The Lemon Brunch at the Junction

I'm almost positive this has happened to you. You're in the store, something catches your eye and immediately you begin to think of a Tablescape! See, I knew it!
So, I'm sure you will understand how the little napkin rings shown in this post inspired this table setting for brunch.
I was captured at first glance by their little lemons accented by the blueberries. The little green leaves just spoke of spring, and even though I'm no "foodie" all I could think of was blueberries and cream, maybe even some lemon bars. So, home they went with me!

I began with a soft yellow tablecloth

so the deep blue chargers

(which are probably the biggest I've ever seen)

would be a standout anchor.

I then stacked a yellow scalloped charger from CTS, followed by a plain navy blue dinner plate

and a blue rimmed salad plate

from the J.C. Penney American Living collection.

I just loved the pattern of this salad plate, and

although the soup bowl is not from the same collection,

 it accents the pattern quite nicely,

and I love, love, love paisley!

Inside the bowl is a beautiful paisley sprig.

The napkins, also from the J.C Penney

American Living collection

are amongst some of my faves!

To the right is a sugar and creamer

 that has been around for eons -

they are from Crabtree and Evelyn

I think their casual style works well with this setting.

No matchy-matchy here.

 I've tempted the designer gods

and added yet another pattern!

This is my attempt at creative floral design.

Getting those leaves to stay put

was a test of my patience!

I think I must have a thing for pitchers.

If you've visited before,

 you know I seem to have

one to match every tablescape!

Whatever - a girls gotta have a vice

and I just love how it sets off my

inspiration piece - the napkin rings!

Which by the way are from BBB.

In this pic you get a glimpse of

all the accents together.

Another old piece; this butter dish is from

 the Block Country Orchard collection by Gear.

Are you inspired by the little things?

They can sometimes lead to

lovely Tablescapes!

Thanks for dropping in for my take on the Lemon Brunch.

I just love your visits and comments - they keep me going!

This week I will be linking to

Tablescape Thursdays

 at 

Between Naps on the Porch

and

Seasonal Sundays

with

The Tablescaper

Click on the links to the right for more inspiration!

The Junction Porch

Spring arrives when I spruce up the three season room, which  from here on end will be called "the porch".
When I purchased the new china cabinet for the kitchen, and moved my "old friend" out there, I found myself setting it up, cleaning it up and looking forward to the warmer weather. Last week I posted a sneak peek at my old friend - this week, I am posting the entire room. This time with a tablescape!

This is a before picture of the space

 where I moved my old friend.

The metal shelf shown here was always serviceable, but.....

This is my old friend in place.

What do you think? I love it!

Of course, I had to add some of my purple,

green and white dishes to brighten up the space.

Next on my list of spruce ups

 was the corner next to the table.

I tried to give it a feeling of more

privacy by using the dreaded Ficus tree.

I still like them as fillers

 - I know the decorators no-no.

Since it was time to add something

 a little better to that corner,

 I went hunting for just the right screen for that corner.

I found it, but there

was only one problem - it was black.

Easy to remedy - spray paint!

Okay - lots of primer and spray paint.

This is the corner bare.

Now that's better!

And yes, I'm keeping the Ficus tree.

The duckie seems to approve.

A view facing east.

and facing west.

A spruce up like this deserves

 a tablescape to celebrate!

Featured on a Raymond Waites tablecloth with

matching napkins is a mix of dishes.

I combined a Bordallo Pinneiro salad

bowl, a Pfaltzgraff soup bowl, a Target solid purple

dinner plate and finally a Bordallo Pinneiro charger.

A close up of the dish stack.

(Pardon the sun glare)

The floral centerpiece is a silk creation of my own.

It adds color year round, and the pitcher has been

with me for many, many years.

After all that work -

 a break for the lady of the house.

I found this tea set a few years ago

at Cracker Barrel.

 Purple is not an easy color to find.

I hope you enjoyed your visit as much as I have.

This week I will be linking to

Tablescape Thursday, Seasonal Sundays

and

Show and Tell Fridays

Click on the links to the right to

view other beautiful tablescapes

  

Something new in the Junction!

Spring is a time of renewal - and spring cleaning! Room by room, I tackle moving furniture, polishing and waxing to make every inch shine. While I do this, I am making mental notes of what needs to be fixed and what I would like to one day replace. The little green china cabinet in my kitchen was always one of those pieces that was purchased as a "make do until the real thing comes along" kind of piece. It was serviceable and of course, it was another storage piece for my dishes.

Like the 15 years before, as I was polishing up my little "make do" I was thinking of the piece I would one day love to have. The color of the wood and the style. The storage possibilities, the height and width all were well defined. In my mind anyway. My search never turned up quite the right replacement. Afterall, I had grown attached to this little cabinet, and had collected just the right pieces for each and every shelf and drawer.

So there were nicks and scratches on the wood trim.

It was well loved and used. 

 And it didn't cost me a fortune like all of the others I'd seen and considered. It was comfortable.

Then last Saturday, I woke up with what I call a nudge.

Something told me that I absolutely had to take a ride to a local consignment

store I had visited a few weeks ago.

It is one of those places that you have to go into with an open mind, good vision, and plenty of time.

The treasures are there, but you have to search them out. Which brings to mind the old saying -

nothing worth anything comes easy!

 As I turned the corner, careful not to knock over someone elses next treasure, there it was.

Was this here two weeks ago? How did I miss it?

I saw the one that sat behind it and remembered I had dismissed it as I had others that looked too much

like a diningroom piece. But this!

This was perfect!

The size, the storage, the finish, the condition and ladies - hold on to your hats...

the price.

Wait for it .... $199.00.

What did she say? Was that a misprint?

Did she really say it was ....?

Yes I did.

 SCORE!!!!!!!

So I stepped up and bought it.

Like most people living in suburban Central New Jersey,

I drive an SUV. Not Ideal for moving furniture. So, I rent a truck and enlist the help of my Son, and my Dear Patient Hubby - (who now saw this as another one of my adventures)  to get it home and in place.

Finally home. My new love.

 I cleaned, polished and admired it the of remainder

of the evening. Because it is an older piece, it has all of the well built craftsmanship I adore.

Now to get all of this, in there!

Haha.

Done!

 And I love how it looks in it's new home. My home.

Not to be forgotten, my old friend has found a

new home -

On the three season porch!

More on that next time.

Thanks for stopping by today - your visits are so special to me.

I'm linking this week with

Tablescape Thursday

and

Seasonal Sunday

Click on the links to the right, make a cup of tea and

enjoy!

It's Easter in the Junction!

Well the forsythia has finally bloomed, and there are buds on the trees. I guess all that rain and snow was a good thing. Can Easter be far behind? Not here in The Junction!
My plan for this Easter family celebration began in December when my Dear Patient Hubby gave me 8 of the most beautiful dishes as a Christmas gift. As soon as I saw them, I knew I would use them for our Easter table. They did not have bunnies, nor were they really pastel, but for some reason, I knew I was going to use them as a jumping of point for my Easter tablescape.
I had also been inspired by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch to use a moss 'tablecloth' and the Easter 'naturescape' idea took on a life of it's own.

I started with a moss runner.

I found this at Michaels

Not very attractive here, but I was hopeful.

Once rolled out on top of a light blue tablecloth,

it was a little messy. I would recommend having

a Dustbuster on hand!

I also picked up two packages of the

12x12 sheet moss

to cover and fill in

 I chose this as my centerpiece because

it has an antique finish that

appeals to me.

The 12x12 sheet moss was used to cover the

bottoms of the candleholders

And I even filled the candle holder tops with it

to add a cushion for the candles

The little birds on the candleholders

 also look as if they have

some age to them

These little placemats remind me

of Easter Bonnets!

Finally -  here is the pattern of the

Christmas gift dishes

Here is a full view of the placesetting

These soup bowls are not part of the set my

Husband gave me but I thought they

were a perfect compliment to them

The interior pattern of the soup bowl

The pewter napkin rings

also have a spring bird resting on a branch

To the right of the placesetting, is an egg in cup

placecard holder and blue egg shaped

salt and pepper shakers to the left are from

The Christmas Tree Shop

A closeup of the Easter naturescape

centerpiece

Not to be left out, the buffet is also

set for the celebration

I thought Mr.and Mrs. Rabbit

deserved a closeup

Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit today.

I wish you a blessed holiday.

This week I will be linking to

Tablescape Thursday

and

Seasonal Sundays

Click on the links to the right

to view other blogs

celebrating the season