It’s Tablescape Thursday over at Between Naps on the Porch.  Perfect timing for my newest creation, a hand painted table runner. 

I’ve always wanted to play around and get creative with fabric paint.  Spotting a few bottles of metallics at Michaels last week and some very pretty beads, I decided I wanted to personalize a table runner for my small Thanksgiving crowd. 

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There’s something about June that makes me long to dine alfresco with friends and family. I love to bring tablecloths and tableware outside, and sit awhile as the sun goes down. We dine later, we drink chilled white wine, and we enjoy the fine weather.

Here is a glance at some clippings from my inspiration file. These all draw me to the table in some way or another.

All you need is a simple tablecloth and napkins on a plank picnic table, united with some colored glass, and a bowl of fruit to linger long under this tree.

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Last week, I posted some of my favorite dining spaces. Here are the rest of the images I’ve collected over the last few years.

House Beautiful, December 2008: Perfect blue walls and Chinese Chippendale chairs, paired with a dark wood table and floor, an elegant console and simple drapes. Photo by James Merrill 

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Yesterday, I featured my woefully inadequate dining room space, which is a work in (slow) progress. For inspiration, I turned to my magazine file of my favorite dining spaces, and scanned them for your eyes only. Now if my dining room could look like any of these, no one would ever remember what food I actually served.

You will notice that I lean traditional. However, my personal style is less Architectural Digest, and more Better Homes and Gardens. Yet I constantly peruse and collect copies of Traditional Home, House Beautiful, Southern Accents, Decor, and Remodel magazines to dream my little dreams of someday adding extra glam to my little dining room corner.

Here are just a sampling of the many images I’ve collected. (All efforts were made to acknowledge the photographer, if known.) These pictures are so lovely, you’ll be glad I’m featuring Part Two next week.

House Beautiful, April 2008: Such a calm color scheme, and a great mix of chairs. It could just be the light, but it appears that the chandelier and picture frames are a champagne color, which is noticeably softer than gold or bronze. Photo by Francis Janisch

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