in the forest

Vintage, chippy, shabby, country French, antiques ..  in the forest is today’s theme. 

My mom used to say ..”it makes me sad” to see you use your Grandmother’s china.  Now she thinks differently.

Live in the moment

The flowers from the forest, a newborn kitten, an old french table (oh how I’d love to know who owned this piece years ago!) and my Grandma’s dishes.  It feels so good to feel the dirt beneath my feet and the sting of a thorny blackberry vine.  This is life ..here, right now, unfolding in a peaceful, beautiful way.

The table is from the French countryside.  It was an Annie Smith find that I bought from her years ago.  She’s wildly famous now, and I can’t believe I have a few of her pieces! It’s a funny story how this came to be.  One day I picked up a magazine with one of her first kitchen remodels.  In the back of the magazine was her name and a phone number.  So I picked up the phone and called the number.  Guess who answered?  Yep, you guessed it and the rest is history.  She was so sweet and I feel honored to have met her back in the day ;)  Anyway, we had a leaf built in and then I sanded the whole table down and painted it white.  The chairs arrived white and the seat covers are fun to use when I feel like dressing things up.

The beautiful china was given to me by my Grandmother.  Back in her day, it was common for the bride to receive a full set (service for 12) of wedding china.  When I say full set I mean a separate plate for each course, so that’s a lot of dishes!  Rather than keeping the dishes in storage for fear of breaking them, I use them all the time.  It’s not my nature to have items that are off-limits or reserved for guests only.  Yes I’ve lost a few but I know that my Grandmother is watching  and smiles whenever I use them.  The detail on the dishes is so pretty and I love the way they look on my French table.  I added monogrammed linens and blackberry branches mixed with local flowers (compliments @firstandbloom) to create this gorgeous organic tablescape. The sweet kitten belongs to my daughter.  If you follow me on instagram, you know the story.  Her name is Summer and she is a rescue kitty.

Thank you for visiting me today!  These beautiful photos were captured by @missy.palacol  and the beautiful flowers come from @firstandbloom.  I am so thankful for these two wonderful ladies for helping to create this heart-felt post.

Keep up with what’s happening on Lemon Grove Lane by following along on Instagram!