A Silver and Gold Christmas Tablescape

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us I am so excited to bring on Christmas!!!  Ya'll know that I love a tablescape and especially at Christmas time. This might be my all time fav Christmas tablescape ever!  I always adore mixing silver and gold pieces, so that is exactly what I did!

As I began to gather pieces from my inventory aka stash, I knew that I wanted the silver/gold magnolia placemat to be a base, but it still felt like it needed more so I added the silver and gold placemat boards that you all have seen numerous times.  I started building from that point.

Inside each box that sits on the salad plate guests will find a small treat.  These boxes are from Pier 1 and are available in silver and gold.

Our wedding china, Montclair by Lenox anchors most of my place settings this season as the Christmas tree decor doesn't lend very well to reds this year.

After much debate I made the decision to keep the place settings as a focal point and to just use my silver candle holders as the only centerpiece.

This tablescape will welcome my girlfriends early this next week!  My goal is to always make those that I'm close to feel as special as possible!

New Curtains

Ever since I changed out the rug in our dining room I've been on the look out for new curtains.  The colors in the rug are vibrant and I felt as if I should go with a more subdued look for the curtains.  While I would have loved to have been able to get a pair custom made, it was just not in the budget.
That meant I was going to have to try to find curtains that were ready made.  Have you noticed that almost all the curtains have grommets?  Truthfully....that is not the look I'm going for.  This complicated the process of curtain shopping because this was all I could seem to find!

While at work one day(at Pier 1) as I helped a customer shop for curtains, I saw some that I decided might work in the dining room. But darn it they had those grommets. After much debate with my Mother, we decided that if I bought the longer panels she could cut off  the section with grommets. Then she would sew a pleat...yippee!!!  It took her a good while to get the job accomplished but she pulled it off!  I couldn't love them more!

They really are a big improvement in the dining room and I adore how they complete the vision I had for the space.

In case you too like these curtains they are still available at Pier 1.  I'll drop the link for you here.  Be warned though, the curtains are lined and a bit on the thick side.  I'm trying to find a way to add weights to the hem so they will hang a little better.  My hope is the longer they hang they will fall a bit more into a relaxed position.

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Savvy Southern Style

A French Dining Table

For as long as I've been friends with my antique buddy she has talked about finding a dining table.  A few weeks ago she sent me a text with the most magnificent dining table I've ever seen. As quick as I saw it I phoned her to get all the details.  Where was it, how are we gonna get it to Auburn and on and on.   As luck would have it it was in Fairhope, Alabama.  I immediately committed myself to doing anything I could to help bring it to Auburn!  We quickly realized that the table wouldn't fit into her SUV.  We decided to see if it would fit into my minivan, ya'll should have seen us inside the back of my van with measuring tapes in hand.  It would fit!

The table came from a French Monastery and dates back to the mid 1800's.  I can only imagine the conversations held around this table.

To say it is a good thing her dining room has french doors would be an understatement, the top didn't have to be removed for transport or putting it into place in her room.

The details on this table are exquisite, from the legs to the top!   Without a doubt it is the most amazing piece of furniture I've personally ever laid my eyes on.

I do realize this last photo shows only a small part of her dining room but isn't it gorgeous?!  The table is for sure the piece de resistance.

A Fresh Design for the Dining Room

It is entirely possible that I finally have the dining room the way I want it.  After 10 years of living here one would hope at any rate.  The dining room has seen more changes in paint than any other room in this house.  I refer to it as an identity crisis.  The Paladian Blue was beyond gorgeous, only I felt a bit constrained when it came to decorating for any holiday but especially Christmas.  Speaking of Christmas, I painted the dining room just before I put up the Christmas decor.  All through the holidays I shared the dining room over and over, not one of ya'll commented on the new rug or the new paint color on the walls.  Surely not everyone missed it?!

The new paint is called Creamy by Sherwin Williams.  I wanted something light and very neutral....mission accomplished!

We won't even mention the fact that I need a fern on the antique plant stand in the corner, I killed the one from last year.

See that little oil painting just above the table now serving as a bar car?  It is a darling little painting, everyone oohhs and ahhs over it....ya'll it was seriously only $1.  Yep you read that right.....a buck!  It was at a junk store in a pile of paintings, I should have gotten more!

The above are gorgeous watercolors that are very old, yet again a junk store find.

The paint is such a pretty color but I've had to work hard to make it not look stark, finding the right pieces have been a challenge!

This past weekend, before the weather came swooping in I made a quick trip to one of my fav antique stores.  The bird prints were just waiting right there for me!  They work very well with the gold sconce.  The plates around the print are Butler's Pantry by Lenox.

The tiered server is one of my all time fav pieces I've styled here at Positively Southern.  When I was a little girl my Mother let me play house with her Blue Willow wedding dishes.  Mother never EVER liked them, they were a gift which is meant to say she didn't select them.  Ya'll I played in the dirt with those dishes!!!  Most were lost over time and the rest Sister and I divided them as she loves them as well.  All of the pieces on the server were collected over many years.

Should I ever find curtains to put in the dining room just know these are coming down and being relocated. Having custom window treatments are not in the budget (remember we have a kid in college)so for now I just suffer with these!  They came from Tuesday Morning and they are great curtains they just don't really work in the dining room now.  Can I take this moment to say how much I loathe curtains with a grommet?!  That is all I see anymore and it is frustrating!

Cody approves of the new rug!  Did you see it on the blog yesterday?  In case you missed it take a look here.

The lighting in the dining room makes it impossible to get a really good, true photo of how the paint color looks in here.  It is a warm shade of cream but in most of the shots it looks white.  The vibrant colors in the rug warm the space of visually.

I'm positively delighted that you dropped by to take a look at the updated look of the dining room!

A Persian Rug for the Dining Room

For ages now I've wanted to upgrade the dining room rug to something a bit more formal with a variety of colors.  Each time I went online or to Scott's Antiques to look for one I was completely overwhelmed with the choices, not to mention the prices!

A friend mentioned she was gonna sell one of hers.  The colors and the size were ideal for our dining room so I bought it from her!  Obviously, I think it is gorgeous!

Tomorrow I will be sharing the mini-makeover that the dining room has undergone!  Be sure and stop back by!