TheDesignFile

A simpler, more casual Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you’re all having a great day and a wonderful time with family and friends.

We’re having a houseful, as we typically do on Thanksgiving. Normally I get out my china and silver for the feast. But this year I was going for simple and easy.

I showed you yesterday how I made my herb centerpiece. It was really the inspiration for a less traditional green color scheme.

I also told you earlier that I didn’t have the brown or tan tablecloth I wanted. So I decided to try a sheet set. I bought a twin-sized tan sheet set for $9.99 at TJ Maxx and it was the perfect size for my two tables.

Then I layered on a piece of green outdoor fabric I used as an accent for a few years on a porch table. I placed it diagonally on the table so that it stretched further.

At TJ Maxx, I also spied these fantastic green birds. I absolutely fell in love with them, even though they really have nothing to do with the rest of my décor.

The two small ones were $5.99 each and the two larger ones were $7.99 each and I decided I’d saved enough buying the sheets to splurge on them. They seemed to be just perfect for my tablescape.

Otherwise, I just kept everything simple.

I used our everyday dishes, which are beautiful white Aspen place settings from Crate & Barrel. We received them last year for Christmas and I love them because they are so versatile.

I used green paper napkins (the second year in a row for paper napkins!) and our everyday glasses. I did add our crystal goblets for wine, primarily because we don’t have enough plain goblets.

Tiny Seckel pears – sometimes called sugar pears – with small, handwritten place cards finish off the table.

So that is this year’s table.

It’s a far cry from last year’s fancier and more dramatic black and white Thanksgiving design.

And it’s different too from the more traditional orange and brown themed table I’ve used so often (see at right).

Still, I really love this year’s green and my stick with it for next year… or maybe not!

Do you have photos to share of your table? Post them at The Design File’s Facebook page.

I can’t wait to see all your ideas!

Rethinking the Thanksgiving table

My husband and I are hosting Thanksgiving again this year and although our group will be a little smaller, I still need to come up with a centerpiece idea.

For several years, I did essentially the same thing – a long narrow line of grapevine garland with some pumpkins and berries attached.

Then I tucked in fall leaves and gourds, some of them real and some fake.

Then last year, I decided to try a black and white Thanksgiving table. It was a great change for me.

I went with a simple black tablecloth, my silver and white china and some grey and white napkins.

Then I spray painted a bunch of candle holders, mini pumpkins and gourds and acorns bright white and scattered down the table.

For fun, I added a few black and white family photos. I also used scrapbook paper and labels to make black and white place cards.

So now with Thanksgiving less than two weeks away, I’m faced with the question: What to do this year?

I turned to the web for inspiration. I found these very interesting grass bouquets at Better Homes and Gardens. I think they are very pretty.

“Junk- drawer finds – such as napkin rings, doorknobs, or copper plumbing fittings (sold in hardware stores for less than $1 apiece) – make perfect holders for grasses,” BHG says.

“To get your grass bouquet (our tall bouquet is ‘Evergold’ sedge, and our short bouquet is ‘Ice Dance’ sedge) to stand upright, cut ends flush,” BHG says.

“The flat bottom should allow the bouquet to stand on its own. If still unbalanced, slide a copper fitting around the base to provide support.”

I also love the look at right from BHG.

The simple bar jars with greenery create a casual feel and suddenly – as I’m writing this – I think that might be kind of fun.

I use my good china every year for Thanksgiving, but I ‘m starting to think it might be a nice change to go casual.

I have plain white plates that would look great on a brown table cloth. A dash of greenery could really be nice.

Finally, look at the great casual Thanksgiving table below, which I found at MyHomeIdeas.com and was featured in Sunset magazine. I see lots of ideas there.

So I think I’m headed to a more casual table. What direction are you going for Thanksgiving this year?

Enjoy your trick-or-treaters tonight!

I hope all of you have a spooky Halloween.

I’ll welcome the day with a photo of the jack-o-lantern my husband carved this year.

It’s a great one – or it was before he set it out on the steps to bake in the sun.

Fortunately, I took this photo shortly after he finished carving. Now, the mouth is so sunken that it looks like an old man who forgot to put in his dentures!

But that’s OK. He still seems a little scary!

Halloween centerpieces that are frightfully festive

I promised you several Halloween-related posts this month and today I’m focusing on great centerpieces for your table.

I took these ideas from Better Homes and Gardens, which always had great holiday decorating tips.

These came from a Halloween slideshow that is chock full of suggestions, including the centerpiece shown at right.

I love the white pumpkin.

You can find a white one or you could just spray paint a regular pumpkin white – especially if you left just enough orange showing through to make it interesting.

Then, instead of putting your cut-off top back on, just fill the pumpkin with dried or fresh flowers.

It makes a great table topper.

My favorite ideas – and the easiest, I think – are actually the two below. They both involve spray paint: A simple black paint on some thrift store goblets below left and chalkboard paint on some cheap Halloween accessories below right.

Finally, the idea below right looks fantastic. I can just imagine how pretty all those little twinkling lights would be for an evening dinner.

But I have to admit, the thought of carving all those tiny jack-o-lanterns is just a little too much for me.

I am just not patient enough for such a project.

There might be some of you out there, though, who are dying to try this. If so, send me your photo!

Make sure to check out the other Halloween centerpiece ideas at BHG.

Make your own 'cemetery' fence with PVC

I promised to share Halloween decorating ideas with you throughout October and today I’m revisiting the faux cemetery that my husband and I created last year in our front yard.

Our “cemetery” is full of both store-bought and DIY props and next week I’ll tell you more about making your own tombstones.

But today, I wanted to encourage you to make your own “wrought-iron” fence, which will take your spooky, front yard cemetery to the next level.

Vintage suitcases as decor: In or out?

Do you think the use of vintage suitcases in design is still in?

It seems like I saw them everywhere for awhile.

And I still spy them in photos from time to time, just not as much, despite a real throw-back feel in so many rooms.

The bedroom at right is from Better Homes and Gardens.

I really like the use of the stacked vintage suitcases as a side table. I mean, I love the look, although I’m not sure about the functionality.

But the overall look is nothing I’m after right now.

I have a couple old suitcases and I’ve never done anything with them.

It seems like such a shame and so I just don’t want to part with them.

But I’m at a loss of what to do – or whether to do something – with them.

I think the suitcases look fantastic in the bookshelves and on top of the cabinet below (photo from BHG). This is slightly more my look – lots of wood tones.

The photo below from BHG is another option – a couple suitcases stacked simply for a side table in a living room.

They add a great warmth to a cooler-toned room.

So what do you think? Are suitcases still cool?

Or is it time to send mine packing?

A morning of yard sales yields cheap treasures

I’ve introduced you before to my friend Keith, who has a booth called Vintage Vibes at the Midland Arts & Antiques mall here in Indianapolis. You might remember him from The Couch Show we partnered on back in June.

Keith is great at garage sales. While I’m more likely to scout Goodwill for something to buy, Keith (pictured at left with his dog Bailey)gets up early on Saturday mornings and hits the Indy streets looking for great deals – and he finds them.

So when we spent a weekend at Lake Webster in Northern Indiana – where my husband’s family has a cottage – Keith and I decided to see what we could find in a whole new yard sale market.

Wow! We were just three or miles away from the cottage when we stumbled onto a yard sale on the main drag through North Webster. We planned just a drive by – but then we saw the gorgeous mid-century hutch above and Keith was jumping out of the car before it had stopped rolling!

It was then that we noticed the matching dining table and chairs pictured below.

This is a stunning set, although not without some imperfections, and Keith was eager to pick it up. Then we saw the price tag: $60.

That’s right: $60 for the set. The hutch, the table, the chairs!

I knew then that set was coming back with us.

There was, though, a space problem. We had come up to the lake in two vehicles – a Kia Rondo (which has a shocking amount of interior space) and Buick Envoy – and both were loaded with stuff. You know, we brought our clothes, sheets, towels, coolers, bags of food, a hammock, cornhole game, etc.

Seriously? What are those things?

When I was looking for green and yellow rooms for yesterday’s post, I ran across the space below, which was featured in Coastal Living magazine. I spied it at MyHomeIdeas.com.

It was perfect for my post…except for those odd, ridiculously large balls. I just couldn’t get past them! What are those made of?

I sent the picture to my friend Dee, who finds all such things just hilarious. She’s always critical of designers who randomly put things in rooms that have just no meaning whatsoever. So she couldn’t get enough of this!

“This is TOTALLY an example of designers trying to see how much they can get away with,” Dee emailed me when she saw the picture. Then she added this dialog:

Bob: You know, Frank, this room could use a little something extra. Our clients won't be happy if there is empty space over there.
Frank: You're right. Let's fill that space with something...something ridiculous.
Bob: How about those extra balls laying around in our storage space?
Frank: How big are they? What do they look like?
Bob: They are about the size of those workout balls you find at the gym, and just as ugly, only less comfortable to sit on.
Frank: Sold. Put those puppies in and let's call it a day.

Normally, I’m not as disturbed by odd accessories as Dee is. But I have to admit, these balls are just too much. How do you even pull one of those chairs out?

And of course, there’s a dirty joke in here somewhere. But this is a family-friendly blog…

A luxurious toilet that even has a remote control

Would you spend $6,390 on a new toilet?

What if the seat raised and lowered on its own so you never had to worry about whether your spouse left the lid of up or down?

What if it had a seat warmer – and a foot warmer – so chilly midnight bathroom runs were a thing of the past?

And what if it came with a touch-screen remote that let you control ambient light from its side panels and music from its speakers and the settings on the bidet, which included a dryer in addition to water?

Oh…and a deodorizer that pulls air through a charcoal filter.

If that sounds good to you – and really, who’s not a little intrigued? – then you should check out the new Numi toilet from Kohler.

Not only is the toilet and its remote control pretty remarkable. But I just love the sexy video and advertising campaign that goes with it. Who wouldn’t want to use this amazing toilet in the all-glass room below?

This is the kind of product that I just can’t imagine having, even though my husband and I were just talking today about a bathroom remodel.

The truth is, I’m hoping we can DIY the whole bathroom redo for roughly the price of this toilet (see it at right, shown in the dark its lighting panels on).

Still, it’s hard not to smile thinking about this kind of luxury.

I mean, we all dream of being a little rich…don’t we?

Mini-furs – a guest post at Frugal with a Flourish

It’s so fun to guest post on other blogs – especially ones that are as fantastic as Frugal with a Flourish, where writer Jess always has great tips and ideas for readers.

Jess has a new son and, like any smart blogger, has asked for some guest posts to give her time for all that mothering. I was thrilled to help out with a post there today.

Regular readers of The Design File will not be surprised that I decided to write about those little fur throws that we’re seeing all over sofas, ottomans and even dining room chairs.

I covered the topic here earlier this year and featured this photo of a fur throw on a modern sofa, which came from the pre-Design Star portfolio of last year’s winner, Emily Henderson.

After writing the original post, I actually threw a similar throw – one from IKEA – over my black leather sofa.

It looks fantastic and my cat loves it, but I must admit that it’s always sliding off – either on top of you when you’re trying to take a nap or behind the couch just out of reach.

A majority of readers in a poll with that post agreed that the little rugs looked pretty chic. But a pretty hefty chunk of you – nearly 20 percent – said fur (whether it’s fake or not) has no place inside the home.

Let’s see if you agree. Here’s the poll: