And it began with this little idea I had of wrapping sweet blue ribbon around candy canes:

And one of our gifts to Ana Claire for her birthday was this Raggedy Ann ornament:

And then it kinda spiraled from there into this:

And the twinkly evening view...my favorite:

Now, keep in mind, virtually everything on this tree is new so I had to really keep tight on the budget. The ribbons are present toppers that I just separated out into individual strands and tied to the branches. The candy canes were obvi low cost but have a great impact. The balls and bead garland are from Target. And the painted ornaments are wooden ones that I picked up at AC Moore for $1 and painted to match the tree.

I must say, I am really digging it. Thanks for having a birthday so close to Christmas, baby girl. Gave mama an excuse to redecorate. Although I will likely not repeat this tree next year, I do like that I have more of a red/blue foundation to build upon to jive with our stockings and our blue and white porcelain in the living room. Just think I'll add a little more green to it next year.

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Our Christmas Cottage

I'll be frank that I chose our house color largely based on how it would look at Christmas. It's no coincidence that our home is green with a red door...and when we got our first snow this weekend, my heart was full.

The snow dusting made the house look so sweet and all the pops of red against the white looked great. I still need to zhush our flower boxes with some holly berries (we have a huge bush in the backyard) and lights so you can see them better at night.

Speaking of night...here is the nocturnal view without snow:

LOVE how the lights look in our skip laurel bushes! See what I mean about the flower boxes? They need some twinkle. And yes, that's a slightly different house flag. I have a lot of house flags.

Have I mentioned I love this season???

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My Thanksgiving Table

I forgot to show you my Thanksgiving table! Pretty much every year I tell myself that I'm going to set aside an hour or two to really dress my table - sort through linens and chargers and glassware and come up with something spectacular....and every year, I'm left with about 5 minutes to throw things on the table.

This year was no exception. And I didn't have flowers! Totally forgot to buy some, so I improvised.

I will say the Caspari placemats and napkins in Imari really did the heavy-lifting. The table was pretty with the bright pops of pattern in all of my favorite colors and the jewel tones made the setting very festive and autumnal. And I was so very pleased with how they looked with my china (Derby Panel Green from Royal Crown Derby).

Now on to Christmas decorating!

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Welcoming the Season

This was the scene last night at our house.

After a full weekend of family, food, and entertaining we quickly transitioned into Christmas. The Nutcrackers joined us once again, Carter built a gorgeous fire, we turned up the Christmas tunes (which, let's be honest, were playing all weekend) and relaxed.

Now to hit slow motion as I delight in every moment of my favorite season made even more special this year because I get to share it with Ana Claire.

I hope you had a beautiful holiday and that you too are enjoying the final weeks of this year.

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NEAT Method Closet Makeover

Picking out my clothes everyday is now like shopping in a store where the employees walk around at the end of the day and refold and reorganize everything for the next morning's shoppers. That is a great feeling.

Raelynn and Catherine totally rethought my small space and used every inch to maximize not only storage but function. I can see my clothes and accessories again!

I asked the ladies of NEAT Method DC to give us a couple of tips to rethink our own messy closets and get them in tip-top shape. I think this time of year is a great purging opportunity as you start to really bring out the winter wear.

Step 1) Take inventory of your space.
This is your chance to assess what you have and purge the items that you no longer love and don't need.

They let Ana Claire help with the jewelry sorting.

Step 2) Sort like with like.
This involves grouping your wardrobe and accessories into categories and assessing the volume of each category to determine appropriate placement of the items. 

  
Step 3) Color-code.
We always hang clothing by item and color. We hang and fold from white to black, and itemize the colors with ROYGBIV (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet... pink goes before red, brown and grey go before black).  Not only is this visually pleasing, but it will give you a better idea of what colors you need to start and stop purchasing.

Step 4) Product implementation is key.
Be sure to measure all of your drawers and shelving to make your trip to The Container Store more effective.  Always use the same hangers in a neutral color and hide odds and ends with chic bins.  Label anything and everything.

Step 5) Maintain
The simple adage we learned as kids, "put it back where you got it from" is essential to maintaining an organized space.  Also, be mindful of the items you use most frequently, and display them in a proper home that's at eye level or within reach.  This will ensure you're not digging around and making a mess while hunting for your favorite clutch. 

REALLY great, right????  It makes SUCH a difference to have an organized closet. Seriously. Has cut down on my morning stress AND I feel like I'm rediscovering items I totally forgot I had which is nipping the unneccessary shopping in the bud (for now).

I also realized that making a small investment in some bins/organizers/boxes really pays off. It has helped calm some of the madness with the bonus of helping me take better care of some of my stuff.

And let's talk about the color coordination...such a small little trick but it has helped me SO much in planning what to where with what. I used to sort (if you would call my previous closet sorted) by shirts, skirts, pants, etc....no, no, no. Totally wrong way to do it. Sort by color, y'all. It's the bees knees.

A huge thank you to Raelynn and Catherine of NEAT Method. They swooped in one morning while I was at work and by the time I was home, this was all done. They were like little closet-organizing fairy elves...really nice, pretty ones. Thanks ladies!!!

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