If there is one thing I love in terms of decor, it's a splash of chinoiserie. Around my house I have all sorts of little chinoiserie touches like my foo dogs on the dining room window sill, my giant ginger jar in the bedroom and my beautiful tea jars in the bathroom. The colors, patterns and styles associated with chinoiserie decor add such fabulous and unique dimension to the overall aesthetic of my home. The hardest part of incorporating this particular style of decor into my home has been to refrain from oversaturating my house in chinoiserie, because I love it so much and could very easily get carried away.

Recently Williams-Sonoma debuted a new collection of dinnerware in honor of the Chinese New Year called the New Moon Collection. Of course the moment I laid eyes on the collection I fell in love with every piece! In an effort to avoid getting carried away and oversaturating my table (just like my rule for home decor), I kept my purchase to a single set of the New Moon accent plates. Why the accent plates over the other pieces? These New Moon accent plates are colorful, fun and could certainly transform my table into a beautiful and unique setting.

For this tablescape- I referenced the colors used on the New Moon plates to figure out the best accent colors to incorporate into this table design. For the setting, I chose to go start with these navy blue quilted placemats (similar here). I framed my everyday dishes with my new rattan chargers from World Market. This provided a very neutral foundation to ensure that my accent plates would pop. The gold rim on the accent plates made it an easy decision to use brass napkin rings (which also gave my classic white napkins a little luster). In addition, the gold tray was a natural fit for the base of the centerpiece.

For the flowers- I was all about the yellow freesias. Freesias are in abundance at the store right now and I love their intensely colored stems and petals. To finish off the centerpiece, I situated my rock-cut crystal votives around the base of the flower vase. Votives are a great way to enhance the ambiance at your dining table (and a favorite table accessory of mine). For drinkware- I opted for my highball glasses for water, bordeaux glasses and champagne coupes (why not have a little bubbly at your next dinner party?).

This might be one of my favorite tablescapes for two reasons. The first reason being, I love chinoiserie. The second reason is that I was able to create an entirely new look for my table with the addition of only two new accessories (accent plates and fresh flowers). I think I am most amazed to see how the slightest change can give a tabletop aesthetic a completely new look. I hope this tablescape has inspired you to explore the possibilities for tableware that you might already own. It certainly has inspired me!

I love brunch. I think the reason why I love Brunch so much is because it's my favorite meal of the day (breakfast), but served/consumed at a reasonable hour of the day (mid-late morning….not 6am). Brunch is also a great meal to consider hosting at home for the following reasons:

It tends to be the least expensive to purchase and prepare
Most brunch food can be made ahead and/or baked leaving you with minimal kitchen time during the actual party
The foods/dishes associated with brunch are perfect for serving buffet style

One brunch party idea I love and have used many times over, is the blue and white themed brunch. Blue and white as a color scheme can translate across many different seasons and it works perfectly for me because my everyday dishes are white and my collection of blue table linens tends to be the most abundant. I say this to you all simply because white everyday dishes tend to be what many people have since the color is so neutral and food looks so appetizing on a white plate. In addition, white plates pair well with so many different colored table linens, so even if your blue table linens aren't in abundance to match this post, you may have a large collection of green, red, brown, grey or even white linens that would also pair perfectly with white plates for your own brunch party.

Here is a breakdown of my table decor and where you can get most of the items as well as additional suggestions for achieving this "Brunch-scape."