Decorating with Paula Deen

I hope everyone is enjoying their week. I'm enjoying my afternoon very much. I'm actually taking time to relax and enjoy a cup of tea and read a book or two. It feels that I'm always in a rush and my schedule is overloaded with appointments, errands, and responsibilities that I don't take a day off to enjoy the little things that often. Today I'm going to schedule in a little "me time" and truly take advantage of a fantastic afternoon.

This afternoon I decided to sit down and look through my new book I recently came across. It's Paula Deen Savannah Style. Paula Deen and Brandon Branch teamed up together and came up with the most delightful decorating book. Don't y'all just love Savannah? It's such a romantic little destination. My husband and I have had such wonderful trips to Savannah in the past. The houses are so charming and elegant. I'd love to go on a house tour of those hidden Southern jewels. I can't imagine the loads of antiques that dress the walls inside. This book has amazing photography and I believe you'll really enjoy it if your taste tends to be on the Southern side.

After drooling over the pages I suddenly had an itch to decorate my kitchen table. I must tell y'all about my fabulous little table. It's from Spain and over 80 years old. I purchased it from a man I met back in Austin, Texas. He was originally from Madrid and was moving back. The table belonged to his grandmother and he didn't have room to ship it. I couldn't imagine letting such a fantastic heirloom go but snagged it before anyone else could. The leaves fold in and out to create a larger table. Currently I have the leaves folded inside for a short table. I've been serving dinner at the kitchen table since we are waiting for our new dining room table to arrive. Here is my little tablescape for this evening.



The cutlery was given to me by my neighbor. He has a son who will be graduating from college next month. His son just moved into his own place. I remember being that age and feeling quite grown up. It was my first place without a college roommate. I asked if he would be interested in my older set considering we just purchase an entirely new one. When he came to my house to see the set he thought I was selling it to him. I explained that I was giving it not selling it. He was ecstatic. Now his place looks fabulous (especially for a young bachelor). His father, my neighbor, was very grateful and gave me his mother's silverware. My neighbor is around 70 so I'm assuming that it has been in the family for some time. He had it in a box stored up in his attic and told me that he felt I should have it. I told him that he needed to ask his daughter if she wanted her grandmother's cutlery before I would accept such a generous gift. She wasn't interested and so I was one lucky gal. It polished up very nicely and I noticed that it was stamped 1847 Heritage. The pattern I have is called "Heritage" and has been discontinued. The year it was manufactured was 1953. I have the entire collection with serving spoons and the works. I'm very excited!!!



I pulled up their website Hertiage Silverware http://heritagesilverware.com/ and it states that the company creates silver for The Ritz, The Dorchester and Lanesborough for over 30 years.