The end of January is here. Hooray! We’ve already gained 50 minutes of light since January 1, and that process is speeding up. During February, we’ll add almost 3 minutes a day. How’s that for something to smile about?

To celebrate the burgeoning light, I put together this sunshiney table with black and white accents. 

Golden tulips, pale yellow button carnations and green spider mums jostle each other for their moments in the sun.

Provence Noir by Royal Doulton has been one of my January go-to tablewares for many years. Discontinued in 2010, the set comprises several different black and white design elements all accented with soft gold.

I’m particularly partial to the black background floral pattern.

I think my next favourite is the lively black & white check. The other two elements are the white background floral and the subtle gold and black stripe.

I’ve used the dinner plates on several tables including Chillin at Christmastime, 

and Penguin Skate a couple of years ago.

Five Penguins, One Down

Don’t you love a basic pattern that you can dress up a whole bunch of ways?

The gold jacquard napkins are from Pier 1 a few years ago. Oh so French, to go with Provence Noir.

I played around with several different glasses but found that my trusty amber-stemmed Depression glass seemed to hit the right notes of richness and plainness. The amber stem provides some visual interest and picks up the gold tones, and the clear bowls are light and airy. As I may have mentioned before, I have a rather motley collection of this stemware. Below are the water and iced tea of 7517 Amber (Etch 36) by Morgantown. 

These two are the water glass (used as wine) of  7617-1 by Morgantown and the iced tea of Julia Amber (Amber Stem and Foot, Stem 15011) by Tiffin Franciscan. Three slightly different patterns but they all shake down together fairly well.

The amber glass compote is from Wisteria Antiques in Brewster, MA. It joined the amber glass party several years ago.

A table of eclectic patterns, but a unifying colour scheme. Whatever works, I say!

The plain white open salts with a ruffled edge added to the texture.

They look pretty happy with themselves, don’t you think?

It’s always a treat to set a cheerful table when the winds are whipping around outside and the thermometer is dropping like a stone.

The flowers lasted for days, which is a bonus. Button carnations rank right up there with chrysanthemums for “serviceable”, to quote Miss Jean Brodie.

A happy table makes for happy diners.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone. Welcome, February!

I’m sharing this post with Between Naps on the Porch and The Scoop.