Falling Table

I love our dining room table. Every time I look at it, I'm reminded of that July 4th. That week+ before Hadley was born, overdue, when we tried anything and everything to get labor started (ineffectively). That's when we finally put the table and chairs together, after sitting in a box which the cats thoroughly enjoyed scratching since the prior January.

I get another feeling when I glance at the table set, too, though. A twinge of anxiety because it's usually piled with mail, with magazines, with gifts I've yet to wrap or cards I've yet to address or any other number of very random items. This is actually a relatively calm pile compared to the usual.

But, since we're into the throes of fall decorating, I figured I'd jump on the bandwagon and grab any excuse to de-clutter a bit. (Picture Dave doing a happy dance...if he were the type of guy to do a happy dance. I wish he'd get in touch with his inner-David Venable, but gosh darn it, I love him as he is.) So, unlike all the other posts, you get a cluttery before picture of my dining room table...then, a neater, fallified vignette. Now, if only we could keep it (and enjoy it) that way....

I went with neutrals and monochromatic-yet-cozy accents. For a runner, I just used one of my favorite gauzy scarves, then plopped down an antique box filled with raffia, an antique bottle or two, varying-sized candles, a gourd and a mini-pumpkin (which appears taller because it's sitting atop an over-turned votive candle holder; use whatchya got!) in the middle of the table. Oh, and the raffia is 100% out of the way of any flames, I promise.

I then added some asymmetry by using a square glass cake stand with a couple of antique bottles (one of which is a pint milk bottle from Homestead Farms -- my family's dairy farm from generations back, where my dad grew up) and a not-too-big white pumpkin. I figured the transparency of most of the items took away from the possible weightiness of the asymmetry. Finally, I strewn varying light or neutrally-colored candles in pairs or threes throughout the table. To add to the laid-back whimsy I used a variety of holders for the votives: a creamy antique teacup, a bubbly mercury glass holder, a creamer.

By the way, our dinners are usually spent at our taller, smaller kitchen table and occasionally in the living room, always with the baby's "high chair" (dining room chair with his space-saving seat safely attached) pulled up alongside me. We used to feed the monkey in the dining room, and I'm positive we'll revert someday, but currently this is the most convenient for our needs. We're not keen on living room eating, so it only happens once a week or less. It is what it is.

And pay no attention to the hideous red walls (and crappy iPhone pictures). It's my dream to tone them down. This WILL come true. Oh, yes, it will.

So, how did you decorate for fall? Subdued? Crazy, over-the-top themey (skulls 'n witches galore)? :-)