How to make your everyday breakfast, lunch or dinner table special.

All of us have our “good things” tucked away for those special occasions but I would like to make a case for taking these beautiful things out of storage and using them any day of the week. I know this is breaking some sort of assumed rule, somehow handed down along with the objects, but I want you to try. Now, keep in mind that some of them might break and that is the chance you take. Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

I speak from experience. My sister, her husband and my two nephews came to visit last summer and within less than a half hours time of their arrival, two antique glasses from two different glass collections were tragically broken. I never had boys so I didn’t know how their elbows and knees go everywhere while they play fight and age didn’t seem to be a factor either as one nephew was 10 and the other 18. Okay, pause to let this one go.

Back to my point – food seems to taste better eaten off of china plates and tea more fragrant sipped out of antique cups, turning an ordinary meal into a sensory moment of reflection. A quiet pause in an otherwise busy day. And, as lifestyles change, more people are too hastily discarding these treasures from days gone by so you can easily add to your collection for a modest sum at local thrift and antique stores. Whenever I find linen napkins for sale, I snatch them up to add to my ever-growing collection, using them often, laundered but not always ironed, and presented on a plate encircled by mismatched napkin rings.

Have some fun with this and don’t take it too seriously. Who says all of the plates have to match anyway, think about coordinating instead. While you are at it, why not buy that bouquet of flowers that caught your eye when grocery shopping and place them in your best vase in the middle of the table, in the middle of the week, for no reason at all, except to celebrate a day fully lived in the moment.

Watch the reaction from family members as they sit down around a company set table made just for them. Think of all the practice you will have setting beautiful, creative tablescapes throughout the year, getting you into shape for that holiday table.

And the next time my nephews come to visit, what do I plan on doing? Well maybe second best for that occasion.

ANNOUNCING A CHAIR CLINIC

Do you have an antique chair tucked away in the attic that you inherited long ago and always wondered if it was worth redoing? Do you want to move a special chair to another room but it doesn’t quite go with the décor? Help is on the way. Lisa Laberge Interiors on Route 30 in Dorset is holding a free CHAIR CLINIC on Saturdays in February. Sign up to meet with me and my upholsterer, Dave Santore to have an in depth discussion about your piece. Bring in photos or bring the chair itself. You will come away with knowledge about the inner workings, whether or not it is worth redoing, and creative design tricks to make your piece fabulous. There is no obligation to purchase anything, just two experts who want to share their knowledge, enthusiasm and creativity. Sign up now by calling me at (802) 366-8138.

"The Design Room" at the Southern Vermont Art Center

I recently transformed a gallery at the Southern Vermont Art Center located just off West Road in Manchester, Vermont into a Dining Room setting and it will be in place until December 10th. If you visit, you will enjoy strolling the beautiful grounds of the Art Center and wandering through galleries filled with art. There is also a Cafe to have a leisurely lunch. The Southern Vermont Art Center is a very special place in Manchester.

Design Follows Inspiration
Gallery X is known as the Founders’ Room, and in this dining room scene, the table is set for an imagined "Founders' Luncheon" bringing together a few of the artists and patrons whose talent, dedication and foresight were instrumental in creating this special place "on the hill".
Seated at the Table:
EDWIN B. CHILD, WALLACE FAHNESTOCK AND JOHN LILLIE, who were among the original Dorset Painters exhibiting at the Dorset Town Hall on a hot August day in 1922, setting this particular history in motion. ELSA BLEY, pictured at her easel on the cover of "Art and Soul" by Mary Hart Bort. Ms Bley believed passionately in art education and gave classes at the Art Center as part of the SVA's Art Education outreach. LOUISE RYALLS ARKELL, a devoted patron of the arts and SVAC, honored with the naming of the Louise Ryalls Arkell Pavilion. MRS. HAROLD "PETIE" BOSWELL has a seat at the table as the creator of the Boswell Botany Trail. The outdoor elements in this room are in tribute to her. And, at the head and foot of the table, host and hostess and owners of the house - MR. AND MRS. HUGH WEBSTER.

Eye Candy Decorating

I am a Francophile through and through (Definition of Francophile as found in Webster’s Dictionary “A person who is fond of or greatly admires France or the French”.) Yup, Francophile, that’s me. So, when I recently received an email from Laurent of Teo Jasmin, an interior design company located in Paris, the City of Lights, it caught my attention. The company, founded in 2001 by Angéline Bailly, began by digital printing on wall canvas and then expanded on their range of products with cushions and classic furniture, using the same digital process on them to create amazing eye catching decorative items. I think the photos speak for themselves. Any one of these pieces would infuse a spark of life into any interior. Go to TeoJasmin to see their entire line of products.

DOGGY QUEEN CHAIR
UNION JACK SETTEE

Decorating is a Family Affair

One of my favorite activities as a decorator is to visit a client’s home for a design consultation. I call it an activity because it usually turns into a quick and snappy way to share with the homeowner my first impression design ideas as we sprint together room by room. Sometimes it gets quite strenuous, with the client on one end of the sofa and me, the decorator (sometimes in heels) on the other end of the sofa as we tug and pull it into a more pleasing place. And, more times than not we end up laughing about perhaps the absolutely hideous lamp that Aunt so and so gave them years ago that has somehow followed the family from house to house.

As I leave the homeowner with a long To Do list, I sometimes wonder how much of it they actually accomplish once I leave and the door shuts firmly behind me. Well, in the case of one young couple living in Arlington, VT I didn’t have to wonder long. Shortly after our consultation, I receive these cheerful photos in my email box. They took all of my suggestions to heart and it turned into a family affair with their adorable kids helping to strip wallpaper and paint. They were pleased with the results.

Portfolio of Interior Design Projects

An Unexpected Harbinger of Spring - The Laundry Line

As the winter fades from view and the days grow longer, I turn my thoughts to the laundry line that my husband and I installed at our house in Dorset late last summer.  Our main reason was to do our part to save energy in our household and fight global warming but unexpected things happened along the way.

Faded memories and a bit of nostalgia caught me by surprise as I hung my first load.  Don’t all of us of a certain age remember our mother’s laundry line? At that time, it was the 60’s, moms were still doing all of the laundry and our line hung in the backyard of our house in Brooklyn.  My mom would be out there in the bright sunshine hanging her laundry and chatting with the Grandmother next door, who had just arrived from China and didn’t speak a word of English, but somehow they were able to communicate with each other. Also, the memory of helping to fold the dry sheets - me on one end, my brother on the opposite end, making him bend and walk towards me several times since he was the younger one. And, the sound and clean air scent of linens flapping in the breeze brought back a flash of playing hide and seek between psychedelic patterned sheets.

By hanging our clothes outside rather than popping them in the dryer we have saved quite a bit of money on our electric bill.  According to Project Laundry List found at laundrylist.org, an average household can save $25 on their electric bill each month. Besides saving money they list many benefits that make hanging your clothes on a line worth the effort – clothes last longer (think about where lint comes from); sunlight bleaches and disinfects; clothes and bed linens smell better scented with the real fresh outdoors and not a chemical brew resembling it from a dryer sheet; each one of us in their small way is conserving energy and helping to save the planet; and the pleasure of being able to do a usually tedious household chore outside surrounded by singing birds.

Well, I have to go now bring in the sheets before dark, make the bed, fluff the pillows and jump in – surrounded by the fresh air smell of the outdoors. Heaven.