Dishing it Out: Transitioning Your Table from Summer to Fall

I was perusing the web looking for inspiration for a blog post. I hopped over to one of my favorite websites, ElleDecor to see if there was something that might inspire me. I have been talking, and thinking, a lot about fall. We have had a few lovely cool and rainy days that allowed me to temporarily pull out the denim and cashmere. How nice it felt to slip into a pair of soft and faded jeans that hugged my body and curves in just the right places. How nice that soft sweater felt! Shortly we will be transitioning our wardrobes to reflect the colors and temperatures of fall. I will do the same with my home. (Lilly Lemontree and Housewife Bliss will be my guests here shortly with there expertise and exceptionally wise ideas.)

Today our New England temperatures will rise a bit. We'll not be sweltering like our sisters in the South or in Texas, but we'll don our shifts and sundresses again. As my wardrobe needs to transition seamlessly from summer to fall, so should my home. Bright citruses and pastels seem oddly out of place as we approach September.

My initial thought was the color orange. As many of you know, and I have written about my love affair with orange in the past, I am passionate about this color. Orange, and it's many hues, seems to be the perfect color to transition us from the hot summer sun to the cool, crisp autumn breezes.

This was the color scheme I had in mind.

Really, is this not the perfect fall palette?

And so I started scouring the internet for ideas as to how to perfectly transition my dining room and dining room table...

I saw this plate and thought, how perfectly autumn! (From 101 Plates, Sunset Blvd.) This plate has that above-mentioned color scheme that I so love and I think is so perfect for this time of year.

So I perused the web some more, stopping here and there at the Hermes website to oggle and drool a bit. Oh what fun I had! How sad to have the tastes of a billionaire and yet no income!

This setting could transition seamlessly from Spring to Summer to Fall... 

I'd love to have you all over for dinner. I will bring out my finest china for you!

We will begin with a light, warm soup from this elegant terrine along with a perfect crisp and crunchy baguette. Immediately after...

We will go ahead and enjoy a nice salad. I'll have picked some fresh arugula from the farm down the road coated lightly with a dressing made with oil and lemon and some freshly shaved Parmesan to grace the peaks.

And then dinner. We'll have perfectly roasted cage-free, grass-fed hens served with fingerling potatoes lightly sauteed in fresh herbs, garlic and sprinkled with just the right amount of sea salt. I'll serve my famous roasted Brussels sprouts. Please do not turn up your nose until you have had them! I cook them to perfection. Lightly coated in olive oil, salt and pepper, I roast them until they turn brown, slightly crunchy and deliciously sweet. You'll ask for a second helping!

After dinner, you will have to make room.

I'll bring out these smashing teacups. Since I am dreaming I won't have minded paying close to $350 a pair! I will fill them with a nice strong espresso for your pleasure.

And then I will complete our gastronomic adventure with the most wonderful apple pie around! It won't be homemade, though mine is quite excellent, I am told. It will hail from another farm about a mile down the road. And while I am there picking up their scrumptious apple pie I will decide, on a whim, to pick up the most amazing boutique vanilla ice cream showcased in their freezer. There is no other quite like it! 

After dinner has been served I will carefully slide the apple pie from it's tin container onto the beautiful plate above... On second thought, no I wouldn't. I couldn't bear to cover up that beauty and dirty it with crumbs and ooey-gooey apple pie stickiness. No, that is quite something I could never do. Instead I would hang it on my wall so that all could enjoy the view!

I would be lying if I didn't tell you I got a little distracted along the way. With my little eyes I spied the perfect fall accessory for my family room... It would look lovely hanging over the rich chocolate leather couches... It would look even lovelier hanging over my shoulders!

In the corner, over by the fire place, I'll hear my cell phone ring. I left it in my bag. I reach into my absolute most favorite bag and retrieve the phone and listen to the message. My good friend wants me to join her and some other girlfriends for a glass of wine. Can I go? I jump up, fold my blanket back up and head upstairs to freshen up, brush my hair and put on my jewelry.

The watch is the perfect fall accessory. Looks wonderful with my camel-colored cashmere cardigan, faded denim jeans, and the orange bag, of course!

Before I leave, I quickly toss my Hermes Leica camera into my purse. You never know when a picture needs to be taken!

I'm just about done with my post and my wonderful reverie when my eye catches sight of this wonderful and perfectly fall place setting... I could let my imagination go on and on and on but decide not to.

And what sparked this delightful reverie in the first place?

This place setting...

Right from the ElleDecor website.

This easy and elegant table setting comes from no other than JCPenny!
For just $45 The 16-piece place setting won't break your bank account either.

With many thanks to Hermes in letting me indulge in a little daydream!
And Alice, you were in my thoughts the entire time I wrote this! XOXO