Endless Summer

Welcome to my first tablescape!  I am joining the party at Between Naps on the  Porch (BNOTP) for Tablescape Thursday.  After following blogs for months I am finally taking the plunge and jumping in.  I hope the water will be warm and welcoming.  I look forward to your comments and advice on surviving in blogland.  I know how grateful I am for all the ideas and entertainment I have received since I started following them.

Here in Florida we have lots of summer left and the theme I have chosen is appropriate any time of year.  Last week I had some time to kill before going to dinner with my daughter and my husband, so we popped into the Pottery Barn in Hyde Park Village in Tampa (my husband stood outside with a stopwatch!).  As much as I love obsessing over their catalogs, there is nothing like seeing it all in person.  Two floors of it!  Of course, most of the merchandise is out of my budget but when they mark stuff down, they really mark it down!  I picked up 2 sets of napkin rings (seashells and butterflies) and couldn't resist these placemats that became the basis for this tablescape.  Six placemats and 8 napkin rings for just over $30.  You get that nice handled bag with the PB logo on it, too.

When we moved down here from South Jersey we thought we might downsize until we actually looked at a smaller house.  Sorry, not ready for that yet.  So I was very happy to still have a separate dining room in this house.  I will tell you more about this room in the future but for now let me say I am so happy to have this space.                                                                                                                                                           

I used a table runner upside down that looks like burlap along with the placemats.  The "chargers" are from IKEA, the dinner plate is from a set I received in a trade with my mother almost 30 years ago, Federalist Ironstone, the camel colored salad plate was on clearance at Burlington Coat Factory, less than a dollar each. 

The wine glasses are from that exclusive, upscale store, Dollar Tree.  The drinking glass is actually acrylic and is from Beall's Department store.  I bought them with matching plates for use by our pool but I thought they looked good here.

The silver palm candlesticks are  painted wood from Ross.  The hurricane (also from Ross) wasn't tall enough so I put it atop an inverted glass bowl.  I'm always adding height to things so there is a change in levels.  My sister-in-law gave me the sand (she even washed and bleached it).  I would love to say I have collected all the shells I have but I didn't. 

The flatware was my mother's and I used to hate it because it was so plain.  Now I love the teak handles and brushed nickel simplicity of them.  The napkin rings are from Old Tyme Pottery for .99 each (I got a dozen for that price!)  The napkins are from Burlington Coat Factory and Beal's Outlet.  Once you double up your napkins, you will want to do it all the time. 

I used these square plates for the ends of the table to pick up the blue in the glasses and the placemats.  It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I had only 4 of the other plates!  I bought these at Beall's Outlet.  If you live in Florida you will find that they have an abundance of "Florida Decor".  Now you know where to go for all your Flamingo needs!

Just like people,, I think most tablescapes look best by candlelight.  In summertime, however, it means eating dinner at 8:30pm!   

Even though these plates have no color design on them, the texture still makes them interesting and they seem to sparkle in the candlelight.

Thank you so much for stopping by. This tablescape will give you some idea of what kinds of things you will see from me in the future.  I love neutrals but I also have some ideas for some bright, cheerful tables too. One thing you can be sure of, you will never see fine china, crystal or silver from me.  Not that I don't admire those things but I don't own any of them and I'm a strict budget girl.   Of course, if I find a great estate sale or hit the jackpot at Goodwill that could change!