Black and White Table Decor

Table decor in black & white set the tone for the evening.

The table setting included black placemats, white dinner plates, black salad plates, black marble napkin rings around black napkins and black place card holders.  The glassware stems were black and clear, tall acrylic grinders showcased black peppercorns and white rock salt.  To add some glitz and fun, oversized, black glittered, faux candelabra with white candles stood on either side of a large glass dish filled with shiny and matte finished ball ornaments. 

Decking the table in black and white was easy since I already owned all the necessary items – I just needed to shop my kitchen and mix and match items.  Planning an interesting black and white menu proved to be the challenge.

Black and White Food

While searching through recipes for ideas to support the theme it became clear that black food is not plentiful  – and an all white meal seemed so bland and boring.  I finally patched together a menu that worked well:

• Appetizer:  Black and white pizza – white pizza crust topped with a puree of black beans, garlic, olive oil and spices, then a layer of shredded, white Mozzarella cheese, and finally a sprinkling of small, whole black beans and sliced Kalamata olives.
• Entree:  Halibut Dijonnaise:  Baked halibut topped with Dijonnaise suace, artichoke hearts and Havarti cheese.
• Starch:  Wild rice – I used an all black variety for high contrast against the fish but you could opt for the usual, black and white mixed version .
• Vegetable:  Eggplant (the purple skin was so dark purple it almost looked black when fresh – and was black when cooked!) – round slices marinated in balsamic vinegar, garlic and olive oil and then grilled.
• Desert:  Dark chocolate ganache torte.
• Wine:  White wine paired with the halibut but you could use a very dark red.

Black and White Gifts

Black and white gift wrap continues the theme.

After dinner the birthday girl unwrapped one gift covered in black paper and tied with a white ribbon – a cookbook for creating wonderful chocolate goodies.  The second gift in white paper and black ribbon contained Trader Joe’s dark chocolate French truffles (because I didn’t have time to make the truffle recipe on page 9 of the cookbook as intended!).

Plan a Colorful Celebration

There’s no need to wait for a birthday in order to create a colorful celebration.  Consider a pre-Christmas luncheon for friends and do everything in red and green (you’ll have an easier time building the menu than I did!).  When your favorite sports team plays a televised game invite friends over to cheer them on while munching on snacks inspired by the team’s colors.  Plan a party for your kids using their school’s colors.  You get the idea – put your imagination in high gear and find a reason to colorfully celebrate with friends and family.

Make Any Meal A Celebration

Turn an everday dinner into a celebration and make your family smile!  Simply add a few decor touches to your table and tie them to your menu when possible.  Chili for dinner?  Match the color of the chili with a  red bandana at each place as a napkin.  Light a plate full of white pillar candles on a snowy night and dine by candlelight (even in the middle of the week!) - anything you serve will taste speical and your kids may amaze you with their grownup behavior.  Finish the meal with white coconut cake or roll scoops of vanilla ice cream in coconut and serve these sweet snowballs as a grand finale.  Add a vase of fresh cut flowers, autumn leaves or interesting branches to your everyday table.  Small touches make a big difference to the ambience of a meal.

Share Your Table Decor Ideas

Do you have a standard table decor you turn to often?  Do you create special table settings for the holidays?   How have you used color to spice up a meal?  Share your ideas and pictures – we’re hungry for your input!

I’m participating in Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch – check it out for tons of other table decorating ideas.

Frosted Glass Halloween Candle Holders  at Posh Pieces

Fall Apothecary  at Shanty2Chic  (this site has lots of projects)

Whimsical Fall Leaves Windcatcher  at Centsational Girl

Pumpkin Decor

Front Porch, Fall Style  at Centsational Girl (a transforming porch filled with excellent ideas)

Wood Punkins project

Creative Punkins  at Poppies at Play (scroll down to Sept. 14th to find this post; she has lots of other projects too)

Glittered Pumpkins  at Embellished Bayou

Glowing Jack-o-Lanterns   at Not so Idle Hands

Fall Dining Tableau  at Hyacinths for the Soul

Fall Door Decor  at Thrifty Decor Chic

Floral Door Decor

Pear & Apple Cake  at Ashleys Busy  (a yummy recipe)

Pottery Barn tablescape

I’ll end with the Pottery Barn inspiration picture – what can you learn from this photo?  Great use of texture (straw pumpkins); galvanized metal for that country touch; a smorgasbord of candy; create height in any tablescape; tie it in with other decor (fall wreath on window); tuck a dried fall leaf here and there.  Now you have plenty of easy projects to get you into the fall season.  Pull out last year’s goodies, add a little something new or something from the garden and see what you can come up with. 
Halloween Headquarters – Shop the Spellbinding Collection at WorldMarket.com 

Share any of your favorite fall decor ideas for indoors or outdoors –

So what the heck do you do with those ledges up there – the ones you need a ladder to even reach?

Do NOT just stuff them with silk green plants – that’s dated, ordinary, and you can do lots better.
Do NOT ignore them and leave them empty. It makes the room unfinished and looks like you just moved in.

DO create a lively vignette to capture the attention of your guests and wow them with your ingenuity. Whenever you’re pulling a room together there’s a temptation to run out and buy everything to finish it all at once. If you’re lucky enough to find the right things, good for you. However, it’s often better to wait for just the right pieces and let the room evolve – especially when dealing with the accessories.

CREATE A CAPTIVATING LEDGE DISPLAY

I’ll lead you step by step through developing a shelf vignette. This works for ledges, bookshelves, kitchen cabinet tops, or even a dresser top – any flat surface. Adjust the volume and height of the accessories to suit the space you’re filling.

A typical potshelf decor beginning.

 A tall plate on a stand, a couple of finials and a stone ball, the colors all neutral and everything spread apart – it fills space but that’s about it.  It’s visually unbalanced with the 2 taller items overpowering the smaller ball and the pieces don’t seem connected.  Here’s how to improve this display.

Alternate potshelf arrangement.

A stronger accessory arrangement is created when you group the items together.  This makes an asymmetrical grouping – the visual weight is uneven.

Alternate grouping.

This more compact version tucks the pieces closer together for an even stronger presentation.  Overlapping the elements lets your eye see them as one unit.  Now let’s pretend you’ve gone shopping and have a few more things to add to this grouping.

I've added a few more elements and a touch of color to increase the impact.

It’s time to add a little color to these neutral accessories - the big rust vase will anchor the left side.  A small wood box holds a ceramic planter and ivy.  Greenery plays an important part in accessory groupings – just be careful not to overdo it.  You want to soften hard edges and add life, but use the greens only as accents.  This grouping is starting to look really complete.  However, I’m feeling like there needs to be something layered in front of the big rust vase - that side is a little visually ‘empty’ compared to the detail on the right side.

Finishing touches on the potshelf decor.

To complete the look, I’ve balanced the greens by placing a similar pot and longer ivy on the left, but at a different level.  I’ve added a touch of whimsy and texture with the duck and I like how they cover the base of the rust vase.  On the right, one more ceramic pot to bring the rust color to the right side of the grouping.

As a final picture, here’s the same grouping but changing the plant shape on the left – instead of something trailing, I found this great upgright grass with the rust color to play up the other rusts.  Which do you prefer?  There’s no right or wrong, it’s what you find more pleasing.

A final option for the accessory grouping.

 Share this article with friends and family so you all can have beautifully designed ledges.  Watch tomorrow’s post for even more tips.

Related posts:

1. Decorate Your Ledges Like a Pro
2. Art of Accessorizing – part 5: Color
3. Three is NOT a Magic Number

The simplest of rock arrangments.

 A good friend was stretching her creative wings and playing with her collection of smooth rocks.  (Thanks Bobi for sharing this playful inspiration!)  She was looking for a way to calm her creative turmoil and simplify her outlook for her next project. 

Bobi dubbed her efforts “zen rock design” (or maybe I did) and she accomplished just what she needed.  It was fun, calming, no-cost, mind-clearing and rejuvenating. 

ZEN ROCK SUPPLIES

When you go rock hounding to collect specimens for your own Zen rock efforts, smooth and flat rocks are best, but you’ll need a variety of sizes and shapes to play with.  Look around your house for shapes and other elements that can be stacked on or with the rocks for more interest.  Find a cool plate, board or book to serve as the base or anchor for your arrangement.

As you can see by Bobi’s first effort, using a perfectly round element (the crystal ball) will add another level of challenge.  I have to say, I tried using something round and gave up.  Achieving balance was too difficult and it was losing the “calming” effect for me.

Add another rock for a little more complexity in the design.

ZEN STILL LIFE ARRANGEMENTS

Most of you are familiar with the catch phrase “Bring the outdoors in” as it pertains to design.  We want to bridge the visual gap between outside and inside, so bringing in cut branches, flowers, beach sand, rocks, shells – anything natural – reminds us of our connection to nature. 

This easy task of working with rocks to create simple, natural beauty can be very rewarding. 

Wikipedia’s explanation of a still life is excellent:  “a work of art depicting inanimate objects, typically commonplace items which may be either natural (food, flowers, plants, rocks…) or man-made (books, jewelry, vases, coins…) in an artificial setting.”

That’s what I want you to try today.  Create a Zen still life using simple, natural elements.

Look at the wonderful balance Bobi achieved in this more challenging stack.

These rock stacks are increasingly challenging as Bobi was striving for not only perfect balance but creative and visually stimulating still life arrangements.

My early efforts at making a Zen rock still life.

You’ll find, as I did, that stacking these rocks in a way that is attractive AND so that they don’t fall over the minute you step away is more challenging than you might expect.  However, the reward is surprisingly satisfying.  These unique ‘art’ pieces are sure to be a conversation starter!

WHERE TO USE YOUR ZEN STILL LIFE

One of the great things about these little touches of natural art is that they can be small and subtle or big and eye-catching.  You can place a rock arrangment among a couple of candles, on a table top under a picture, on a patio table for a centerpiece, at the end of your kitchen counter using a piece of fruit in the arrangment (see my version with a lemon), on a vanity top with a shell or two, on your fireplace hearth or use a big version on your front porch. 

Go out and enjoy the outdoors this long Labor Day weekend – play with friends and family.  And, while you’re out, pick up a rock or two…….

Share your creativity with us; we’d love to see some other versions of Zen rock still life arrangements.  If you liked the ideas presented here, be sure to forward the post to your friends.  As a last treat, click here for a very short video – so you can see how a “pro” succeeds.    a rocky video

Related posts:

1. Penny Inspiration

I can’t claim credit for this project; I found it on Care2, a site dedicated to ‘green’ living and solutions.

Quick and easy - my favorite kind of project.

These are double sided for extra strength.  You’ll find complete (really easy) instructions at Care2.  Thanks Veronica!

A pretty light post for this weekend and the project suits that mood.  So go forth and create.

Creative penny mosaic tray

She runs a series of decorating challenges on her site and this one caught my eye since I’d just found the flooring idea.  She challenges her readers to come up with their own penny mosaic project.  If you’re inspired and crafty and want to participate, check it out.  Then be sure to post pictures of your project here too.

I love do-it-yourself projects that aren’t too overwhelmingly complicated.  As I try them out myself or find them in my web wanderings, I’ll be sure to share with you.  By the same token, if you have a DIY project that you enjoyed, share it with us.

Related posts:

1. Ledge Accessorizing Tutorial
2. Decorate Your Ledges Like a Pro
3. Accessorize with a Plan -part 1: The Walls