Summer Tablescape + What Design Type Are You?

I am trying to decide, at almost 62 years of age, exactly WHAT is my decorating "type"? I've tried them all...Early American, Primitive, Contemporary (reluctantly), Country French, on and on.... the only one I keep returning to over and over is Traditional with an Eccentric twist. (No, I didn't mean Eclectic...I mean Eccentric. I am just plain weird....as my friends and family will be more than happy to attest to.)

With that info in mind, I enter Tablescape Thursday (see button on right to visit. It will be live tomorrow 6/2) and my photos will show a rather restrained tabletop. But, first things first.

While pondering my "decor type" I was perusing a Victoria magazine (Jan/Feb 2011...p. 78) and it hit me...I was reading about a designer named Jessie Davidson. She is a Chicago designer, and I noticed something about her showcased home that was very appealing. Her colors were extremely muted, she used lovely traditional accessories and then...THERE IT WAS... a pop of color here and there.... that's all...just a WOW factor casually thrown in. However, if you look closely, you will notice NOTHING she designs is just thrown in. It may look like it was casually tossed in the mix...but she has a definite MO. (For non-CSI fans...that's method of operation.) P.S. I also LOVE HGTV's Sarah Richardson's sense of style.

I gravitate toward that look...muted but with a twist. The thing that made the look so appealing to me is that it's not suffocating, nothing is overpowering. It all flows together in a very calming way. No red walls...just a subtle red used here and there. Ahhhh....I feel better because I LOVE red, but in overdoses it makes me jittery. So here I am, here's my style...Muted with a Caveat!

My photos today are of the "other side of my back porch" with the outdoor wrought iron table set for a breakfast for two. Do the hubster and I regularly dine at 6:00 a.m. with such frills? NO.

But because I had "done" the other side of the porch, I couldn't let this side feel slighted.
However, an early morning breakfast would taste even better outside on the porch!
(For a full view see Back Porch Makeover post from earlier this week.)

Here's where my "weirdness" comes in...the centerpiece is a wreath made from Paula Deen's green checked cupcake papers...I know, I know...I can't help myself.



I have done my dead level best to make sure that every home in Rankin county has at least one bird's nest residing somewhere in it. I can't do it alone...help me. I've loved nests since I was a little girl. Here, I plopped one in the top of a topiary that I've had for years and still love her!

Berry wreath charger; McCarty Dinner nutmeg plate; green "majolica" salad plate; hobnail glass; Peter's pottery mug; Gorham Buttercup silver.

McCarty Pottery sugar and creamer...FYI: that's the Mississippi River flowing down the sides of this nutmeg pair. (McCarty trademark...McCarty is located in Merigold, Mississippi.)

Tea, anyone? Ok, you caught me...sorry to burst this bubble but do you REALLY think I could get the hubster/coach to sit on the back porch and sip hot tea? NOT ON YOUR LIFE...Gatorade, maybe. But it IS a pretty little teapot.

Could you have passed up this embroidered tablecloth with 6 matching napkins for $6 at the Flea Market? May I be frank? If you said, "Yes", then you don't know a bargain when it's staring you in the eyesockets! I use green as an ever-present neutral in all my decorating.

Vintage salt cellars and salt spoons that match my silver pattern.

May we talk? Look, I know there's nothing particularly spectacular here...but what good does it do to show tablescapes that are totally out of the reach for most of us? (Except to make us dream and maybe covet...oops.) The way I see it, if this post gives you a little boost and a few ideas, then it's time well spent. But if it depresses you and makes you think, "I can't do that...I don't have all that stuff "...then the post has defeated it's own purpose! Now, go put a bird's nest somewhere in your house!

Wishing we could all eat out on the porch every morning,