A Rainy Day Red & White Tablescape
Today I decided to do a tablescape. I haven’t done one of those in quite a long time.
It has been raining, raining and raining some more. The skies are gray and overcast and the photos are a bit dim. Sorry about that.
I decided to put this red and white oil cloth I found in the closet (you must think my closets are quite vast. Actually I have two walk-in closets in my bedroom).
I decided in the current circumstances that it might be easier to clean oil cloth instead of wood.
This is a bit boho and a bit country cottage. I like all those styles. I don’t try to decorate in just one style. I just use and combine what I like.
Unfortunately I was unable to find my cloth napkins. Oh, how do I lose so many things in a one bedroom apartment? So I used some dish clothes instead.
As I was starting to put this together, I noticed that these red and white plates, which one of you gifted me four of long ago, look very much like my curtains.
If you live in a small space home, mirrors are a great item to put on your walls or even just lean against the wall.
In the reflection they amplify your space and make it seem larger than it is.
I didn’t dare light the candles in the vintage muffin tin. Charlie has a harder time breathing when the weather is like this. I didn’t want to add to that with scent and smoke.
This could be for a romantic dinner for two. Or just something a little special for you and a friend or neighbor for afternoon tea (during the times when we can gather together again).
The red and white combination is pleasing to my eye. Then there’s the many colors and patterns of the boho quilt on the wall.
If you have quilts that you love think about adding them to the wall. If they’re not much more than throw size, just tack them up with thumb tacks. That’s what I did.
In these trying times, you might just lay out a nice tablescape for yourself.
Take care of you. And in taking care of yourself, you will feel calmer and less stressed.
You deserve to have pretty things around you. Don’t think that just because no one else will see it that it isn’t worth doing.
It is so very important to do nice things for your own enjoyment. Maybe you live alone like I do. Then it’s an even better reason to set a pretty table that makes you smile.
Fix yourself tea or coffee and enjoy something you’ve baked.
Let yourself relax and appreciate that your home is your sanctuary in good times and bad. Home is where we hang our hat and fix our meals and rest in sleep.
Home is where we most belong.
Somehow I missed this post..love it..looks so cozy. We are having some warm weather today, so my goal is to eat on the deck tonight with a pretty tableset and candles..we will see..lol I love your red dishes, too..and a clever idea for the muffin tins..Thank you for brightening this “social distancing” world each day. Sincerely.
Your dishes are beautiful. They brightened our day, too. Keep warm, healthy, and happy.
Lovely, Brenda. I do love the dishes and the curtains. That settingbwould make even a sandwich look festive.
So cheery! I agree that you should set a nice place setting even just for yourself. I eat many meals alone, as Brian works long hours. I never eat off paper plates (well, I don’t even have any in the house, as I stopped buy disposable items like that many years ago)…I always use a nice plate and a cloth napkin. Sometimes I even light a candle. 🙂
Your closets are a treasure trove! I love the red and white!
My husband has a man cave in the basement. And I decorated with red and white..He loves the color red. Maybe because I am a natural redhead.
Your table looks so pretty and homey. Great idea for a post .Thank you.
I have been reading your blog since you lived in Texas.
Brenda, please tell us again where you found the pretty red curtains at your patio doors. Just beautiful!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07V6FN9D3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It looks so cozy, Brenda. I love your cute salt and pepper shakers. It’s even more important in these times to make your home cozy and create special moments to enjoy even if you live alone. Create some beauty to enjoy. Your special too!
So pretty, Brenda. A pity we can’t all get together and have tea together! Wouldn’t that be something? Of course, we solitary types wouldn’t be at ease with that large a group so we’d have to do two or three of us at a time. I wonder how many readers you have, do you know? Could take a year to get through the whole group!
The plates you used in the table scape have almost made me a red-lover! They are so, so lovely. Do I remember you mentioning that they are no longer available to buy, that is, out of production? Do they have any info on the backs, like the company that made them? I like the idea of the votives in the cupcake tin, too. Those and the plates would be pretty at holiday time.
I have yet to do much decorating here at my house. I’ve been trying to clear clutter, though, especially in my bedroom, the one place I might have a place for some decorating. It’s slow going but it feels really good when I make a little progress. Maybe by the time this crisis ends I will have it the way I want it.
Take care, stay well, you and the fur babies.
I was talking about the blue and white checked with flowers dishes from Marshalls I gifted to a reader in TX who drove here to get them. The red and white ones I showed today say on the back they’re from Country Living. I don’t know if they still have them.
I love red and white together. The dishes are so pretty and what a nice gift that was! Cheery tablescape for a rainy dull day. Perks you up!
Your tablescape looks very inviting, especially nice on a gloomy day. It’s raining here too, quite a lot.
It looks so you. Brenda. So cozy, and so pretty. Having to isolate has made it just that much more important to have our spaces feel like home. xo Laura
Thanks for the lovely pictures today Brenda. I have those same dishes in my hutch and it always makes me feel happy to look at them. I LOVE red too. Such a heartwarming color! Cozy! ❤️
I can’t recall who sent those red and white flowered ones to me, but I cherish them. I’ve given away most of my dishes, but those are a keeper.
I just love the candles in the muffin tin! I live out in the country in WV on a dead end road. There is no traffic coming by my house, the only thing coming by is a coal train, so the train engineer is the only person seeing how I decorate my house. I don’t care, I put up my seasonal flags and decorate for all occasions! Like you said you have to please yourself !
I seldom have visitors, so I do it just for me.
Thank you Brenda for this post. Home is so important. It can be a hovel or a mansion. You have made your small dwelling a real home full of love and beauty. A true haven in our turbulent and uncertain time.
And if I had a home I hated I would be so unhappy now that we’re having to stay at home. So everyone, get to decorating!
I used to have an oilcloth tablecloth just like that! I guess I lost it in the divorce, what else is new.
I’m enjoying these days working from home, but I now understand why you folks who are home all the time have the urge to change things up so often. I was always happy once I got things the way I like them to leave them like that for quite some time. Now, one week in, I’m ready to change out curtains and touch up paint! Maybe I’ll finally get to some of the many projects that have been building on my to do list for years!
Oil cloth is cheap. I order it online.
Red is my very most favorite color and I love your tablescape. Looks so cozy…wish I could drop in for tea and conversation. Would be a little far from the coast of northwest Florida!! Blessings, Carolyn
Like minds! I was thinking the same. A tad bit far from SW Ohio! Nice thought though.
I am another person in SW Ohio who likes your tablescape and surroundings. Hellp, Chris! I am near Dayton.
Hi Jan,
I am in Fairborn, Ohio! You have to love the connections made on favorite blogs.
Brenda your apartment is very charming and your blog is aptly named!
Becky R
Love the red and white Brenda. I also like that you have that sweet little lamp on your table. Stay safe.
Kris
That is just lovely. Your red accents with the yellow and all the other colors look so cheerful. I love the muffin tin. I have a really old one that I use in decorating.