Archive for the ‘Vintage Style’ Category

Pastels With Punch

Pink and grey are perfect for an Easter meal.

An easy way to introduce retro into your home decorating is at the dinner table.  Unpack grandma’s good china and use it every day.  Sets of dishes from the 50s and 60s can be found for a song at flea markets, resale stores and antique shops.  Make an investment before the market realizes their popularity and their value sky rockets.

Check out the little handle on this bowl. It's a perfect dish for kids.

Speaking of bargains, I love this set of pink and grey dishes I found at Goodwill.  Although they are unmarked, the hand drawn lines are reminiscent of a few decades past.  The best part of collecting dishes, it doesn’t matter if they coordinate with your interior design, dishes do not have to match anything!

The touch of grey keeps the place setting from being too feminine.

What could be more perfect for an Easter luncheon?  The square salad plate offers a nice contrast to the round dishes.  Even if I don’t serve a meal with multiple courses, I still use lots of dishes just to make the setting more interesting.  If you aren’t having a salad, save the plate for dessert.

The most interesting tables have layers and contrast. The square salad plate gives an edginess to all the curves.

If your dining room table has a beautiful finish, no need to cover it up with a table cloth.  These pink linen napkins are big enough to serve as place mats and offer a nice contrast.

The napkins almost looks like bunny ears!

There are dozens of ways to fold napkins.   Tucking a grey cotton napkin into a frosted polka dot glass keeps the table from being too serious.

Instead of the usual Easter basket, serve candy in old-fashion apothecary jars.

Have fun with your centerpiece.  Instead of flowers, fill apothecary jars with jelly beans, chocolate eggs and Easter grass.

Plastic Easter eggs can hold love sentiments, notes of thanks or even gift cards.

Hide little surprises in the plastic eggs for your family to discover while you’re dining.

Celebrate the season the old-fashion way with Retro dishes.

Celebrate the season!

The 14th of February is a day devoted to celebrating love.  You can express your affection to that special person in the usual way (go out to dinner, box of candy, over priced flowers) or with a little imagination and for a lot less cash, celebrate at home.

Create a romantic dinner for two.

It doesn’t matter if you are planning dinner or a leisurely breakfast, make it cozy and intimate.  Food in front of a roaring fire is always romantic especially if you are seated at a low table with floor pillows.  You can use a coffee table or in this instance an old wood trunk.  Cover it with a table cloth or a piece of red fabric.

Pull up an old trunk for a cozy table for two

I fell in love with this bold red and white print at IKEA. It's perfect for a Valentine's Day tablecloth.

There isn’t a single heart or flower in this setting.  Instead of placemats, I pulled out old Scrabble board games  Write a message or spell out your feelings for each other with the tiles.

You can use almost anything as a placemat or charger. Have fun with Scrabble boards.

An old muffin tin is the perfect size for extra letters, votive candles and candy (no expensive and fattening box of chocolates here!).

You know you will want extra Scrabble pieces with this dinner. Use a vintage muffin tin for candles and letters.

The valentine card is vintage, but the XOXO says it all.  Use dinnerware you have left over from Christmas.  Square red plates set “on point” complement the square game boards.

You could buy a new valentine, but I love the sappy sentiments on old, vintage cards!

XOXO equals 18 points!

Little copper napkin rings surround softly folded white napkins.  Dinner should be simple.  After all, the emphasis should be on dining, not cooking.  Chinese take-out allows you both to share.

Tuck a pair of chop sticks in the napkin ring.

Add a couple of floor pillows and you have a romantic evening ready to surprise someone you love.

Tell your love how you feel.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning said,

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”

I say spell it out!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Once my Christmas decorations are down and packed away, I’m ready to tackle a new design project.  As usual, I want instant design gratification—I want something new right now.  The house is rather dull and dark after a month of light, color and holiday spirit everywhere.

The easiest, fastest and no cost decorating idea you can do is to replace the soap in your bathrooms.  Chances are someone gave you new soap or bath products and lotions as a gift.  Get them out and use them right now!  What are you waiting for?  Put them in a new dish and you are ready for guests.  Put them in a fun container in your own bathroom.  Soap is meant to be used not saved.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in someone’s home to see a dish of lovely soaps for display only!

This soap is divine! Even the box is charming.

I love anything French or lavender scented.   My mother gave me box of dainty French milled soaps.  Another friend gave me soap from Italy. They both smell wonderful. I have enough to share (some for me, some for the guest bath!).

These French soaps look really cute in a snowman candy dish.

I found this Homer Laughlin dish at an antique store for a couple of dollars.

A basic white vintage soap dish

A basic dish is a nice contrast to a fancy soap.

You can use almost anything as a soap dish. Try an appetizer plate.

My Italian soaps are perfect for the Paris plate!

Perhaps someone gave you a hand made pottery dish.

Rustic soap is the perfect compliment to a hand-thrown bowl.

You can use almost anything for soap. This pewter pedestal dish looks really elegant.

Pile a large pewter bowl will all kinds of soaps, but be sure to use them!

I was interview by Tammy Kahn Fennell of Collectibles Corner TV.  She offers practical tips for collecting antiques.  I talked to her about designing and living with antique furniture.   Check out the interview at #42 Interior Designing with Antiques.

Send me your living with antiques design questions!