I am loving my dining room!  Now if only some of that love can rub off on my feelings toward cooking!  I’ve met beautiful souls who love to cook and others who love to entertain.  Sometimes these characteristics exist simultaneously in the same person, but for me its the entertaining part of hospitality that I love…the people.  So for the sake of the food, we’d better hope that I managed the meal before everyone arrives, otherwise well… meal shakes anyone?

Busy lives can lead to a sad disconnect from the people around us.  Many people are missing meaningful relationships and conversations.  The effort of getting together is so worth it!  When we found our little house a few years ago, I wanted to create a space where we could share dinner as a family and still have room for guests to join us.  We collected the various pieces over quite a few months, and now we have been enjoying each opportunity to connect with friends, both new and old.

Pier 1 is having a Share the Love Photo Contest on Instagram, and I had to laugh because sooo much of my decor in this room came from their lovely store. I finally created an Instagram account and would be over the moon if I won so visit and favorite my photos! The boxwood wreaths, vintage chic chalkboard (to which I added one of my favorite quotes), champagne colored ornaments suspended from the chandeliers, napkins, napkin rings, glasses, glitter chargers, and salad plates either are or were available from Pier 1.  The French script ribbon used to hang the wreaths came from another favorite of mine, Ballard Designs.  I custom made the linen skirts (inspired by this pic on Pinterest) and sashes for each chair so that I could wash them when little ones come over, and not have to worry about the combination of pizza, or red velvet cake and linen.  The table was inspired by another picture on Pinterest, and in collaboration with a builder, I customized the design to fit our space.  Finally, after months of searching I found a set of vintage Mother of Pearl flatware on eBay, just in time for the holidays!

Inspirational Scripture:
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Acts 2:42 (NIV)