Setting a Table with Things You Love

The vintage French key I wrote about the other day got me thinking about how I like to set a table. Sometimes, it is just one thing that gets my mind racing about what to put onto the dining table in addition to plates, silverware and stemware. The key was the starting point to this table setting.

A simple dinner for 4. We almost always leave the 150+ year old French fruitwood dining table bare, as we like the look of the natural wood and all the love it has received over the years. The vignette in the center of the table would be nice and low. Since the key was French, I just starting adding other French objects that had meaning, were a similar tone, or I just thought worked with it. The peonies had a hint of red in them, so the red Tiffany bowl would tie that together.

The vintage red-lidded apothecary jars would again bring red to the table, while also working with the vibe of the key and the other things in the middle of the table.

I separated the 2 big bunches of fresh mint I had bought at the Market last week-end, and had them at each end of the table in clear Juliska vases for a little height.

And then those glorious white peonies. They were so big, 3 stems did the trick in each of the vases. The small flecks of red bringing all the red together. But it was that single key that was the ‘key’ element that started it all. You just can’t go wrong with setting a table if you fill it with things you love.