As Thanksgiving approaches, our minds turn to the art of entertaining. We have gathered some helpful decor ideas as well as tips on the art of entertaining to assist you as you prepare for the feast!

Invites

While it may be a little too late to send paper invitations, its not to late to send a digital invite.  After all, receiving an invitation to an event is always welcome and sets the tone of the event for your guests. There are many ways to send digital invitations.  A couple of our favorites are online services: Paperless Post and Punchbowl.  Both sites are free to use and offer a variety of services: from tracking responses, party planning and more.

Table Settings

Many of us do not set formal dinner tables on a daily basis, so a little refresher may be helpful.  Martha Stewart provides a step by step setting here. You may not use every setting depending on the meal you are serving.  But as she says, “if you learn the essentials of a well-set table, you can apply them or break them with confidence.” (MS)

Image Credit: Martha Stewart

The Final Touches

In addition to invites and setting the table, the other details that go into a hostessing a special event is the decor.  Centerpieces on the table, a welcoming wreath at the door, lit candles can all add to the celebratory atmosphere.  We gathered some ideas to help make your Thanksgiving celebration a beautiful one.  Find links, how to’s  and even more ideas in our Fall Collection on Pinterest.

A well set table {and home} not only looks beautiful, but conveys a warm welcome to your guests and makes them feel special.  It is well worth the effort.

When it comes to turkey, every family is different on their preferences, who cooks it and how or when its served.  Growing up, I hated Thanksgiving because of my sincere dislike of turkey.  It was dry and I would eat a 2″ square bite and I would be set with turkey until next Thanksgiving.  However, while on a trip to Napa, we discovered a secret to the traditional holiday turkey!  Do you want to know what it is?

Brining! Williams Sonoma has a great information on brining here.

Photo Credit: Williams Sonoma

Brining is just soaking your turkey in a solution of water, salt, sugar and spices for a period of time.  This allows the water to enter deep into the meat which gives you the end result of a turkey so moist it juices as you cut it!

You can buy brine or make your own.  I prefer to make my own!  The secret family recipe is below! Shared only with you our dear readers!

Voila!  A beautiful Thanksgiving to you and yours!

We found a lovely dining room (Su Casa Designs) and we thought it would be fun to do a recreation with similar pieces that we offer. Below you will find the gorgeous inspiration and then our “Get the Look” ideas. We think either would be a lovely place to enjoy leisurely morning coffee chat with friends.  What do you think?

Get the Look

Find These Pieces

Woodstock Table |  Herrington Chairs

Stains: Natural Maple for the chair with Blume – Alabaster upholstery

Nutmeg stain on Hard Maple for the table

Welcome to Before & After, a new series on the blog!  We are highlighting customers’ homes before the arrival of their furniture and also after!   Many thanks to our customers who are willing to assist us with this.

This customer had relocated and moved into a new home.  Instead of moving with their old dining set, they chose to order a new set from us.  While they awaited the new furniture, they used a folding table.  Needless to say, once the new furniture arrived it brought the room to life.  Don’t you think it is a beautiful transformation?

Thank you to Margot, for this informative blog post!  Margot is a guest post writer on the subjects of homes and lifestyles.

We are a consumer nation.  Our economy thrives when business and consumers spend more.  What that means over time, is that our homes end up cluttered, disorganized and generally overflowing with too much stuff.  You only have to watch the current slew of television shows about hording, to know that there’s a national pandemic!  You can get organized and move some items to  cheap self storage in order to take back control of your home!

So what can you do to get organized?  Here are some helpful tips:

Elfa Storage System

Clean your closets out at least every 2 years.  Pull everything out and only put back clothes, shoes and toys (both kid and adult) if you have used them or worn them within the last 24 months.  Be disciplined.  You will be surprised at how many things have dust on them from 2 years without use.  Let your unused items make someone happy – donate to Goodwill or the Thrift shop or your local shelter.  This can provide both the joy of giving and provide a tax write off!  There are also things you can do with closets to make the space more useable – closet organizer services like California Closets can come in and provide extra hanging space, drawers, shoe selves etc. designed just for you to optimize space.  This is particularly important when you have small closets.  Or you can DIY and purchase systems like Elfa that allow you to organize closet space in the same way, and offer the added benefit of being able to reconfigure as necessary.

Tackle the Garage/ Attic Space/ Garden Shed. How long has it been since your car has been inside the garage?  In the northern part of the country, this can make for a long winter of shoveling the car out from under the snow every morning!  Each spring, clean out the garage, the attic and the shed.  Donate or throw away anything that you no longer use – old bikes, old golf clubs, that chain saw that no longer works etc.  The same closet organizer services often will design systems for garages.  There are also specific systems for the garage for example the Gladiator line by GarageWorks.  This includes a full size fridge that matches too!  Simple ideas like shelving and racking systems can create a ton of extra space in all your storage nooks.  There are also some cool ceiling mounted racks for overhead storage in the garage.  Don’t forget that even a couple of hooks can help get those garden tools up off the floor.  Make sure to dispose of all the old paint, oil and chemicals in the proper way.  Most Municipalities have household waste disposal facilities.  Motor oil can be taken to a local Auto Parts store.

Organize and eliminate art, craft and other hobby materials as well as old books, CDs and

Clear storage bins

Videos.  Clear containers from places like the Container Store, Target or Walmart allow you to store things, but see exactly what’s inside each container.  They are usually stackable and some come with wheels for easily moving them around.  You can label the front and top of each box (give it a number too) and even make yourself an inventory list of what is in every container.   This information can be entered into a spreadsheet to make it an electronic list that’s searchable.  That’s particularly helpful if you need to find 1995 tax returns in a hurry!  How many CDs do you own?  A drawer full?  Perhaps you can consider ripping them all to MP3.  This will make them much easier to listen to and save a bunch of space.  You can copy all the music into iTunes and then donate the CDs.  Same with your old books now that there’s Amazon.  And are you really going to watch those old videos?  Consider getting rid of both the videos and the VCR!  With services like Netflix and Hulu – there’s really no need to hang onto them.  Just think of how much space you will free up!

Once you have organized your belongings, there may still not be enough space in your home or you may want a secure location for some items like antiques or documents – renting a storage unit may be your final step in getting organized.

We have all been there, a small room and a big dream.  You long to make that spare bedroom an office, guest room or maybe even a media room.  But how to accomplish this without making the room feel overwhelmed and cluttered?  Today we bring you some space saving pieces that can help add functionality without taking up a lot of space.

Now a little about these pieces and how they can help.

1) An Extendable Bench: Instead of having to store chairs for your dining or kitchen table, this unique bench has leaves that can be added as the number of guests increase.  Each leaf is 12″ and these benches can expand up to 96″!  That’s 8 feet of seating space!

2) Sierra Coffee Table:  This piece could be great in a compact living room or den.  It combines the function of a coffee table, with 4 built in seats to provide extra seating for guests!

3) Vertical Wall Bed – Though it may look like your standard entertainment unit, this piece is actually a bed.  It also offers the added storage space of 2 cabinets and bookcases.  Though it takes up wall space, it has the wonderful benefit of a full or queen bed just a pull away.

4) Expandable Buffet: Much like the extendable bench, this piece expands by adding leaves to the buffet top.  Perfect for parties and gatherings, it can expand up to an additional 3 feet.  So a 48″ buffet would expand to 7 feet of serving space.   That’s enough space for 6 chafing dishes!

Check back later for more space saving furniture & ideas to help make your space a beautiful & functional one!

What’s better than a Tuesday pick me up?  These Honey Maple Cookies are sure to brighten your day and the rest of your week.  This recipe is featured in our Amish Cookbook: Cookies and Bars.  The maple syrup brings hints of fall and for those who did not know, September is National Honey Month!  That was news to us as well!

Without further ado, we bring you the recipe!  For those interested in the cookbook, we sell them for $12! Contact me at torie{at}amishtables{dot}com if you would like one to add to your baking shelf!

The Pantone colors for this season are warm and bright, like jewels & gems.  Gorgeous alone and yet when accented with neutrals in coffee inspired hues – what’s not to love?  We took a look around and found the fall colors at play in fun clothes & accessories as well as some fabulous pieces for your home!  With colors this good, who wants to save them just for Fall?

Read the rest of this entry »

Photo Credit: Scott Phillips {Fine Cooking}

Cooler temperatures, Sunday football games, Chili and Pie.  All of these things have been on our mind as the warm summer sun has been replaced by the cool, crisp air that signals fall’s impending arrival.  Today’s post is inspired by two of our favorite fall foods: Chili and Pie.  We put together some decor pieces that we think pair well with the food!  Kind of a backwards look at entertaining!  Wouldn’t it be great if you could change your furniture scheme based on what you were serving?  The two recipes pictured above are also featured below so you can give them a try this season!

Style Guide

Camden Table -  Eddison Bar Stool -  Vintage Chili Bowls -  Monogrammed Pilsner Glasses -  Cloth Napkins

Recipes

Beef & Black Bean Chili -  Sweet Potato Pie

What did you think of the pairings? Did you try the recipes?  Let us know!  We would love to hear from you!

There comes a point in time when in any given room when things could work better.  Of course, over time we acquire new items or get rid of old ones and each room needs to be re-evaluated.  It’s that old motto: “a place for everything and everything in its place”.  Whatever the reason for needing to re-organize, maybe a child going off to college or a really successful garage sale, the question is how to tackle the organizing?  How do you get started?  This is what I did.

Step 1: Evaluate

This is a critical part of the process.  What is the room used for? What needs to be in here, what doesn’t?  What can be donated, re-purposed or sold? Where does the clutter pile up? Take a mental note (or physical list) of this and answer some of the following questions.

1. How can this room stay organized?
2. Where and what are the clutter zones?
3. Where should the most used items be?
4. Do I need additional storage pieces to help better separate un-like items?

By answering questions like this, you can better assess what needs to happen.  Some rooms may just need a little work while others may need a lot!

Step 2: Planning

By answering the questions above, you should have reached some conclusions about what you will need.  Its now time to start planning.  Go online and shop around for needed storage bins or organizing items that will fit your space.  I find that bins in closets and drawers help keep items easier to access and to put away. Here are some of my favorite organizing tools:

Pictured above: 1.) Cabinet Door Pan Lid Rack, 2.) Under Shelf Basket, 3.) Skubb Collapsible Storage Boxes, 4.) Media Storage Boxes, 5.) Hanging Closet Shelves, 6.) Pan Organizer, 7.) Collapsible Storage Cubes

Step 3: The Attack

After securing items you think will work, its time to attack the room you are ready to take on.  Note: Save your receipts as items may not work out exactly as you planned and your space may require another size or completely different item! I prefer to start Friday evening by pulling items out that I don’t want in the room and getting clutter and trash out.  Then Saturday morning, armed with cleaning tools and a large coffee, you can start the project.  Keeping cleaning items at arms reach allows you to do some deep cleaning as you take items off a shelf, give it a good scrub! Once you return items to their places, not only will things be tidy but sparkling clean as well!

Step 4: Enjoy

After your successful organizing, sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Make sure to keep things tidy by returning items to their proper places!