Just for you,
A few decorations on my dining room console table.
This wreath is on a black iron stand from Williams-Sonoma.
Love the color of this cup full of candy eggs.
A mix of vintage goblets.
Hope the Easter Bunny comes to your house.
Summer
Photos: Swede
I am participating in:
Tablescape Thursday on Between Naps On The Porch.
http://betweennapsontheporch.net/
Centerpiece Wednesday on The Style Sisters. http://thestylesisters.blogspot.com/
Continuing with the Week of Love, today's daily thing of beauty is my Dicentra plant - Bleeding Hearts.
Hope you are being cherished all week.
Summer
Photo: Swede
For Mr. Swede,
Summer
Photo: Swede
For today's daily thing of beauty, since it is the week of love, I want you to see this hand-painted antique teacup of a cute couple from the 1700's.
They hold hands while he reads her love poems and she caresses his hair. Ahhh, soooo sweet!
Here is what the cup looks like in a different view. I was smitten with it and purchased it many years ago.
I hope you are all cherished this week.
Summer
Photos: Swede
Continuing from Thursday's Winter Dinner post, here are a couple more photos. Today's daily thing of beauty is this gold metal crown underneath an etched glass cloche which is sitting on a mirror-topped brass plateau. I love how the gold of the metal looks with all the neutrals.
The plateau is on my dining table and is surrounded by mercury glass votives holding flameless candles. I like how the plastic "ice" garlands from Hobby Lobby bring out the sparkle of the mercury glass.
Below is a snowflake ornament from Hobby Lobby placed on the salad plate prior to dinner. You could add a name tag to the cord and use it for a placecard or if you wanted to give them as take-away gifts.
I also want to share the receipe for cream cheese white sauce that I use for fruit. Everyone who tries it wants the receipe and it is so simple.
Fruit is in a rim soup in the Arizona pattern by Charles Field Haviland. When I have a choice, I buy rim soups and skip purchasing salads and dessert plates. Using the rim soup for all three saves significantly.
Above, the fruit is cut strawberries and pears with whole dark red raspberries and blueberries. Sometimes I cut up cantelope if it is for a breakfast.
The sauce is equal parts Philadelphia cream cheese and sour cream. I use 8 ounces of each. Next add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and 2 tablespoons of white sugar. It helps to get the cream cheese to room temperature before combining all ingredients in a bowl with a hand mixer. This stuff is so good I eat it by the spoon full without the fruit.
Summer
Photos: Swede
Wishing you the best of the season.
Summer
Photo: Swede
For all of you,
I purchased this angel on a stand from the Wisteria catalog a couple years ago, then gave her a watch on a gold chain to wear.
Sending you angelic wishes.
Summer
Photo: Swede
For you,
Summer
Photo: Swede
Showing you my newest addition to the mercury glass tree collection.
About 22" tall. From Pottery Barn.
Summer
Photo: Swede
Here is a photo from last year's holiday decor in the living room where I placed eight silver mercury glass trees, two turquoise mercury glass finials and some turquoise glassware on an old silverplate tray.
I added to my collection this year with one more silver tree but I didn't do turquoise in my holiday tabletops this year.
The marble-top table is a center table that I use as a tea table in front of the sofa. The table was made around 1904.
I don't use the same color theme each year with my silver and white items. I saw a tree done in orange and it was a knockout. I'm not really a fan of the color orange in decor but I might be brave one year and try it.
Summer
Photo: Swede
Today's daily thing of beauty is this collage of gold items on my console table in the living room.
Summer
Photo: Swede
Today's daily thing of beauty is this collage of holiday decor on my console table using magenta and crystal and a magenta pillow on the sofa.
Summer
Photo: Swede
A photo of my favorite four gals. I started collecting Santos dolls last year.
This is a display on my console table in the dining room.
Summer
Photo: Swede
My favorite Tulip is the Parrot in any color. Just love the ruffled edges.
I think the white ones are wonderful in the winter. Here I have used two bunches on my breakfast table.
These Parrots have spring green which highlights the white.
Love those ruffled edges.
If only the stems didn't hang down, they would be much easier to work with in an arrangement.
So lovely.
In a word, elegant.
But seem so simple.
An early hint that Spring will come.
Summer
Photos: Swede
I made this collage of scenes around the house.
Summer
Photos: Swede
Today's daily thing of beauty is this tabletop decoration using magenta and crystal clear beaded garland that looks like ice.
Summer
Photo: Swede
Today's daily thing of beauty is this arrangement on the center table giving a little bit of sparkle to the holidays.
I like using unusual holiday colors like orchid or lavender for holiday decorating.
Summer
Photo: Swede
On one of my console tables in the hallway, three large aqua demijohns from Northern France holding dried Annabelle Hydrangeas. Candles and votives giving some winter light. Zinc colored lanterns from Pottery Barn.
Summer
Photo: Swede
A new angel I got last month at Annelle Primos Interiors shop in Jackson, MS. I do not know the maker. If you know, could you please tell me in an email?
Working on getting more holiday decor displayed. Running out of time.
Summer
Photo: Swede
Now that Thanksgiving is in the past, I have been changing out the vignettes on the console and center tables. The Christmas tree is now up and I have been decorating with my Santos dolls. Here is a look at one console table showing my love of winter white.
White coral and Cyclamen made by Mother Nature who loves white like I do. Candlesticks by Pottery Barn and embellished with gold leaf. Cachepots from Home Depot. Cyclamen from Lowe's. I like how the canvas I painted is a great backdrop for these items.
Summer
Photo: Swede
One tradition at our house that was kept by Mr. Swede from his maternal grandparents is fried oyster breakfast on Thanksgiving and Christmas mornings. I like oysters if I cut the green part out, if you know what I mean. This year Mr. Swede had forgotten to purchase them in all the rushing about but I surprised him and found some. He only likes the Willapoint brand from Washington state since he grew up in both Connecticut and Seattle.
He fries them in olive oil after dipping them in beaten eggs and saltine cracker crumbs.
The only time I use blue and white for a tablescape is with these plates. I am not a fan of blue and white decor but these plates were so wonderful I couldn't pass them up. They are English transferware by Cauldon. They were made in two shades of blue. This is the brighter one. The other shade is a darker more flow blue one that is not as crisp in the design. I purchased the oval cachepot at a charity consignment shop to use with these plates. White Cyclamen are in stores now and one of my favorite winter plants.
All of the plates have the turkey motif. I do not have any other plates or cups from this pattern and have not seen any for sale.
Each Thanksgiving I bring out my Smith Glass turkeys. I think they were made to hold cranberry sauce but some people use them for soup. Here I am using them for fruit with a rich cream cheese sauce. For the main Thanksgiving meal, I place little gifts inside them for each guest. The blue plates are used for breakfast and then I switch to another Spode/Copeland bird plate set for the main meal.
Another look at Mr. Gobble. Metal turkey placecard holders are from Pottery Barn.
I like bright green with the cobalt blue. This stem is from Varga.
Royal blue napkins from Sferra. Chargers are Anna Weatherley and sterling is Tiffany English King.
Fried oysters with scrambled eggs.
Did your family carry down any Thanksgiving traditions through the generations?
Summer
Photos: Swede
Have a wonderful holiday.
Summer
More red, blue and white. Three photos I took: a red rose last month, the Statue of Liberty in 2006, and a chandelier in a white room at Versailles in Paris in May.
Summer
Photos: Swede
Happy Birthday, America. Thanks for being the new world that was here for my ancestors who came in the late 1600's. Doing my research, I found children born in what is now Pennsylvania in 1700. I'm so glad they had the courage to sail and leave their native land. They were here at least 100 years before we became the United States. That's what I call courage to gain freedom.
And, Happy Anniversary to the blog Swede who is two years old today. I looked through the photos and made four collages in red, white and blue. First one with the three colors combined and then one in each color.
Here's the red:
Then here is a white collage:
And a blue:
Have a fun and safe time celebrating our American history. I can't imagine what our lives would be like if the USA didn't exist by some other course of direction in our history.
Summer
Photos: Swede
Sources: Bunting: www.independence-bunting.com
Wooden stick flags: Target
Hello everyone. Yes, we are back from Paris. I say "we" meaning Mr. Swede and I as my luggage decided it wanted to stay longer. Delta promises to find it and bring it to the house. Paris was exhausting but very fun. I haven't posted for over a month, so wanted to quickly post the patriotic pleated bunting I got for our back porch as a surprise for Mr. Swede. I was going to not install it until Fourth of July, but decided Memorial Day was also fitting to use it. Mr. Swede got the three panels hung on cup hooks before leaving for Honolulu this afternoon. I needed a couple days before going back to work to get my days/nights straightened back out. We took over 2,000 photos so it will be slow sorting them all out, but I will start posting the Paris shots soon.
I thought our back porch would look best with three panels of bunting between the columns. You can see that they reflect in all the windows. I first saw this bunting in a neighborhood near me last year and was too late to find it in stores. So I decided to order it early this year before it was sold out. The two-story homes I saw it on placed the bunting on each of their front windows. We have a large number of bikers and walkers on the greenbelt trail behind the house, so it will get lots of lookers.
I got the 72"x36" one with the stars in nylon so it wouldn't fade so much.
Here is the link to where I purchased them from Independence Bunting. HERE If you like this idea you can probably still get them for Fourth of July if you order now. I love ours so am passing along the link. I certainly don't get anything from this comany for promoting them here. If you order three you get free shipping.
We are a very patriotic family with many members serving in the armed forces for generations. This is our tribute to those who died serving their country. Here is a link to the meaning of Memorial Day. HERE When I was a child, my Mom called it Decoration Day and it was also the day to place fresh flowers on the graves of all family members, not just those who were in the armed forces.
Hope you have a great three-day weekend.
Summer
Photos: Swede
I got ahead of a holiday for once. Usually I am way behind. Two weeks ago, I decided to put an Easter wreath on the door and plant Pansies in the containers. With Easter more than a month away in April, I had more time to enjoy my work.
Lots of purples and only a little of yellow since it is not a color I enjoy.
Here is a close up so you can see the Easter eggs and other details. The purple Clematis garland worked out wonderfully for this wreath. All supplies from Michael's.
I always have plants in the two containers on the front pillars. I filled these with Pansies which will last until June when I replace them with Summer flowers.
And here is another container on the side of the house near the garage.
Here is a sweet lilac colored Pansey face for you.
And a cute white and purple one.
I hope you all are getting some Spring weather where you are by now.
Summer
Photos: Swede
Love's secret: I met Mr. Swede through a Valentine sent to Americans serving their country in Desert Storm. He was a Navy pilot on an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf. It was a campaign to send thousands of Valentine cards for troop support when the horrific news photos of a captured pilot shot down were shown on our TV's the end of January 1990. Two weeks later was Valentine's Day. I remember my own campaign in Missouri to wrap yellow ribbons on a tree-lined street and spent a Sunday ribboning the trees while others watched the Super Bowl. I've always joked that Saddam Hussein was responsible for my marriage. If he had not invaded Kuwait, I would not be Mrs.
This Bleeding Heart plant is in our side yard and blooms very early in the Spring. Such precious little hearts it gives.
Summer
Photo: Swede
Today's tablescape for the holidays is the third in a series. What has become almost my trademark style is to get the most stretch out of a tablescape by doing change ups for each meal over several days with the same basic design framework. Change ups give each one a different look.
First I showed you the Friday night dinner in magenta here: http://swede.typepad.com/swede/2011/12/tablescape-holiday-dinner-in-magenta.html
Second, I showed you the Saturday lunch in cranberry here: http://swede.typepad.com/swede/2011/12/tablescape-cranberry-and-magenta.html
So today is the Saturday evening dinner. I have mixed all reddish-purplish colors so I don't know whether to call it raspberry, maroon or puce???
The changes from the previous two posts in this dinner tablescape are the goblets, tumblers, and dinner plates. The centerpiece has been changed up a bit and the ornaments on the plates are a different style. Jeweled glass ornaments from Target last year.
I kept the silver tablecloth, runner and the napkins.
The dinner plates with magenta swags of flowers are antique German. I am also reusing the Haviland Malmaison magenta bread and butter plates, the Jaune de Chrome English Rose on Song chargers and Tiffany St. James antique sterling.
New to this tablescape are the water goblets which are Varga's pattern Imperial Grande in the color raspberry. The tumblers are from Bormioli Rocco & Figlio of Italy in the Bicchiere Sorgente pattern and colorway Fucsia.
Collection of the Varga stems.
Here is a close up of the place setting.
The flowers I arranged in the baby cups are still good from the day before.
Here is a collage of the stemware and the mercury glass pedestal bowl with new magenta ornaments added.
The only thing I changed in the centerpiece was the addition of more magenta ornaments.
Here you can see a partial overview of the dining room with the Swede Collection console against the window. To see the post on the arrangement on the console go to Holiday Decor in Magenta HERE.
A view of the end of the table.
Another collage of the flowers and glassware.
I really enjoy making the switch ups to extend the tablescape theme over several meals for a weekend.
There is alot to do in preparing the meals so this plan works for me. Guests so far haven't complained about seeing much of the same thing.
A wider view of the table.
Antique sterling baby cups used to hold the flowers and a close up of the new centerpiece ornaments.
Bird's eye view.
Mercury glass pedestal bowl.
Large glass vases on the console filled with ornaments.
Another collage.
I love how all these purple-y colors seem to mix.
These silver mercury glass trees came from Dillard's last year. Love using clear sparkley bead garland with mercury glass.
More maroon and magenta.
This was taken before I put the flowers back on the table.
Lots of raspberry and cranberry colors.
I like buying bowls on pedestals. It gets the focus up off the flat tabletop.
I am participating in Tablescape Thursday this week on the blog Between Naps on the Porch.
To see all the entries, after 9:00PM Eastern on Wednesday, go here:
http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/
Summer
Photos: Swede
Before putting the ornaments in the storage box for another year, here is a last look.
Love this sparkley garland that almost looks like ice chunks.
I really enjoyed the combination of silver and magenta this year.
Makes me want to linger putting away the holiday items.
Now that another holiday season has ended, I'm very excited about spring bulbs.
Summer
Photos: Swede
Last week, I showed you this magenta tablescape: http://swede.typepad.com/swede/2011/12/tablescape-holiday-dinner-in-magenta.html for a dinner with guests. Today I am showing how to take that same tablescape and change it for lunch the following day. I like to get a lot of mileage out of my tablescapes especially when guests stay a weekend and I don't have time to create totally new ones each day. Next week I will show the third tablescape for a dinner the second evening with a different switch up.
I have now added a cranberry color to the magenta table with these antique Spode Copeland floral lunch plates. They are hand painted and signed R. Wood.
I think all these pinky-purpley-red colors blend fairly well.
I guess the color of this charger is greige. I didn't realize it was gray until I got it home as I thought it was beige with gray flowers. This is a pretty unusual pattern for Jaune de Chrome as they don't do many florals.
Here is a wider view of the lunch table. I have also switched out the gray Niderviller Boston bread and butter plates and replaced them with these Haviland Malmaison ones. I am using many of the same elements from the dinner the night before. Jaune de Chrome chargers in English Rose on Song patern, Tiffany St. James sterling, Pottery Barn stemware and Le Jacquard Francais napkins.
The Spode Copeland plates are a perfect match to the red Roses in the antique baby cups.
I kept the centerpieces the same and used the same silver tablecloth and runner.
Mercury glass is one of my favorite things to decorate with because of its reflective value.
Just a close up view of the shiny silver and bubbles in the glass.
I have candles on the table but don't light them. The light comes from the flameless candles in the hurricanes and the chandelier.
Such a pretty old plate. These are the kind that I cannot pass up when I see them for sale. Finding a set of 12 or more of these at an estate sale can get me hyperventilating very quickly.
One of the things I enjoy most about tablescaping is bringing to life antique china by pairing it with new modern patterns like these French pieces.
This is your plate. Please be seated.
I am participating in Tablescape Thursday this week on the blog Between Naps on the Porch.
To see all the entries, after 9:00PM Eastern on Wednesday, go here:
http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/
Summer
Photos: Swede
In 1975 I wanted to start collecting Christmas china. There were only two patterns available, Lenox's Holiday and Spode's Christmas Tree. I chose Lenox because it looked more formal. I wished they made it with a white interior rather than creme. Since then, of course, many manufacturers have done numerous styles of holiday plates. I first purchased 12 salad plates and then the next year bought 12 dinner plates and then cups/saucers and a few serving pieces. It never did thrill me, but at the time I wanted to have china that became a holiday tradition through the years. Now my tastes have drastically changed, well, it has been 36 years!!!, so I was bound to change as I grew older.
To bring the Holiday pattern to modern times, I am using chargers by French maker JL Coquet in the pattern Hemisphere Matte Gold, and my gold plated flatware by Ricci.
Since I have it in the cupboard, Mr. Swede begs me to take it out and use it just once a year. I am not into red and green anymore, but to honor his request, I will do a breakfast or lunch with it.
I am also using these pottery plates with red Hibiscus which are hand made by Faros Keramik Paradissi with 24 karat gold. I purchased 12 of these around 1992 when I went to Rhodes, Greece to meet Mr. Swede who was a pilot on the Navy aircraft carrier USS Saratoga that had a port call in Rhodes. The Hibiscus is the national flower of Greece.
I remember going to every china shop in Rhodes [it was summer] to find 12 of these plates.
I am using a vintage Northwood tumbler in the Memphis pattern, an emerald green stem from an unknown maker purchased 14 years ago, and in the center, a gold rimmed stem by Tiffin that Mr. Swede inherited from his mother.
Green beaded napkins and napkin rings are from Dillard's.
I am also mixing in these English porcelain plates by Coalport.
And these English porcelain plates from the 1830's. The green isn't Christmas green, however, I still like using them.
I love the romantic landscapes in the center of the plates.
I love mixing patterns and it really helps to add different styles and ages of china [new, vintage and antique] when you have a pattern you don't want to sell but your taste has changed. I am always trying to come up with new combinations.
I am participating in Tablescape Thursday this week on the blog Between Naps on the Porch. I will have two entries. Be sure to see the other one which is more "me".
To see all the entries, after 9:00PM Eastern on Wednesday, go here:
http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/
Summer
Photos: Swede
I want to show you a few more little vignettes for the holidays before we find ourselves in January. The month has moved so fast, I am very far behind. Christmas is in three days and I am not ready.
This collage shows my foyer console table. I left the console the way it was before the holidays and just added strings of clear crystal bead garland strung in and around the shell sculpture and two silver mercury glass trees. Very simple. Nothing over the top.
Above is the Swedish cabinet I designed for Swede Collection that resides in my home office. I have my white china collection stored on the five shelves and linen napkins and napkin rings, etc. in the drawers. The cabinet is 102" tall and 49" wide. The hardware is hand made glass pulls and knobs made by artisians in Oregon. The glass hardware is a perfect match to the Paris Gray paint. I designed it to have a sexy cinched waistline and antiqued mirror panels on top. My office walls are painted aqua and the floors are beige Italian tile. Chairs with aqua painted frames in the photo are from Amy Howard Collection.
In the left photo I hung from the glass knob a beaded wired star from Pottery Barn that has a bridge where a flameless candle sits. The star is 13" across and was a special offer last week to the first few people who purchased online. This is the largest one I have seen. Last year I purchased some from Dillard's but they were smaller, perhaps 9" across. I got six of them and was going to hang them outside but then it rained for three days. In the right photo I have added silver and gold ornaments among the china.
Another photo of the cabinet and a closer view of the silver beaded star and the birds.
With the five shelves and three linen drawers, this cabinet is perfect for a china addict like me. This is just a fraction of my stash though.
Going from my office to the family room, the only thing I changed here was to add white candles and clear candlesticks from Pottery Barn and on the left a framed shadowbox with a crystal and wire ornament in it. It is from Target. The glass demijohns are from France. I did the canvas painting on the wall behind a few years ago as well as painting the Henredon chest a metallic silvery taupe.
Moving to the living room, I have placed a 4 foot tree on the marble topped center table and decorated it with just white and silver ornaments. Tree is from Tree Classics online store. A few years ago I made the 60"x48" canvas fleur-de-lis painting on the wall behind the sofa. I decided not to put up our large tree in the foyer this year since I was running so far behind. Very simple. Nothing extravagant here.
In prior posts I have shown you other holiday tabletop displays around the house. Not only did I not put the big tree up, I also skipped putting garland and lights on my staircase. Some years I put lots of energy into it and some years not. This is a "not" year. We're cooking a turkey on Christmas day, so I guess I had better get to the grocery store and finish wrapping. Hope you have finished everything and are in the "enjoy" stage.
Summer
Photos: Swede
Continuing with the magenta theme for the holidays, this week's tablescape is also in magenta paired with silver.
Magenta napkins set the theme along with the ornaments placed at each setting. Ornaments from Target last year. Napkins by Le Jacquard Francais, primrose bordier, in their colorway Cassis Black Current in the Graphic pattern.
I think magenta is such a great color for the holidays as a change up for brighter red and it looks so good with silver and grays.
The above photo shows the line up of the plates. On the bottom is French maker Jaune de Chrome's English Rose on Song which has a dark edge and a multi-gray floral. Next is the dinner plate by Haviland in the Malmaison pattern showing magenta around the border and the central scene of the young couple fishing. I am using JL Coquet's Hemisphere Matte Platinum soup bowls for appetizers since they have such a small central cavity and to me are too small for soup. The silver grooved borders also stain very easily so I find it best to use them just for an appetizer. Even touching the Hemisphere with your finger will leave a fingerprint stain.
In the above collage, on the left side is the Jaune de Chrome charger and on the right is the Haviland dinner plate.
Here is how the dinner plates look on the table. The bread and butter plates are French maker Niderviller which is a pale gray in the Boston pattern. Sterling is Tiffany St. James.
Above is the JL Coquet soup with the small cavity and the dessert plate below.
I actually started this tablescape with the intention of doing it all in silver and then added the magenta after I got into it.
The above collage shows the antique English dessert plates by Cauldon holding raspberry cheesecake. On the right is a tablecloth I made of acetate satin in a color called New Silver. I take 7.5 yards of fabric and sew it together lengthwise so it will fit my table with one leaf in it to seat 8 people at the table. Lower right is a photo of individual flower arrangements I made for each place setting in magenta-toned fresh flowers placed in antique sterling baby presentation cups.
Above you can see a larger view of the silver tablecloth.
Above are the six sterling cups. The oldest one in the group is inscribed 1854 and the newest is dated 1891. Inside them I placed wet Oasis to hold the stems.
I used red Roses, magenta Chrysanthemums and cherry Alstroemeria in the cups. Greenery is from my yard.
These are various table shots.
The above collage shows details from the center of the table.
I am using my collection of mercury glass including mercury glass trees with garlands of clear beads and a few magenta colored holiday ornaments.
The silver hurricanes contain flameless candles.
The above photo shows a wider view of the table. You can barely see that I placed a silver damask flocked runner down the center on the tablecloth seam as the centerpiece items nearly cover it up. I always have good intentions on limiting what goes in the center of the table but have trouble sticking to that idea.
This collage shows more detail views.
The bubble glass set of goblets with ruby stems was a Christmas gift from Mr. Swede several years ago. They are from Pottery Barn.
Plating up the dessert.
As you know, I like to use my tablescapes more than once by switching the plates out which works great when guests stay for the weekend. Next week I will show what elements I kept and which I swapped out to make tablescapes for a lunch and dinner the same weekend.
What color themes are you using this year?
I am participating in Tablescape Thursday this week on the blog Between Naps on the Porch.
To see all the entries, after 9:00PM Eastern on Wednesday, go here:
http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/
Summer
Photos: Swede
Continuing with showing you how I decorate my console and center tables for the holidays, today's post is about angels. The angel in the center I purchased from the Wisteria catalog two years ago. She stays out long past the holidays. There are also angels inside the tall candlesticks. I am not an over-the-top holiday decorator with multitudes of stuff all over everywhere. I try for an "edited" look as much as possible. Sometimes the photos on this blog won't really capture the look like you would see it if you were in the room. I prefer to use items I already have in the house and incorporate them into the theme. The items on this table are used throughout the year on various tables and rearranged multiple times.
I love making collages, so here is one of the candlesticks, angel and sofa.
This is a wider photo showing the corner of the living room that is difficult to decorate.
There is a short wall that is curved from the staircase on the other side. It messes with putting down rectangular rugs and furniture placement. I have placed this Swede Collection center table in that space. The doves on the table rim are romantic and are caring for each other. The beautiful marble top and carving on the table legs makes my heart sing.
The center table is one I designed for Swede Collection. I put alot of my soul and passion into my designs, so in the end, I want the pieces to visually "sing". I hope you like what I design.
When I turn the lights on, I get alot of shadows on the wall. I don't know how to operate my camera well enough to deal with the lighting. This room is difficult to photo due to the light being absorbed by the milk chocolate walls and limited outdoor light coming in the French doors due to the roof of the porch. It has also been raining for days so is darker outside as well. I wish I knew what a professional photographer would do about the light.
Here you can see the fabulous color of the marble.
I have angels in other rooms of the house and will show them in another post.
This week I am linking up to Tabletop Tuesday viewable after 6:00PM Eastern on Monday evenings here:
http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/
Summer
Photos: Swede
Magenta is a great color for the holidays. Here is a collage showing how I am using magenta this year.
Love the ice-y look of the garland with the magenta vase holding an ornament.
Above is where I started. Below is the console table top after I have rearranged it one more time and added to it.
After more tweaking today, here is the final look.
The only place to put this console table in the dining room is in front of the plantation shutters which do not make a glamorous backdrop.
Here is a larger view of the console table I designed for Swede Collection.
I brought out these fabulous magenta pillows I purchased last year. Can you believe they are from Target!!! What has happened to Target this year, anyway? They don't have great items like they used to.
Magenta - such a fun color to use for the holidays.
I think I am through re-arranging it for this year. I'll do something entirely different next year.
Tonight I am linking up to Tabletop Tuesday here
http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/
Summer
Photos: Swede
I have been collecting silver mercury glass for a few years. This year I am doing an arrangement on the top of a silver metallic console table I designed for Swede Collection.
Due to the reflection of mercury glass, you almost have to be in the room to get the full effect of the display.
Since it wouldn't hurt the marble top, I decorated this console while it is waiting for its new buyer. I don't really have two consoles in my foyer all the time.
I think mercury glass is hard to photo. I love using clear glass bead garland for its beautiful shine.
The metallic finish on this console table is highly reflective as well.
Since I am constantly tweaking my decor, I will be changing this as well in the next few days.
This console table has a beautiful creamy marble top.
Summer
Photos: Swede
Today's beauty is this collage of holiday crowns and ornaments.
Summer
Photos: Swede
Today's thing of beauty is a photo of my Amaryllis plant.
Summer
Photo: Swede
