
This submit is in partnership with Ballard Designs
In immediately’s submit, you’ll discover new photographs of my house and the way I’ve styled it this week, together with 5 house adorning concepts so as to add heat, character, and allure to the areas the place you collect.
You’ll additionally discover:
A fairly collage
A easy adorning tip for a sensible and fairly centerpiece
Inspiration for setting a relaxed, welcoming desk with a mixture of dishes and linens
A number of the basic items we’ve collected from Ballard Designs over time!
Whether or not it’s an informal get-together, Sunday supper, an important day, or a vacation meal, our eating room and kitchen are the place so many household reminiscences are made.
Making our house really feel heat and welcoming is one thing I realized from my mother. She’s at all times taken such care to make each gathering really feel particular, creating reminiscences of house that stick with us lengthy after the event has handed.
I’ve come to understand {that a} welcoming house isn’t nearly how a room appears, however the way it feels to be there and the experiences we share.
Fast Word: Don’t Miss Ballard Designs Eating Occasion!
Now by way of October 19, Ballard Designs is having their annual Eating Occasion, with as much as 60% off Eating & Kitchen Furnishings, Serveware & Tabletop, plus 20% off every little thing else, together with Clearance.
I really like every little thing I’ve ever purchased from Ballard!
Store the Ballard Designs Eating Occasion


Listed below are 4 methods we’ve added heat and character to our personal gathering areas over time:
1. Swap lighting so as to add heat and character
After we had been planning and ready for the renovation of our kitchen and eating nook, one of many first issues I wished to order was our eating mild.
Swapping out builder-grade lighting that lacks character (and even simply altering lampshades!) is one thing I’ve achieved in each house we’ve ever lived in.
Lighting is a type of particulars that may immediately add heat and character to an area. It’s additionally a chance to precise your personal type!
The lighting over a eating desk turns into a memorable point of interest, too. I at all times advocate placing overhead lighting on a dimmer each time attainable so you may create simply the proper temper for on a regular basis meals or particular gatherings.


2. Combine and match chairs for a comfortable, collected look
The subsequent items I ordered for our eating room after the renovation had been two of those Parsons chairs from Ballard Designs (together with two completely different units of slipcovers, which I nonetheless have and love!). These are the black ticking stripe slipcovers.
We’re nonetheless utilizing our secondhand eating desk, but it surely’s the mix of wooden tones, textures, and slipcovered chairs that provides our eating nook the comfortable, collected-over-time feeling I really like.
The combination of chairs provides character and continues to serve our household properly. And since nothing has to match completely, we will simply add or swap chairs and slipcovers each time we would like a bit of change!
Every little thing I’ve ordered from Ballard Designs over time effortlessly mixes with the items we’ve already collected and cherished in our house.


3. Add a captivating stool or two to make room for everybody
I’m an enormous fan of stools you may transfer round or pull as much as a dialog.
We waited years to seek out simply the proper counter stools for our kitchen, however these charming ones had been well worth the wait!


One will keep in our little “stool area of interest,” whereas the opposite will sit in opposition to the wall, including character to the room even when it isn’t in use.
Each can simply be pulled as much as the counter as a bit of perch for somebody who desires to maintain the cook dinner firm, assist put together a vacation meal, or just get pleasure from being a part of the dialog.
They will even be introduced into one other space of the house after we want an additional seat.


I’ve at all times felt that having just a few additional stools sends a welcoming message: there’s at all times room for yet another!
To make ours even comfier, we added cute tie-on cushions.
They really match the black ticking stripe slipcovers I purchased years in the past, so though every little thing is combine and match, it in some way appears like we deliberate all of it alongside!


4. Select serving items which are each fairly and sensible
One factor I really like about gathering round a desk is discovering little methods to make the expertise really feel particular, even when the event is straightforward.
That features centerpieces!
For serving a gaggle, I believe a Lazy Susan within the heart of a eating desk (and even on a buffet for appetizers or desserts!) is such a enjoyable and sensible concept.
This one is attractive and glides so easily.
I really like when serving items are usually not solely useful, however develop into a part of the expertise, too. A centerpiece doesn’t should be a flowery bouquet that’s simply there to look fairly!


This week I styled our desk with sensible centerpiece for serving our salad: an attractive mango wooden bowl, a classic pitcher for dressing, and these charming handmade “Partridge in a Pear” salt and pepper shakers.
We might simply add in snacks, bread or different issues we wish to serve.
It’s so useful to spin the Lazy Susan round so everybody can attain what they want, and it makes sharing meals across the desk a bit of extra enjoyable, too.


Wouldn’t this candy pair additionally make a darling present for a marriage or housewarming? I really like them a lot. They’re fairly and sensible!


5. Set a Relaxed, Welcoming Desk
Mixing and matching dishes, placemats, and napkins creates an informal, collected feeling that places everybody comfortable.
These quilted placemats are so delicate, and so they layer fantastically with our desk and dishes. I even have the impartial linen napkins, which go along with every little thing in each season.
For a simple seasonal contact, you don’t even want a visit to the florist. Simply choose up one thing fairly from the produce aisle or farmers market!
Pears, pumpkins, apples … all of them look lovely on a desk, and you’ll eat them, too!


A hand-crafted for gathering, season after season
I believe that’s the fantastic thing about making a heat and welcoming house. It’s not nearly selecting fairly issues to take a look at, however discovering items that make a room extra snug, welcoming, and satisfying to make use of.
Over time, the furnishings we acquire develop into a part of the backdrop for therefore a lot of our household’s on a regular basis reminiscences and traditions.
Simply as my mother taught me, it doesn’t take a flowery or elaborate event to create lasting reminiscences.
Generally the only issues—a comfortable place to take a seat, a welcoming desk, acquainted dishes, and the folks we love gathered round—are what we’ll treasure most.
And people are the moments value making room for, season after season.


Now by way of October 19, Ballard Designs is having their annual Eating Occasion, with as much as 60% off Eating & Kitchen Furnishings, Serveware & Tabletop, plus 20% off every little thing else, together with Clearance.
Store the Ballard Designs Eating Occasion
It’s a beautiful time to seek out items for fall gatherings and vacation internet hosting — or just create a eating area you’ll get pleasure from gathering round all yr lengthy.


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