Dining at Hawthorne

January 31, 2015

20150131-044034.jpg It has been quite cold and a good bit snowy, just what we were hoping for on this stay. I head into the city this morning for the show. Mister Sive and Bailey are entertaining 2 friends that arrived last evening. They are old college friends of his from Hamilton. They asked me at dinner last night if I always know what I am going to write about when I wake up. I responded with a sometimes yes, and a sometimes no answer. This is what keeps me energized and having fun with the daily posts–the variety of not always having it planned out. One of the things I get the most response from readers from chats at the shops is when I post images of our home in New York. I think that is in part because so many of you have been reading along since we bought Hawthorne coming up on 2 years ago in July. You have been with us as part of the journey. I love that! I had thought I would do a large post at the end of our stay on how the rooms are progressing. Homes evolve over time. We are learning how we live in each room. How things flow. Today I woke up and thought I would write about our dining room. So instead of doing one long post later, I will parcel them out a bit. A dose of Ghent green here and there. The above image taken the other day when the house was still heating up and the windows looking out into the valley were still somewhat frosted over. We purchased 2 identical galvanized metal top long dining tables. We really liked the flexibility they provide us. One lives in the dining room, the other lives out on the back porch that has the fireplace, so we can have a meal out there, as well. We can place the tables side by side in the dining room and seat a huge group. We can place them end to end on the porch and also seat up to 14 fairly comfortably. We can also lug them up into the field and have a dinner party alfresco. We can use a tablecloth, or not. The metal legs fold so they are easy to transport.

20150131-050223.jpg For dining chairs, we decided we wanted variety. All the chairs we have purchased work together, but they also work apart. They work as dining chairs, but they also work in the living room for extra seating, on either the front or back porch in a pinch, as well as outside when the weather is nice. Again, flexibility was key. We love mixed sets of chairs at dining tables. It is something we do in Seattle and at WestWard too. Tablecloths add visual interest, so we are working on finding ones we like so we have a mix to draw from. This linen beauty above, was a gift from Pam at Watson Kennedy this Christmas. It is from a newer line we carry. It launders beautifully, and ironing is an option but not necessary. We like the non-pressed casual look for the country. It is heirloom quality, from a several generations old family run company. We had initially bought just the napkins, so it is such a treat to have one of the tablecloths.

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20150131-051251.jpg We chose a vibrant shade of green for the dining room. The assorted green glassybaby and Little Shirley vases an homage to Seattle while we are here. As is the piece in the gray frame on the wall that used to live in our living room at The Gainsborough, which is of a ferry with cars being driven on for the next crossing. The dining room opens into the kitchen. It is fun to cook and have guests sit and chat while we cook away. We use the counter in between as a sort of buffet for serving when we have a large group. When I return back from the city next week, I will shoot some images of the kitchen. You get a glimpse of it in the below image. It is not large by any means, but is incredibly efficient. It is a space we have both taken to since day one, and love cooking in it. There you have it. Bon appetit!

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