I’ve always been a fan of a great at-home bar. I strongly believe it’s a must-learn life skill to mix up classic cocktails, and as an avid host, it’s important to provide an array...
Looking back on Easter as a child, I remember how excited I was to dig through my Easter basket. Full of chocolate bunnies, malt ball Easter eggs, Peeps, golden coins, and my favorite Cadbury...
Lets be honest, salads can be boring. So I’m always trying to think outside of the box to come up with salad recipes that I’ll thoroughly enjoy, but are beyond easy to make. Enter...
Lets be honest, salads can be boring. So I’m always trying to think outside of the box to come up with salad recipes that I’ll thoroughly enjoy, but are beyond easy to make. Enter...
Every year, we hop in the car and drive north to my aunt’s house for an amazing Thanksgiving dinner. Though my Turkey Day plans find me away from home (and without a fridge full of leftovers afterwards), I wouldn’t trade them for the world. It’s always such a treat to visit with family around my aunt’s table, even long after we’ve finished our delicious food and the plates have been cleared.
I’m sure there are many of you like me on Thanksgiving day, and I think talking about dinner guest etiquette is just as important as sharing the tips for hosting the feast itself (check out our Field Guide if you’re hosting!). A lot goes into this day, so showing that you appreciate your hosts’ hard work and tasty menu goes a long way.
I’ve included six ways to be a gracious dinner guest in the slideshow above, and yes that includes offering to help in the kitchen, but not pushing it! Sometimes being a gracious guest means simply accepting that glass of wine and having long-overdue chit chat while you wait on the turkey. Cheers, Kat
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BE ON TIME
COMMUNICATE YOUR TRAVEL PLANS/SCHEDULE AND BE SURE TO ARRIVE ON TIME. YOUR HOSTS HAVE PUT THOUGHT INTO WHEN THEY'RE PREPARING AND SERVING THE MEAL, AND APPRECIATE DEPENDING ON YOUR PUNCTUALITY.
WHETHER IT'S A HOSTESS GIFT BASKET OR EXTRA DESSERT, ARRIVING WITH SOMETHING FOR YOUR HOSTS IS ALWAYS APPRECIATED. WE LOVE THIS GIFT GUIDE ON GLITTER GUIDE FULL OF GREAT IDEAS (AND #3 and #18 ESPECIALLY!).
EVERYONE DOES IT; ASKS WHAT THEY CAN DO TO HELP IN THE KITCHEN. IT MAY JUST BE A FORMALITY, BUT SOMETIMES THIS COMES ACROSS AS AN AGGRESSIVE PLEA. IF YOUR HOST INSISTS THAT THEY DON'T NEED EXTRA HANDS IN THE KITCHEN, SIT BACK AND ENJOY THE COMPANY AND CONVERSATION INSTEAD.
NOT ONLY IS IT TACKY TO BOLT IMMEDIATELY AFTER FINISHING THE PUMPKIN PIE, IT'S A MISSED OPPORTUNITY TO RELAX AT THE TABLE IN CONVERSATION AND REFLECTION ON THANKSGIVING.
TAKE THE TIME TO THANK YOUR WONDERFUL HOSTS AFTER YOU RETURN HOME WITH FULL BELLIES AND FULL HEARTS. THOUGH A GIFT IS NICE, A HAND WRITTEN LETTER WILL ALWAYS SUFFICE.
A few months ago I was asked by Occasions Magazine to create a holiday entertaining spread for their September issue. Any holiday; whatever my little heart desired. So since fall is my absolute favorite it was obvious I would gravitate towards that, but instead of Halloween or Thanksgiving I wanted to create something that celebrated the changing of seasons; a harvest dinner.
The only thing standing in the way of my vision was transforming hot-lanta in the middle of June into a crisp fall day in October. Luckily just outside of Atlanta you can find exactly what I was looking for in the form of a magical place called Serenbe. The day was a scorcher, one for the books. Our gorgeous red cake actually melted and se almost all passed out from heat stroke, but when the sun began to set, the light became perfect and in my eyes something magical happened, harvest happened.
Bursting with fall tabletop ideas I decided to make the table itself the focal point knowing that while this was a celebration of fall the table could easily transition to a Thanksgiving or even Christmas table with a few small tweaks. I wanted the table and seating to feel organic; matching but not matching if you know what I mean.
A lush green garland full of feathers ran down the center, with simple but perfectly layered place settings in warm brown and burgundy tones. Spray painted gold pears held guests’s names and “I’m thankful for” and “I couldn’t live without” cards waited to be filled out. A personal holiday tradition, guests fill out the cards then place them in a bowl. As the bowl is passed around the table each guest pulls a card and reads it out loud. It’s just a little way to get the conversation flowing and most importantly give thanks.
I couldn’t have been happier with how everything turned out. In fact because I have so many images I absolutely adore it’s going to actually take me 3 days to share it all with you. So for today we focus on the table. And if you’re in the area pick up the Florida or Georgia issue to see the spread or read all about it online . And make sure you check out our behind the scenes video. Happy harvest Loves! truly, MKR
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Friends, the day is here! The Final Reveal of another One Room Challenge is always one of my favorite posts, showing the culmination and result of six insanely fast weeks of design and transformation. This go-around, I set out to tackle the Waiting on Martha office in ADAC, a whopping 950+ square foot space to house my growing business and team.
After creating my original mood board with warm neutrals and a wealth of textures, I aimed to make the space feel inspiring and welcoming, but faced the challenge of pulling together such a large space. My solution, then, was to break down the large space into several smaller vignettes—or moments, as I like to call them. The result was an office perfectly designed for collaborating, #GSD’ing and visiting with clients and guests.
To start, the entryway effortlessly welcomes you with styling details fit for an entryway found at home. Everything I used in this vignette is both beautiful AND practical…its mirror, console table, custom stools and statement lamp all serve a purpose by the door and set the stage for the rest of the design.
Compared to past desks you may have seen of mine this desk area is uber clean and very work-friendly with plenty of space to actually work! My modern, clean, and large white desk with our amazing light box (with every changing quotes that resonate deeply) sells this vignette as a strong focal point, anchoring the room and is probably everyone’s favorite part of the space.
In the back corner of the room, I wanted a place for a conference table for team meetings and team meals, but not your typical, boring conference table. So instead I chose a vintage 1920’s Parisian wedding table to give warmth to the meeting space, (story goes, for outdoor weddings families simply nailed together found boards to create these simple, yet stunning tables, similar here). The Society Social accent chairs upholstered in Lacefield fabric flank the table for a punch of blue & white (you know it’s my fave), while simple, modern shell chairs fill the rest of the table. Beneath our feet you’ll find my favorite rug combo; a large jute layered with a faux white cowhide rug. And how could I forget about my new giant print, from Minted?! The photograph captures the juxtaposition between bold and minimalist to a T, and its pretty copper frame compliments the room perfectly.
Opposite our bulletin boards is another massive wall which I lined with two cube shelving units and my ever-growing collection of cookbooks and design books. When styling the bookshelves to achieve the ultimate #shelfie, I ended up flipping the books around so their spines didn’t show. As you know, I hoped to achieve a softer, calmer look to this space and as I was filling the shelves, the colors and titles ended up looking busy and a bit garish. A quick solution was to turn the books around, and arrange them by category (so I still know where to find them!).
Because our job isn’t your typical 9-5’er, our office tends to be a revolving door, which means no one really “calls dibs” on any specific surface. That being said, I knew we needed to designate an actual work space before we all ended up on the floor with bean bag chairs (not that I really hate bean bag chairs). Therefore, I kept it simple by combining two Ikea desks, a couple of killer Mac screens with laptop plug-ins, all tied together with a simple yet statement making Taylor Burke pendant and a piece of art from Hayley Mitchell that speaks for itself. AH-MAH-ZING!
Lastly, while everything shown in the office is beautiful to look at, the office needed a practical storage solution to keep things organized (and fuel our coffee addiction, duh). Enter my handy cabinet and simple wall shelving from Lowe’s. I turned Allen + Roth closet organization units topped with Allen + Roth baskets into a refreshment station and storage closet stowing our office printer, modem, phone, and all that necessary jazz. A sheepskin runner from Lulu & Georgia finishes off the area and adds that bit of soft touch to what could be a colder space. FYI I’ll be doing an additional post in a week or two sharing how this area came together with plenty of organizational tips to boot so stay tuned for that.
Whew! That was a mouthful and it was one heck of a six weeks, but I couldn’t be more thrilled with the end result for the new Waiting on Martha team office thanks to The One Room Challenge! A huge thanks to Linda, House Beautiful, all of the incredibly generous sponsors and Rustic White for capturing the space to share with you all today. Be sure to check out the other participants’ final reveals in the links below, and I’d love to hear what you all think of the design in the comments! Truly, MKR
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