EASTER IDEAS FOR ENTERTAINING & EGG DECORATING

As Easter approaches this weekend, which color palette do you prefer for your Easter table? Will you do pinks and yellows? Will you go for Robins egg or China blues? Will you go with a hue variation from Pantone's color of the year - Radiant Orchid? Or will you keep it simple, pure, white and natural? From inspirational pictures, tips, details, menu ideas and even Easter Egg Decorating ideas to inspire and help you celebrate Easter, visit the blog Hadley Court today to read my guest blog post:  - Easter Entertaining + Easter Egg Decorating: Preparing for A Gracious Holiday. Here's a peek at what you'll find...

 

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Lovely Lavender table ideas...

 

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Relaxed outdoor Easter Brunch ideas...

 

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Ideas to welcome guests at your door...

 

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Using your favorite collection for a Formal Easter table...

 

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Beautiful blue table ideas...

 

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Easter Egg Decorating ideas... and more.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you 

enjoy my guest post at Hadley Court.

Dinner Party Hosting Tips To Help Guests Feel Welcome - My Guest Post @HadleyCourt

You’ve decided to host a dinner party, but you don’t know where to begin? You want to make guests feel welcome, but you’re not quite sure of the right way? For my guest post in the Hadley Court series, Celebrating Gracious Living, I put together & share my top tips for being a gracious host / hostess and making your guests feel welcome in your home for a dinner party - in Hadley Court style. The key to hosting a dinner party is planning – every last detail – and by doing so, plus being able to relax and enjoy your guest when they arrive, you will help put them at ease. Your guests will feel comfortable and welcome in your home. Since blog Editor Leslie Hendrix Wood lives in Midland Texas, and they do a lot of formal entertaining, Leslie wants to help her readers with these guidelines to reference - including even Organizing Your Kitchen Tips, which guest contributor Jessica Gordon Ryan wrote, and also goes hand in hand with my post today. You can read at The Gracious Dinner Party – Top Tips For Making Your Guests Feel Welcome at Hadley Court today. Here's a peek at what you'll find...

 

Being the gracious & elegant host / hostess...

 

Decide whether to cater or cook the dinner yourself...

 

Apply my previous guest post in the Celebrating Gracious Living series, 

Top Tips for Setting a Formal Table...

 

See how lighting creates ambiance...

Tips to host a relaxed Outdoor Dinner Party...

 

About Hostess Gifts and parting favors - these show gratitude...

Visit Hadley Court today...

 Thank you for stopping by...

NOTE: image 1, image 2, image 3, image 4, image 5, image 6

How to Set A Formal Table - My Guest Post @HadleyCourt Interior Design Blog -

Have you ever wondered how to set a formal table? Today, Leslie Hendrix Wood of Hadley Court asked me to pull together guidelines and inspiration on how to set a formal table for your next social gathering. From an Easter brunch, to hosting a dinner party to planning a wedding event, I shared  detailed information, inspirational images and informative charts on the the art of setting a formal table setting. In Midland Texas, which is where Leslie is located, they do a lot of formal entertaining. By sharing all of the details of setting a formal table, the post will help inform and inspired ~ I'm grateful to Leslie for hiring me to write this blog contribution for her blog ~ I learned a few tips too in pulling the post together and I know I will never look at a table setting quite the same again!

 (all above images from Eddie Ross.com)

Besides my Top Tips For Setting A Formal Table, I also included links to creative napkin folding and ideas for setting up dessert using a bar cart or buffet. Don't miss the wine chart showing which wine glass goes with which wine, what temperature to serve it at, and what foods to pair fine wines with - perfect for most any social gathering, whether formal or casual - and also helpful to choosing the stemware for your table setting.

How often do you set a formal table where you live? Do you have any other tips for formal table etiquette to share? After reading my guest post, please be sure to leave a note in the comments on Leslie’s blog, HADLEY COURT. 

"Thank you, Lynda, for the lovely words and images that follow and for helping Hadley Court’s readers understand more about the art of gracious living."

 You're very welcome Leslie - and I hope you, the readers, also enjoy the post plus take-away tips as you are organizing and planning for upcoming special occasions and family celebrations for the new year ahead.

Thanks for stopping by...

HomeGoods Holiday Highlights - First Blog Link Party!

With all the hustle and bustle happening this shortened holiday season this year, you still need to take a moment to just stop and take it all in. When you have the time (make the time!), grab a cup of eggnog, coffee, or glass of wine and enjoy some of the highlights from the FIRST blog link party by HomeGoods  - hosted by Courtney of French Country Cottage. I was grateful for the invite to participate, and I got to join in on a wonderful blog link event. There are REALLY some amazing home tours, decorated rooms, tablescapes, and holiday projects to pin - some tours are so incredibly perfect, you'd think it was a vintage boutique shop! Speaking of pinning - after visiting all the links (I think it's up to 299 now!) I pinned some of the best tours and tutorials to a board called HomeGoods Holiday Highlights. I still have a few more to pin, but you can click to view most of the highlights here: http://www.pinterest.com/nyclq/homegoods-holiday-highlights/ and take a peek at a few here...

 

 #51 Jennifer Rizzo - Holiday Home Tour 

 

#121 Music Sheet Decoration @ Confessions Of A Plate Addict

#170 2013 Holiday House-Walk {Welcome To Our Home} @ Jeanne Oliver

 #203  2013 Christmas Home Tour @ Hymns and Verses

#266  DIY Christmas Twig Wreath @ Confessions of a Serial DIYer

 

 #290  New Years Eve Tablestyling: Silver Black & Gold @ Focal Point Styling

 #299 Christmas Mantle Plaid Christmas Stockings @ The Styled Soul 

 

From the host - Courtney @ French Country Cottage

 Make Time For Joy, Give Love‬ and ‪‎Share‬ this holiday season... be sure to visit the Design Happy blog on the HomeGoods site for many more ideas, links and posts shared... BTW: Thank you HG for featuring my Christmas Bedroom, in a post about how to get a bedroom guest room ready in 3 easy steps!

 

Thanks for stopping by and happy decorating!

Note: This post is sponsored by HomeGoods and the Happy By Design project. All thoughts and opinions are of my own.

OUTDOOR LIVING FOR FALL

Autumn is all about embracing nature, the harvest and layering rustic elements into beautiful tablescapes and decor. Before the winter chill and before the snow starts to fall, take your indoor rooms outdoors: create engaging gatherings around festive tablescapes, snuggle in your favorite plaid blanket, sip wine with friends, or even enjoy s'mores with your family around an outdoor fireplace. Welcome friends and family to your home with a simple fall festive entry made up of a mum filled urns, dried corn stalks, or perfectly placed  pumpkins on the stoop. Besides experiencing outdoor living for fall at home, this is also the best time of year for families to experience local parks with a picnic, a walk through the golden Fall leaves or enjoy a friendly game of chess. Read more about embracing outdoor living for Fall on my guest blog post today at Hadley Court - Gracious Outdoor Living for Fall.

 

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 Embrace nature, the harvest and rustic elements as welcoming accents to layer into your tablescape... 

 

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  Take advantage of the beautiful Fall weather to visit your local parks... 

 

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Experience the 'Pure Joy' of outdoor living for Fall now, before it passes you by in the blink of an eye...

For additional Fall inspiration, see my boards on Pinterest:

AUTUMN INSPIRATION and OUTDOOR LIVING

 

While visiting Hadley Court, also be sure to see my previous guest blog posts...

Trend Meets Tradition: Chesterfields

Trend Meets Tradition: Black Lamp Shades

Classic Styling at High Point Market Fall

Thanks for stopping by...

CLASSICS ON TREND: CHESTERFIELDS

Are you searching for a new sofa or looking for a way to merge his & hers style into your interior space? A style you might prefer is the Chesterfield. The classic Chesterfield has been popping up more frequently as the premiere sofa of choice for living spaces, and also as a means of adding tufted texture to a space. The Chesterfield, a more masculine sofa primarily used in a smoking room or library was once only available in brown or black leather, but now manufacturers have made available in colors such as red, lavender, blue, chartreuse, and even yellow. A softer approach to incorporating this tufted titan into your home is to go for a neutral linen, especially for a French chic interior, or stay tried and true with vintage worn leather - perfect for a mancave or family room. Below is a peek at how to incorporate this traditional statement piece into your home. For additional inspiration and tips to incorporate a Chesterfield into your home, please visit the Hadley Court blog to view my Guest Post: Trend Pin Tuesday: Tufted Chesterfields...

 

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Merging & Mixing Design Styles

Feminine & Masculine plus Traditional & Industrial elements into a space...

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This warm and approachable room by Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo is an excellent example of not only harmoniously merging opposing design styles (traditional + modern + rustic) it also exemplifies a well collected space for today's lifestyle  and features a Chesterfield in white.

Bentley Churchill | 357-03 Fabrizio Sofa | Made in the USA | 500 Colors Available | HPMKT

 For more image inspirations and manufacturer information about Chesterfields, please visit the Trending Now: Chesterfields board on Pinterest. If you missed my first guest blog post last week with Hadley Court, you can view at: Trend Pin Tuesday: Black Lamp Shades.

 

 Leslie Wood is the founding editor of the award winning blog, Hadley Court and Leslie also works as an associate for Chancellor Interiors. Be sure to also visit Hadley Court to see Leslie Woods' Top Picks from the Fall High Point Market coming up later this month.

Thanks for stopping by,