A Silver, White + Gold Christmas

If there's one thing I love more than designing interiors it's putting together a fabulous table setting. My parents host Christmas every year so I get to indulge in some serious tabletop designing this time of year. Talks of the table settings usually start just after Thanksgiving with my mom and I emailing pictures back and forth but after inheriting my great aunt's china this year's design kind of felt like a no-brainer. Red and green for Christmas? So predictable. This year I'm reaching for my favorite basics--natural Belgian linen, gray herringbone and crisp white mixed with my vintage silver collection, mercury glass, shimmering gold and something bright.

In seeking some inspiration I discovered this tabletop created by Camille Styles and I'm completely smitten.  Camille knows her way around the table and I just love the way she mixed the modern metallic rimmed dinnerware from West Elm with the Horta etched champagne flutes from Anthropologie. Heavenly!

Are you as inspired as I am for a classic white Christmas?

(Images via Kelly West Photo for Camille Styles and Statesman)

Happy Thanksgiving!

My posts have been few and far between this week because I've been having too much fun hanging out with my family and boyfriend to even think about opening my computer! But before I take off to celebrate with my family in the suburbs I thought I would check in and thank you my dear readers, design lovers, and commenters. Thank you for following along as I share my adventures, ideas and passion with you each week. Your encouraging comments have made writing Simply Smitten a whole lot of fun! Happy Happy Thanksgiving! 

 (Image via Eddie Ross)

Feast Your Eyes

In case you are wondering how to dazzle your dinner guests this fall, feast your eyes on this...

A rustic yet refined table setting featured in the November issue of Martha Stewart.  The gold flatware alone is completely stunning but add to that soft gray harvest baskets filled with a bounty richly hued veggies and potted purple cabbage, turnips holding votives and brussel sprouts used as salt cellars and it's enough to knock this design blogger out cold from visual delight.  Care to join me?  You can find a few of the pieces used in Martha's masterpiece below... 

  linen for tablecloth by b & j fabrics / soapstone candlesticks by canvas / harrow stemmed wine goblet by canvas / nature's canvas sandstone dinner plate by wedgewood / domino gold cutlery by canvas / angle edge chopping board by canvas / tolix a chair via conran shop

Dîner en Blanc

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  The weather here in Chicago was perfect for a little pop-up picnic.  Thanks to my very determined friends I was lucky enough to participate in Chicago's first ever Dîner en Blanc.  On Saturday we joined hundreds of other Chicagoans dressed in white at Daley Plaza where we enjoyed an elegant all-white evening of dinner and dancing underneath the Chicago Picasso sculpture.  This refined flash-mob feast, which began as a small gathering of friends 20 years ago in Paris and has since grown into a worldwide phenomenon, was most definitely one of the highlights of my summer.

Thank you Becky, Liz, and Abbey for making me your +1! 

Outdoor Dining

One of my favorite things about Chicago is when warm weather finally returns, the restaurant tables overflow onto the sidewalks and people dine outdoors at all hours of the day.  As a city dweller, it is such a luxury to have my parents live just 30 minutes - I love nothing more that spending a sunny Sunday afternoon in my parent's backyard eating burgers and corn on the cob (I'm a simple girl).  While my parent's backyard is lovely, I can't help but think about the meals I'd eat if this rustic retreat was mine.  Simple, sunny and serene I love the patina of the concrete table paired with worn-in Klismo chairs.  I would say that I’m envious, except that I’m a tried-and-true city girl...maybe one day I'll have a change of heart.
image: grey crawford for elle decor

Green is Good

It's official, I have a home (with a dining room)!  On July 1st I'll be leaving my cozy Lincoln Park apartment and moving to River North.  It's a big change but change is good, right?  So now that that's settled, it's time to start making decor decision.  First up, the dining room!  In the 4 years since graduating college I've lived in 3 apartments, all of which have had zero space for a suitable dining room.  I honestly can't tell you how excited I am to set the table every night (a chore I hated as a kid) and eat dinner with my boyfriend.  I've been saving up to for a Saarinen table (my mom calls it a spaceship haha) and I've decided that I absolutely must have colorful Louis XVI-style dining room chairs.  Now the question remains, what color?  I really thought I wanted yellow but these green chairs used in Kelly Wearstler's Vogue photo shoot and Grant K. Gibson's San Francisco Decorator Showcase dining room have me seriously reconsidering. What color would you go with?

Images: My Vibe My Life and Grant K. Gibson

Currently Coveting | New Arcadia

I think it's safe to say these hand-drawn Leopard Highball glasses by New Arcadia were made for me. Bright hues, 22K gold and leopard — really, what’s not to love? The only question is which color?  I’m leaning towards the orange, but the white may go with more. Decisions, decisions...

Ideal Dining | Garden Party

Party of two on the patio! My wretched taxes are finally done – time to spend that money and have some fun!  There’s nothing more ideal than a spring weekend out on the patio enjoying the warm weather and sipping something delicious.  Alfresco dining season is upon us and my little city deck is in need of a major spring spruce up – time to change out the pillows, dust of the chairs..maybe even add a patch of grass or two.  
Steven Meisel for Vogue Living Spring 2008 | Paper Lanterns | Red Thistle Pitcher | Goto Gold Bubble Piccolo Glass | Rediscovered Flatware | Matahari Round Placemat | Verdant Acres Dinnerware | Pintuck Cushion | Haute Culture Chlorophylle Mini Garden | Richard Schultz Topiary Bench | Jardin de Marie Outdoor Armchair and Table