A Summer’s Day to Night in a Multitasking Space
This post was sponsored by Terrain. All photos & opinions are my own.
As is the case in most smaller homes, every space here — whether indoors or outdoors — multitasks. Here’s a glimpse of the most frequently used, and most versatile, spot on our porch:
Above: Reclaimed Work Table with drop-down sides.
By day, this is a potting zone, largely open to the elements, but shaded from the hot sun via the reclaimed pine ceiling (and blissfully protected from the mosquitoes thanks to the screen). Come evening, this is a conversation bar — a spot where we can gather with neighbors and friends to connect and brainstorm without disturbing the kids in their shared bedroom off of the kitchen.
Above: Cotton Tablecloth + Stargazer Strands
As usual, this area is comprised of a mix of thrifted, hand-me-down, and repurposed items. Everything is supported brilliantly by an expandable recycled + reclaimed potting surface from Terrain. The table’s combination of two drop-leaf sides and a back rack with shelf make this design particularly friendly for smaller spaces in need of increased versatility. (It would be a wonderful piece for a deconstructed kitchen.)
Above: Slip-on clogs (made from recycled materials) by an adjustable secondhand stool.
I customized the table by attaching a secondhand tension rod paired below the built-in shelf to create a spot for hanging tools and linens.
Above: Watering Can + Cotton Tablecloth
Above: Garden Carry-All Basket + Snips
I also added a small, thrifted towel rack with repurposed curtain clips to the face of the table for a spot for hanging our family’s gardening and work gloves.
Above: Eartha Pedestal Planter and a thrifted towel bar turned into a rack for my Long Gloves and other garden + work gloves.
The end result is a spot that can easily transform from utilitarian work zone by day to a hosting zone by night, regardless of the weather.
Above: Optic Glassware + Solar Lamp
Here’s to making every space count — inside and out.
Above: A Copper + Brass Tulip Sprinkler watering the upcycled garden space just beyond the porch.
Traditional Yet Informal Holiday Hosting
Creating a festive holiday tablescape in a small home or garden.
I can’t remember the last time we hosted… perhaps late November of 2019? Regardless, I’m eager to get back to it. In the meantime, I’m resharing this informal-meets-traditional tablescape I created for Food52 during a live broadcast, in the hopes it’ll provide some ideas for folks who are entertaining in small spaces this holiday season:
A Traditional-Meets-Informal Holiday Table
As a way of showcasing some informal-meets-traditional tablescape ideas for this holiday season during which we’ll be sheltering-in-place, Food52 invited me to do LIVE broadcast in which I styled this lil’ vintage garden table at the cottage for their online community. Photos below:
(Click here to view the IGTV LIVE video via Food52.)
A Living, Over-the-Table Display of Fall Foliage for a Festive Occasion
Post Summary: How we created a space-saving, over-the-table canopy of real branches and flowers in celebration of the little one’s 4th birthday.
Time continues to boggle my mind— our little one turned 4 this week.
I believe this was the first year that he really understood the concept of his birthday. But, of course, it’s also the first year in which a proper party was out of the question due to the pandemic.
We pieced together a simple but festive celebration, replacing hugs with FaceTime calls (sigh), balloons with branches, wrapping paper with household linens (view more photos of this in last year’s birthday post), and a traditional cake with what I imagine must have been the world’s actual biggest donut.
Above: A child’s blanket designed by our friends, New Darlings, doubles as wrapping paper.
The birthday kid helped me create an arrangement of living fall foliage and sunflowers, which we picked up during a swift, masked visit to the flower market.
We used this adjustable, over-the-table system to frame the space-saving display.
What I appreciate about this design is that it consumes no tabletop inches, but instantly creates usable vertical space for a dynamic visual when paired with greenery, hanging lights, and/or decorative accents.
I use zip ties sparingly, as they’re single-use plastic, but I admit to using a handful for this display.
We’d run out of floral wire, as Adam uses it to train the cherry tomatoes on the grow porch, and twine couldn’t support the larger branches.
So the zip ties came to the rescue, making the process faster and much more secure— helpful, given that a (4 year old!) child was actively participating in the creation process.
An hour later, we had a cheerful little spot to quietly sing West a birthday song and attempt to make a dent in that enormous donut.
It was the activity more than the finished product that my son clearly relished the most. Brushing each other’s hands as we reached for the same magnolia branch, our sincere deliberations about where to place the prized sunflowers, and our cartoon-like exclamations when parts of the arrangement tumbled off the rods and crashed to the floor before being properly secured.
When the display dries out later this week, we’ll disassemble it together and tote the greenery to the compost and green bin via our fold-up wheelbarrow, which he loves to hitch a ride in once it’s empty. I vow to indulge him on every wobbly ride he requests— even when my back is sore and I’m behind on work. Time is boldly reminding me that my little one is swiftly becoming not-so-little, and that he won’t fit or delight in our sweet wheelbarrow rides forever.
