What in the world is a tablescape?

When I threw out my “30 days of intentional living” idea, many of you said, “count me in.”
As I ponder and think through what my goals are for that month, I am the first to understand that encouraging you on a “ten minute a day challenge” doesn’t come lightly.

Day in and day out…just ten minutes a day…balancing beauty and bedlam…together.  I don’t want my “best intentions” to be put into procrastination mode. We’ll brainstorm ideas revolving around family, finances, friends, and home. (I couldn’t think of another word to finish my alliteration.
Simple decorating ideas that embrace a “welcoming home” mentality is one aspect on which I want to focus.
I claim no decorator titles, but with a desire to create a haven, yet sticking to a frugal budget, there are some things that can be done in just ten minutes to go from mundane to magical.

A beautiful table is one place to begin. We can spend so much time creating a recipe, but forget to make that mealtime memorable. In ten minutes, we CAN add a little beauty to our meal time bedlam, even if it’s created for the wonders of Chick-Fil-A.
For months, I just thought tablescape was a creative name some blogger coined. Who knew that it’s a real designer definition?

A tablescape is an arrangement of items gathered into a grouping and placed on top of the table.
I hear you all snickering, “well, I have lots of things placed, stashed and stuffed on top of my table”. I’m not talking about the junk mail, ladies…clear that off.
The sky is the limit with tablescapes and creativity sores when that imagination is set free.
Remember, ten minutes of intentionality…that’s all.

I love tablescapes because they give you the opportunity to shop your home. Look around and see what kinds of items you can mix and match. A few ideas (that I got from Dummies.com ) might be:

• Photo frame, mirrors (I love)

• Fabrics, pretty napkins

• Flowers, foliage

• Fresh fruit or quality fakes

• Baskets, books, candles

• Tea trays (I find tons at yard sales), vases, or bowls

A tablescape can simply be an arrangement of your favorite items or a many centerpiece. Think of a landscape painting, and that is a wonderful analogy for a tablescape. They refer to the way things are laid out. I used to view them as something you only did on the dinner table, but they’re wonderful to arrange on coffee tables, picnic tables, or any other occasional piece that lends itself to decorating — even mantels or shelves.

Some of the main ideas that I’ve seen suggested are very basic concepts.

• Gather interesting items of different textures together. I typically brainstorm ideas for my kitchen table and picnic table. Good items to have are books, decorative plates displayed on stands, bowls filled with fruit or other decorative items, vases, flowers, candles, and other accessories. These items are found in abundance at yard sales for pennies on the dollar. I love this simple idea for outdoors. Teal is one of my favorite colors. This shows how simplicity of style can really stand out when matched with a bold color.

  

• Arrange items in staggering heights. The eye is drawn to varying heights. Stack a few books and put a decorative plate on, if needed. If you have a lamp on a table, use that as your tallest height, and work with other smaller items to fill in your tablescape. And yes, I have found 3 bird cages this summer at yard sales just waiting to be painted. Still wondering where they will go.
  BHG.com

• If you don’t intend to use the table for anything else but display, plan away. Otherwise, take up no more than 1/3 of your table with a tablescape unless you This is my biggest problem when doing my kitchen table. I spread everything, every where. You want your tablescape to stay intact but make sure that people can still set down their plates and cups without bumping things over.

  

• Use your surfaces wisely. If you set up a gorgeous tablescape on your coffee table but no one has a place to put down their coffee, you’ve defeated the purpose. “Decorating is meant to enhance — not to hassle”.

Do you have items that have been pushed to the back of your cabinets since your wedding day gift opening? Go grab them. You may be pleasantly surprised at what small little items you can add just to make your meal times that much more memorable this week.

So go surprise your family this week by turning the mundane into the magical. They’ll definitely ask, “What’s this for?”
They are your reason for creating a welcoming haven, aren’t they? Sometimes I forget that.

Be on the look out for the start of “30 days of intentional living.”
30 days/10 minutes a day…it’s going to rock our little homes.