It’s almost that time of year… when family and friends gather, prepare delicious food, and sit down together to give thanks for all their blessings. I am the first to admit that serving dishes and colorful plates are not the most important part of this holiday. However, I do believe that food tastes better when it is displayed well and that hand-crafted pottery is the perfect pairing for hand-crafted recipes. With that in mind, I’ve put together a guide to setting a beautiful Thanksgiving table.

#1 Size: Be sure the food fits the dish.

The first consideration in how to set a beautiful Thanksgiving table is the size and shape of your plates and bowls. You want to choose ceramic serving dishes that fit your food comfortably, with plenty of space for hands to pass the dish or serving spoons to rest within it.

#2 Color: Show off your food.

While often overlooked, the color of the food is an important determining factor when deciding in which plate, platter or bowl it should be served. You want to highlight the food and make it look it’s best, which usually means serving it on contrasting colors. Here are a few examples:

Cheese Plates

I love adding grapes and dried fruit to a cheese plate, both for the visual effect (adding color) and to balance the richness of cheese. The Tuscan Fruit Platter (below) is perfect because of its hand-painted fruit motif, which supplements whatever you serve on it by adding a backdrop of fresh fruit color.

Yams or Sweet Potatoes

Colorful foods are always the easiest to make look good. The most important thing to keep in mind with especially bright and colorful food is to serve it on a plate or in a bowl that allows its color to really stand out. If the serving dish is too colorful itself (whether in a different or similar color), the food will not stand out. For bright orange yams, I opt for a white background so the color can really pop. Here are too great options: Gorky Gonzales’ El Mar Platter (seen on the right) and Ceramica Valenciana’s Rectangular Platter in white (below). The El Mar Platter has always been one of my favorite ceramic serving dishes because of the unique shape and subtle decoration around the edge. In this case, the complimentary colors of deep blue in the glaze and golden orange of the yams play off each other perfectly. Yum!

#3 Style: Whether sophisticated or casual, pick a style and stick to it.

You can pretty much tell by the collection of pieces I’ve curated at Emilia Ceramics that I usually opt for a relaxed, laid-back style. But there are definitely events (Thanksgiving being one of them) when a more sophisticated style is in order. That’s why I love Gialletti Giulio’s plates. They have a grown-up, fancy look to them, but still maintain their hand-painted authenticity. You can literally see the brush strokes that were applied by the Italian artists who made them. But they also offer a lovely white backdrop for your meal. And there’s a variety of designs, which look great mixed and matched together or used separately.

My favorite style for dessert plates is subtle, yet fun and festive. The Spanish dessert plates (below) by Ceramica Valenciana are my ideal, because they work regardless of whether you’re serving pie, cake, brownies, or fruit salad. They are delicate, charming, original, and stylish. These plates are perfect for serving all ages and really showing off whatever dessert you’ve prepared.

Other great dessert plate options are Richard Esteban’s fun yellow plates with various center designs, from cars, dogs, fish, and birds, to more festive polka-dots and stripes, these plates are as sweet as any dessert imaginable. For a more refined, grown-up look, Gialletti Giulio’s more basic plates with stripes are a lovely backdrop for apple or pumpkin pie.

Do you have any special tips for how to set a beautiful Thanksgiving table? We’d love to hear them, so please share in the comments section below.

While the month of May brings many things – warmer weather, the end of the school year, Memorial Day getaways, and summer vacation planning – the most important is probably the celebration of mothers. But what’s the best way to communicate our appreciation and gratitude to those special women who gifted us life? While many kids and husbands tend to defer to the typical stand-by’s of flowers, brunch or jewelry, we recommend taking a moment to consider what would best support her and her unique lifestyle.

Outdoor Enthusiast

For the special mom in your life who would prefer to spend her free time outside, your gift opportunities are plentiful. Maybe she’s longing for a weekend retreat to the great outdoors, in which case, you could make the trip possible or buy some supplies for the experience. Need some ideas? REI suggests a list of ways to incorporate nature into the celebration.

If backyard patio time is more her style, you might find the right gift item amongst our Garden and Patio pieces. You could consider making a date to take your mom to the nursery and then surprise her with a planter, (the Round Paloma Planter is a personal favorite). Or if gardening isn’t her thing, try this one-of-a-kind Gorky Gonzalez Hurricane Candleholder – she can enjoy it on the patio all summer long.

Crunched for Time

If the mom you have in mind spends her days rushing to and fro, the gift of relaxation is always appreciated. Gifting a massage or pedicure encourages her to take a moment for herself, when she can leave her worries behind. Another way to pamper the hard-working mom in your life is to cook her dinner, clean her car, or anything else that would make her day easier and more enjoyable.

If you’re looking for a tangible gift for the mom with too much to tend to, consider common-sense items, such as the Deruta Oil & Vinegar set, a set of Blue Stripe Mixing Bowls, or a Large Pomegranate Pitcher.

If it’s just too hard to predict what she will find useful, an Emilia Ceramics gift card is a no-fail option. Then she can decide which beautiful piece she needs and wants most.

Dinner Party Host

Thankfully, there really is no way to go wrong when picking out gifts for the woman who loves to host. We’ve written in previous posts about considering an individual’s personality when gift giving, but it’s also important to remember her décor style. Here are a few of our favorite collections for those who love to have party guests:

• Hostess Gifts

  

• Gifts for Wine Enthusiasts
• Holiday Serving Dishes

Separate from these collections, a few of my favorite entertaining items include the La Fiesta Round Serving Dish or a set of the Little Square Plates in Blue.

Whether the special woman you’re celebrating this May fits into one of these categories or not, we expect you’ll find any number of relevant options here. We’ll leave you with just one reminder – spend a little time to find something that suits her unique personality and she’ll know just how much you care.

Near the start of every new calendar year, Pantone – an authority on color – declares a symbolic ‘Pantone Color of the Year.’ According to Pantone, the color of the year serves as a “snapshot of what [we] see taking place in our global culture that serves as an expression of a mood and an attitude.” A few examples of recent colors of the year include, Cerulean Blue, Mimosa, and Honeysuckle.

In December, Pantone announced the 2017 Color as Greenery, (or for those with design prowess: P 15-0343). Representative of life and new beginnings, Pantone Color Institute Executive Director, Leatrice Eiseman, speaks about Greenery as denoting the reconnection we seek with nature, each other and our larger purpose.

Whether or not you resonate with the symbolism, you can definitely appreciate the hue. In this post, we help you think through designing with the Pantone color of the year. Below, we’ll explore the color psychology of Pantone’s Greenery, and offer suggestions about how to integrate it into your home.

The Expression

Color psychology is the study of how hues relate to human behavior and the inconspicuous ways they influence perceptions. If you pay attention to your subtle response when you enter a room, you might notice feelings of comfort, excitement, security or any number of other reactions. Believe it or not, the dominant color surrounding you in any space has an effect on your mood or spirit.

Psychologically speaking, the color green is synonymous with liveliness, growth and renewal; not dissimilar to what the color physically represents when it shows up in nature. It is believed that green offers a sense of health, prosperity, tranquility, and even fertility. Being in a predominantly green space could even relieve stress and prompt healing.

Think about the spaces in your home, and consider the rooms that might benefit you, your family, or your guests by your prompting these types of reactions.

Clever Color Combinations

In addition to offering us the official color of the year, Pantone also presents pairings that work well with Greenery. Before you get to designing for this Pantone color of the year, you can reference these recommended hues to determine what room might offer the most opportune palette for incorporating the color green.

To complement the green and yellow mix of this year’s color, look to cooler shades, such as blue-greys in ranging tones. Pantone suggests colors like Periscope, Lead or Nimbus Cloud. You can also look to other colors of nature, such as neutrals and warm creams and beiges, to which Pantone suggests Sheepskin, Brown Rice and Buttercream. See the below suggestions (I’m a fan of the calm it down pallet) or for more color pairings, look here >>

How to Incorporate It

As spring approaches, I’m beginning to take a fresh look at how I can reinvigorate my interior. A color like Greenery, especially at this time of year, can inspire so many ways to integrate green, (and as a result, the feelings of health, prosperity, and tranquility) into the home.

The most significant change for you might be a wall color change. Though if you’re not in the mood to make this type of commitment, consider an accent wall or accent décor. For those with a green thumb, visit a nursery and invest in some living accents for any room in your home.

When it comes to accent décor, why not add some liveliness to your home in the form of green ceramics?! Here are a few of my favorites:

• Verduras Vase by Talavera Vazquez
• Lime Green Milk Pitcher by Richard Esteban
• Cucumber Long Platter by Gorky Gonzalez

This year I’m looking forward to less spring cleaning and a lot more spring green-ing!