We had a perfect autumn day to host our family Thanksgiving dinner last weekend. If I hadn’t set the table the previous day, I would have been tempted to move it outdoors.
This table began with the napkins. I’ve had them for a few years and can’t remember the pattern name, but they are by April Cornell.
The deep rust background sets off grey, green and pale yellow shades, perfect for the fall season,
I used old gold chargers as the base, then added Emerson dinner plates by Juliska. Spode’s Home Accents Indian Red salad plates (2006-2008) picked up many of the colours in the napkins; their traditional Imari motifs provided additional visual interest without being too busy.
Spode makes several variations with the four differently shaped blanks, including the Blue Room Garden Collection.
Several years ago, I spotted this particular rendition, Home Accents Indian Red, at an upmarket decorating store in Charleston, NC. The plates were displayed with Juliska’s Graham Green champagne flutes (long discontinued, drat it). That table combination was also my introduction to Juliska. Picture these but in the soft green shades of the glass below.
I was very tempted to use Graham Green Juliska glasses for this table—I use them frequently—but I liked how the yellow Depression glass, La Fleur by Tiffin Franciscan, picked up the yellow shades in the Spode salad plates.
As the table centre was going to be occupied with serving dishes, I left it relatively empty. The large oval Juliska tureen held mashed potatoes. The amber glass compote over to the far left contained cranberry chutney. I added a couple of amber glass candlesticks and some decorative pumpkin small tureens by Fitz and Floyd. And that was it!
I almost forgot – pewter maple leaves in honour of the Canadian celebration held salt and pepper.
In other news, the side hall scullery is finally completed. Many thanks to Tom Shields, the contractor from Home Depot Canada, for his stellar work. With the best will in the world, Tom couldn’t finish until the much-delayed dishwasher arrived. I ordered and paid for it last November, but you know… supply issues, Covid, etc. But here we are! All done and dusted.
I went with dark green cabinets, which added some oomph to the predominantly neutral area. The island unit is almost 11 feet long and contains a single large sink, perfect for soaking greasy roasting pans.
I haven’t had a chance to organise the drawers yet, other than storing the batteries, measuring tape, flashlight, ruler and other valuable items previously stored in the desk the island unit replaced. I’ll do an updated post when I can think through how I want to use this area. I have a professional sized Kitchenaid mixer in the adjacent kitchen, and it’s a touch too tall to slide under the task lighting trim that edges the bottom of the upper cupboards. I’m considering moving it out here and swapping it with the Ankarsrum mixer (fabulous for bread dough).
Clean up after Thanksgiving dinner was very speedy with this secondary area in play. Helpers could get a head start on pots and pans as meal preparation was concluding and the serving bowls were being filled and set on the table. It’s also an excellent area for the guys to gather and prepare their complex cocktails without spreading out over precious counter space in the kitchen. I know it will get lots of use in the coming years as the family continues to grow.
From our house to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy belated Thanksgiving. Your table looked well decorated and I’m sure the food was scrumptious. So nice to have another cleanup area and some helpers. Loved the picture of your beautiful family. The girls are really growing up and all look so adorable.
The girls are growing like weeds. You’ll know this yourself, Maura, with all your grandkids, but it seems to whiz by even faster with the next generation. Maddie is 10! How did that happen?
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. So fortunate to have so many of the kids/grandkids so close.
Dear Helen,
Well, that’s all you really need for those gorgeous plates. They are a bit large for salad (over 9″–Replacements lists them as buffet or dessert; out of stock), but they are really beautiful in any size. I generally stay away from orange, but I’d make an exception for rust/pale amber. Love your scullery! I take it the “cabinet” section houses the dishwasher. My new kitchen is being installed today, and it also hides all the appliances behind “doors.” Much neater and more chic, I think, especially for the fridge. The family looks wonderful; you must have had a nice Thanksgiving!
The plates are quite large and work well for a sandwich with a small side of salad at lunch. I’m with you, Beatrice, not an orange fan, but this shade of rust is quite pleasing.
Yes, the cabinet with the handle on top is the dishwasher.
I’d love to see snaps of your kitchen! How exciting.
We did have a lovely Thanksgiving, despite being informed the day before that our turkey was “delayed” (read, not available, despite being ordered weeks in advance). Which lead to some scrambling around to find a replacement. But we managed to find a fresh one, all 24 lbs of it, so we had plentiful leftovers. I put the carcass on to simmer the same night after stripping the bird and produced four quarts of turkey soup and 5 additional quarts of turkey stock. Nice to have fodder for the freezer!
Beautiful table Helen – love the Graham Green Juliska glasses! How welcome the extra prep/clean-up area must be for you! Oh my goodness, those little girls are growing like crazy! Sounds like you had a great time with family. I’m a bit envious of your weather – it snowed here both yesterday and today, and although didn’t stay, it sure was cold! Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks, Kim. Yes, the girls are getting so big, so fast. It’s hard to fathom.
I’m so sorry about your snow. Bleah!! Way too early! I hope it warms up and you get a nice reprieve.
Such a lovely, warm and welcoming table! I love the napkins, and the yellow Depression Glass pieces are a nice light touch with all the rust tones. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
Thanks so much, Joy! It was a lovely occasion, and we had much for which to be thankful. Wonderful of you to comment.