"Deliciously Casual Dining Rooms".....

Hi Friends, As most of you know, I so enjoy making the rooms of my home "pretty"!....They need not be "extravagant" or "overly decorated".,...I like instead, simple rooms subtley decorated with the pieces you actually use in a dining room......dishes, glassware, linens & candles. I often ask clients to open their cabinets & pull out some of the pieces they love the most & either use them or at the very least display them out in the open! I love to take a sideboard or buffet, & cluster stacks of dishes, folded napkins & handfuls of silverware casually among beautiful serving pieces & seasonal foliage or flowers....make the sideboard appear as if you are right in the process of setting the table! It is unpretentious & charming & "oh-so-easy to do"!

I also am very fond of the idea of truly using your "collections". Whether it be quilts, cake plates, or water pitchers....get them out!,... & instead of scattering them throughout your home, group them all together,....therefore creating a spectacular statement! All of a sudden, a few "humble watering cans", running down the middle of your dining table...or a wall of "white ironstone platters" take on the appearance of a very important collection!....

And as a final touch, be sure & do one thing.....always remember to mix things up a bit "style-wise".....avoid a severly coordinated room!......Allow your rooms & especially your dining area to be just a slight bit "unpredictable"!.....Add a large, "overscaled" crock of Fall leaves to your table( photo:1).....Paint a "checkerboard" pattern on your wood floor(photo:2) or hang your favorite quilt, even though it's shade of blue doesn't quite match the rug!( photo:3)....

Remember dining rooms can handle a "bit of folly",... after all, isn't gathering around a table with your family, friends & food supposed to be "fun"?.....So go forth, make your dining room "deliciously casual", while all the time keeping it very, very "pretty"........Heidi XO

Note #1: There is still a few more days left to join me in my Very Vintage Christmas Swap!!! I so hope you will!

Note #2: All photos courtesy of "Country Home" magazine.......