A Time for Gratitude

While gratitude is something I should always cultivate, this time of year, when we’re celebrating a holiday for giving thanks I’m conscious of all that I am truly grateful for. Here is my list for 2020, but I could go on and on.

I’m grateful for and to my family – both the ones I’ve been given and the ones I’ve chosen – you all make my life richer and teach me something every day.
I’m grateful for my husband, Dick – always. For being my friend, biggest fan, and loving husband.
I’m grateful for all of my wonderful, interesting clients. I am honored that you invite me into your homes to help your lives be better.
I’m grateful to all of my trusted vendors, business associates and advisors. You all help me give the best to my clients.
I’m grateful to all of those who help me at home so that I can focus on my work – our lawn guy Enrique, our cleaning lady Magda, and my friend Jim who keeps our house in good repair.
I’m grateful to all of our first-responders and front-line workers who have given so selflessly during this pandemic. May you all be safe and healthy.
I’m grateful for all who serve our country, whether it is in uniform or not, your service is noticed and appreciated.

This has been an undoubtedly tough year for many and my Thanksgiving wishes to all are for health, peace, and kindness. Happy Thanksgiving.

Setting the Perfect Thanksgiving Table

Whether your dinner will be casual or formal, or style your is contemporary, rustic or traditional, we all want to that perfect Thanksgiving table setting for our loved ones to enjoy. Here are some simple tips to help you create the atmosphere you desire without fuss and frustration.

Remembering the Basics
In today’s rush-around world, most of us don’t set the table with all trimmings very often. Here’s a quick chart from Elegant Woman to help you remember the basics for a full place setting:

The napkin can go to the left of the forks or on the plate. And when the table gets crowded and you can’t remember which bread plate or drink glass is yours, don’t feel bad. Emily Post had trouble remembering too. Here’s her trick to remember. Touch the tips of your thumbs and forefingers together with other fingers extended, forming a lowercase “b” with your left hand and “d” with your right hand. The “b” is for bread which is on the left and the “d” is for drink which is on right.

The Centerpiece
The turkey and all the trimmings are meant to take center stage, so no need to get fussy about an elaborately decorated table. That said, it is fun to create an autumn atmosphere for you guests while they wait for the food to be served. That’s simple to accomplish with seasonal floral arrangements, candles, pumpkins and gourds, or other natural elements like pine cones or acorns. These metal lanterns from Crate and Barrel would look lovely with autumn leaves and decorative pumpkins arranged in between. These pretty holiday hurricanes would blend with either Thanksgiving or Christmas décor. Just change out the candles to match. Or this whimsical fruit turkey from 1-800-flowers would likely appeal to youngsters at the table. Your favorite table runner with a simple centerpiece is perfect.

: Crate and Barrel

: Monticello Shop

: 1-800-flowers

The Place Settings
The holidays are the perfect time to have fun with your place settings. Create visual layers with your dishes, napkins and place cards. Don’t be afraid to mix colors, mix shapes and mix textures. This place setting from HGTV using neutral shades and similar shapes for a soft look with a fun twist on the place card. The place setting from House Beautiful mixes in lots of textures with the place mats, napkin rings and scalloped charger. The place setting from Stone Gable creates a lot of visual interest with bold autumn colors and varied shapes. Just have fun with it!

: HGTV Place Setting

: House Beautiful Place Setting

: Stone Gable Place Setting

Check out our pinterest board for more inspiring ideas for your Thanksgiving table. What is your theme this year? We’d love to see your photos! Tag us on facebook with @catherineschagerdesigns.

Make Your Holiday Guests Feel Right at Home

It’s almost that wonderful time again, when our homes will be filled with loved ones visiting for the holidays. Many of us preparing for overnight guests will be struggling with how to provide the perfect haven of hotel-like comfort when we have limited guest room space. No need to panic. Just remember these basics and your guests will feel right at home:

A comfortable place to sleep is the number one priority. If you can provide a good quality mattress with a variety of pillow and blanket choices for your tired guests, you will be a champion hostess to most overnight guests.

Multi-purpose furniture and a little creativity will allow you to provide more guestroom amenities in small spaces. A small table and chair against the wall near the bed with a mirror hung at the proper height becomes a nightstand, a vanity, and a desk all in one. A wall-mounted swing-arm lamp can serve as nightstand lamp, desk lamp and vanity lighting for your multi-tasking table. A chest at the end of the bed can serve as bedding storage, a place for excess pillows to be tossed at night, a place to sit, and a luggage rack.

Keep extra throws available in your living room and if you don’t have enough seating, it’s a good time to add a couple poufs or ottomans so everyone can snuggle in for a cozy visit.

: Faux Mohair Throws from Pottery Barn

: Ottoman from Crate and Barrel

: Pouf from Target

Make room in your entryway for guests to offload their bulky outerwear so they don’t have to pile them up in small guest quarters. Temporarily move some of your less often used items to other corners of the house to free up space if your coat closet is packed full.

Make sure your outdoor lights are working and replace any burned out bulbs so your guests can easily find their way after dark. You might even string up some twinkle lights for illumination. Searching for the door of an unfamiliar home after dark can make even seasoned travelers feel unsafe. Provide plenty of light and you will create welcoming atmosphere right from the start.

If you cover those basics, your guests will feel relaxed and at home. For more ideas on preparing for holiday guests, check out our pinterest boards on Great Guest Room Ideas and Preparing Your Home for the Holidays. We wish you a fun-filled, family-filled Thanksgiving!

Top Ten Things I’m Grateful For…

Thanksgiving is the time when we stop, reflect, and count our blessings. Here are just 10 on a very long list of things I’m grateful for:

10. Working with great professionals in my field.

9. Continuing to learn new things and be excited about each new day.

8. The assistance and support I receive from Barb Tedder and Claire Leaman, who help me run my business. It would be so much harder without their dedication and support!

7. 2014 has been a great year for my business and I’m grateful to all the clients I’ve had the privilege to help.

6. Grand-nephews!

5. Grand-children!

4. The love and friendship of all of our friends, near and far.

3. I’m very blessed to have my parents still with us and doing well.

2. A happy, healthy, and loving family.

And the #1 thing I’m grateful for every single day:

1. My loving and supportive husband, Dick!

Wishing you and your families the very best Thanksgiving and holiday season!

Tips for a Beautiful Thanksgiving Table

Here are some tips for a beautiful Thanksgiving table:

Utilize fresh vegetables and fruits like Pomegranates, pumpkins, nuts in the shell, artichokes, etc. interspersed with fresh seasonally colored flowers for a beautiful centerpiece.

Pick one or two theme colors for the table and collect the dishes, glassware, and table linens that have elements of those colors. They don’t have to match, but if there is a unifying color it will all pull together.

Don’t worry about everything being “perfect” or matched. Some of the most interesting tables mix up different dinnerware. As long as there’s a unifying theme, it’ll look great.
Set the table ahead of time, so the guests can enjoy the beautiful table and anticipate a wonderful meal.
The most important thing at the table: your loved ones. Celebrate the bounty of love and affection that you have for one another and cherish the memories. A chipped glass or slightly over done turkey won’t ruin the meal if your focus is on who is at the table and how grateful you are for all that you have.

I’m grateful for my parents, wonderful husband, two step-sons and daughter-in-law, my niece and my 3 grandsons. Oh yes, and our grand-dog. While we won’t see all of them on Thanksgiving, the memories of fun times we’ve shared will be what we’re grateful for.

Happy Thanksgiving! Happy Hanukkah!

The Thanksgiving Table

This year, I’m not cooking on Thanksgiving. Seems rather strange to have so much free time! Normally, I’m planning the menu, seating arrangements and getting alot of the prep work done for days (or weeks, according to my husband) ahead. See, I love to cook. And it isn’t just the cooking that I enjoy, I love to create a warm, welcoming holiday for my family and guests. It’s all about the love.

That starts with setting the Thanksgiving table. Many years ago when I was a new bride and hosting Thanksgiving for the first time, I asked a number of people for their tips on a successful Thanksgiving. To show you how crazy I was (am), my first Thanksgiving dinner was a dinner for 24 people. Oh, and in a small house. Oh, and I decided to repaint and paper the bathroom 5 days before the big event. Thank God I was really young then. Anyway, one of the tips I received was to set the table the night before- which turns out to be very good advice. You’re not scurrying around at the last minute trying to find the right tablecloth, centerpiece, candles, etc. when the last thing you need to be doing is scurrying. Your guests have a relaxing time when the host is relaxed.

I will usually start to get my presentation ideas ready a few days in advance. I’ll figure out which table cloth, napkins, and candles to use, and then figure out what sort of centerpiece will work with that. I used to get a pre-arranged centerpiece from a florist- which is nice, but expensive and also not as creative as doing it myself. I’ve found some pictures online that you can use as a starting point, and have added some other ideas as well.

White painted pumpkins and squash

I like this collection of white pumpkins (there are actually white pumpkins if you can find them) and white ceramic vases. If you like a white on white kind of scheme, you could enhance it with some white roses or mums tucked in amongst the pumpkins. You could also work with a colored and patterned tablecloth and add in some colorful flowers, nuts in the shell and a few other fruits, like pale apples or pears.

I love the look of mixed and matched china patterns on the table. I’ll usually take one of the dominant colors and use that color as the color for the tablecloth or napkins. Don’t worry about everything matching, as long as you have some sort of unifying color, it’ll all work. Find unusual things to use as vases, like a great water pitcher, teapot, or shallow bowl. Use raffia ribbon to tie up your napkins and tuck a little flower in each one. Here’s a great idea for place cards- using a pomegranate!

Pomegranate place card

Pretty cool, huh? The idea is to create a table that makes people feel that they’re cherished guests, and quite honestly a great looking table can sometimes make up for that turkey that didn’t turn out quite right. All I can say is that for my first hosted Thanksgiving I was grateful for two things; being prepared with a pre-set table, and having my Mom nearby! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!