Valentine's Day Dining Room

In continuing to make the house feel more like Valentine's Day for the month of February, here are my attempts in our Dining Room:

It is hard to get a good photo in our dining room as the walls are burgundy and the dining room is shaded from the afternoon sun so we don't get a great deal of sun light in this room.

These hearts shaped placemats were purchased from TJMAXX.  The square white plates, red square salad plate and white bowls were what we decided on for our everyday dishes.  I may change the salad plates for different occasions but since red is one of my favorite colors, they will probably get lots and lots of use.  The red iced tea glasses were purchased at Christmas time last year and really look great here.  The centerpiece is a round mirror plate with a pillar candle on it flanked by two turtledoves.  The turtledoves are hard to see behind the red glasses but there is a better photo of them further down in this post.

Here is a close up of the place setting.  The flatware is the same red flatware I purchased for Christmas this year.

With the candles lit, it really begins to look romantic.

Here is one of the two turtledoves flanking the center pillar candle.  I was in  the Christmas Tree Shoppe this year and he just flew into my basket.   He just had to come home with me.

This sign just HAD to go here.  This is our "temporary" china cabinet.  It is actually a stackable bookcase from Haverties that we have chosen to use as a china cabinet until we find the one we really want.  It currently holds the china dishes my paternal grandmother hand painted in the 1930's-1950's.  On top of the bookcase are our family photos.  Right behind the "L" is a small photo of my husband and I at our wedding so many years ago.  Next to that is the "Four Generations" photo of our family on our trip to Australia to visit with our oldest son, his lovely wife Liz and our two grandsons, Daniel and Michael.  There are four generations of Hastings guys in this photo.

Here are those turtledoves that flew into my basket.  There is also a sweet cherub candle a dear friend in Italy sent me one year for Christmas.  He just completes the setting so well.

The angel stitched above was a gift from another dear friend in Australia.  It is a JustNan design and I hope to stitch some of her other angels and frame them in a similar manner so I can have more angels in the house.  She is on one of our dining room walls but I want to do another one and maybe have them on either side of the big window in that room eventually.

Valentine's Day Kitchen area

I decided to enjoy my Valentine's Day table for the entire month of February this year.  I am a rookie at tablescaping but decided to give it a try.  Last year, I picked up a Valentine's Day tablecloth on sale after the holiday so it was time to put it to work this year.  We have been wanting to change our daily dishes as the el-cheapo ones we bought several years ago as "this will do til we find what we want" have been in service for much longer than intended.  I have a table in my kitchen breakfast nook area and a table in our dining room.  Neither one are large tables so I am limited in space but sometimes that is a good thing.

So here are my efforts at creating a Valentine's Day atmosphere in the house.

The kitchen breakfast nook area:

This is the place setting.  White plates with a red salad plate and bowl from a local grocery store that had a red base and white hearts on them.  Red placemat was from TJMAXX.

The view from the living room looking into the kitchen breakfast nook and the kitchen.  Banner on Pantry door is from Joann's.  Towel hanging on freezer door handle is also from Joann's.

 Last year I picked up these two red beaded hearts and thought they might look o.k. hanging where I normally have black sconces on the wall.

I just could not pass up the little red and white sign that says "LOVE" from Hobby Lobby.  Red is one of my favorite colors so this was perfect!

 

Good morning sunshine!  We enjoy eating a leisurely breakfast at this table and watching for birds at the feeder right outside this window in the garden.  My orchids seem to love this window as well.

At first, I was not sure about this decorative plate with all that pink but I think it fits well and looks nice.

Walmart had these little heart candle voltives and they were simple and not too over the top for my desired effect.

 Here is a close up of the banner I purchased a couple of years ago from Joann's after the holiday was gone and they were on sale.

Christmas decorations going up

Got a little of the Christmas spirit this week and got some of the decorations out in the house.  I usually have a lot more up but just have not had the energy to do it this year.

Ornament Trees 2011

With the passing away of my mother-in-law and the subsequent travels, I decided not to drag out the traditional Christmas tree this year and opted just to use the ornament trees and do them a little differently than last year.  

Christmas dishes

I saw these dishes in Walmart and thought they would make a very pretty Christmas table.  Now, mind you, I have Christmas dishes at home but this is my weakness!  I like setting a pretty table and Christmas is such a wonderful time of the year and I love to have all that Christmas decor out making the house look so pretty.  I searched high and low for red goblets that would not cost a lot and finally hit the jackpot when I happened to find these in Macy's on sale.  They were a little bit more than I wanted to pay but when I got them home, I realized I actually got a good bargain as they are Irish Crystal and not just pretty red glass.  

OK, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DOWNLOAD MORE THAN ONE PHOTO AT A TIME

It said it downloaded all of the photos but is only showing one so I'm still learning......Hopefully, here are the other photos.....

This is our entry way table and the camera and lighting gave it a soft warm glow.  I really like this look.  Below is a close up view. I tried to move it up but it won't move.....grrr.....

Above is the breakfast nook table where I usually put all the dishes to be served for the meal since our dining room table is small and really just has room for the place settings.  

Livingroom Mantel

close up of entry table

Entry way with door to laundry room having the scarecrow on it.

These last two are of Fall decorations I put at the base of the fireplace.  Sometimes I put the birdhouses on the mantel but when I put the glass candlesticks up this year, I liked a cleaner mantel area.

I really don't have a very good home interior decorating gene in me but I try to copy things I see on the web and do a little here and there.  Now furniture and window decor, I absolutely have NO CLUE what goes together and looks great.  I know what I enjoy seeing but making it happen is like learning a whole new language......very hard for me to do!

FALL DECORATING

I've been experimenting with tables capes and have drawn a lot of great inspiration from another blog......http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/p/tablescape-inspiration.html. I don't have a large dining room or dining room table but for the first time in years, we have a house that has a breakfast eating area and a small formal dining room. I like the idea of eating at the dining room table. We use the breakfast nook for just that, breakfast and an occasional project or working on budget papers, etc. I have always liked decorating for the seasons so I've been playing around a bit. Here are a few photos of things I've tried. I've never tried to upload a lot of photos at one time so please be patient as I learn.