Welcome to our August Pinterest Challenge hosted by my friend Cindy of County Road 407, and if you are new to my blog, French Ethereal, a hearty welcome to you! For all of my friends and for everyone stopping by from Lora B. at Create and Ponder, I’m glad you are back for a visit.
This month’s Pinterest Challenge is all about creating a coffee table display gathering ideas and inspiration from a beloved Pinterest photograph. Let’s check it out, shall we?
Yvonne who writes at Stone Gable created this lovely tabletop display on her gorgeous wood coffee table. Don’t you just love it? It was part of her summer home tour this past year.
Let’s look at this coffee table in more detail:
Yvonne has an old packing crate used here as a tray to corral a fun grouping of objects. The warm woods of the tray, the gorgeous coffee table itself and a woven basket down below bring in a nice warm wood-look ~ perfect for that transitional look from summer to fall.
Yvonne also used three pieces of white stoneware which lighten up this tabletop display: an Italian pitcher holding those gorgeous hydrangeas from her yard, a small white vase topped with a sweet boxwood ball and a white acorn finial.
The finishing touches are three burlap-wrapped books used to add height for the boxwood vase, a metal mixing ball, and a polka dot insert for the bottom of her tray.
Florals and greenery bring in a nice touch of nature to this coffee table setting. My coffee-table display looks very different but still uses many of the same elements.
Florals and greenery bring in a nice touch of nature to this coffee table setting. My coffee-table display looks very different but still uses many of the same elements.
Here is my tabletop display again:
Whites are always part of my decor ever since I made slipcovers for these two sofas and painted this coffee table. I looked through my collection of baskets as I was going for a wood-themed basket to gather my collected pieces. I had already used the white tobacco basket in our spring Pinterest Challenge and again when I created another summer coffee table display for the 4th of July.
And since I do have an old crate but it’s buried somewhere in our garage at present, I looked instead to my tea cart where all of our silver and tin serving pieces are stacked for another way to corral my goodies!
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| LOVE this photo! It was taken late in the day with the sunlight streaming through our back living room windows. A mirror project piece is in the background waiting to be fixed (previously moved out of today’s photos). |
That’s the beauty of finding a photograph of something you like on Pinterest is that you can adapt it to fit your style and what you already own. I like an English and French country style so this is what I normally look to do.
It’s not always necessary to go right out and buy something new though I certainly love to do that, too. Just look around your home and pull in pieces from your home decor stash and begin to build your look.
🙂
The elements I pulled from our inspiration photo were having a tray to gather some of my elements, using whites and wood in my tabletop decor, and adding bits of nature and a few books for height.
The coffee table adds its wood look with the two 1/4″ thick birch luan wood inserts replacing broken glass from long ago plus the table itself is painted carved wood.
Here I’ve brought in pearly white Sarah’s Garden tea cups from my Wedgwood tea set, a gift from my husband for Mother’s Day one year. I’ve paired them with my Royal Winton’s Welbeck teapot bringing in pops of yellow and some much-needed florals.
Two interior design books by favorite authors, Charles Faudrée and Courtney Allison (who writes the blog French Country Cottage blog), plus an English flower press bring in the stacked look and add lift to my father’s retirement present, a life-size American Goldfinch crafted by renowned Fairfield, Connecticut wood carver Dave Farrington.
My gardening gloves were over in the laundry room as they are freshly cleaned (I’d pulled a noxious poison ivy weed with them!) so I added them here for even more nods to nature.
For a bit of metal candle holders in sparkly gold and ombré were brought in. Inside are two pumpkin-scented tea light candles which will scent our home nicely as we move into fall next month.
Since I was going for a late summer-early fall look, I brought over the bee skep pillow I found at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center summer-sale in June, and added the pumpkin pillow found at HomeGoods during an end-of-season sale last fall with its bright pops of teal.
These two pillows round out the look I wanted with repeats of yellow, a look of golden grasses and a bit more florals. They also really complement the chintz flowers in the Welbeck teapot and tie everything together in this early fall coffee table vignette.
A quick recap:
Although my tabletop look is different than the inspiration photograph, I’ve carried over all of the same elements of the Stone Gable coffee table with the use of whites, stoneware, florals, woods and a bit of metal. The use of all of these elements together create a nice balance and welcoming coffee table look.
How will you use this to inspire you in your home decor?
Many thanks again to Cindy of County Road 407 for hosting our Pinterest Challenge and I hope you’ll stop over and visit Paula at Sweet Pea who is next as well as the other ladies on today’s tour. Please come back by if you don’t have time to visit everyone today ~ the links will be here!
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Barb, your table looks so pretty! I love the added touch of the gardening gloves…it contrasts quite nicely with the teacups and teapot! Hugs!
I'm with Benita I like the addition of the gardening gloves. It adds more whimsy with your setting.Cindy
How amazing!Thanks for such inspiration!Best wishes.
Your coffee table looks beautiful, Benita. Your teapot and tea cups are beautiful patterns.
Barb your coffee table display looks so pretty. I love that you used a silver serving tray with your decor pieces. All of the items fit perfectly together. Love your table!
Barb, I love your sweet English style! It's very pretty. And the throw pillows definitely add elements of Fall.
I think my favorite part is that you used the entire coffee table for your display. It's all so pretty and sweet. And I totally agree with that photo with the light streaming in across it. So beautiful! Thank you for joining in. Love your entire room with those subtle touches of fall.
Love that bird statue you used (I love birds)… and that photo looking into the fireplace but focused on your tea service is really good! Thanks for hopping with me! 😉
Absolutely beautiful! It's French perfection!
Oops! Forgot to mention – Pinned! 😉
Very pretty Barb! I adore the romantic European look you created. I also am enjoying seeing how your home has really come together. It looks so pretty!It was fun joining you for this challenge. Have a great rest of the week!
Hi Barb! Your table looks beautiful and perfectly ready for tea time! I love how you put your own spin on the coffee table vignette. I can tell it's full of items that have sentimental value, too. I'm happy to be on this hop with you.
Barbara, lovely vignette using the tea set with the silver tray. The little bird is a sweet and whimsical addition. I know you have to happy settling in to your new home.
Always love to see the romantic spin you take on these challenges, Barb! You brought such pretty elements to your scene and really made it your own. Love the addition of flowery pieces!
It's absolutely beautiful, Barb. I often find I like the inspiration pieces less my style than the re-dos and it's the same here. Your tea set is so lovely. Very pretty and romantic!
Even simple elements can become a wonderful decoration for our coffee table. A little imagination and inspiration will allow to realize such unusual ideas.