A family’s memories are often made around the dining room table, so dining rooms become places of personal history. When we create dining room decor that reflects the history of our country or continent, we further set the stage for honoring a sense of connection to our past. We are reminded of our heritage and traditions. This imbues the dining atmosphere with a sense of honor and duty to preserving things of value.
Such an atmosphere may help instill good table manners in children, and an awareness of their place in a family legacy. They may also develop an appreciation for a bygone era and knowledge about the history of their people. In this way, formal meals become a time machine and educational tool.
For authentic antiques, one must consult an appraiser who can verify the authenticity of the item. However, a person on a budget can create the look of an antique with a few handy trick using stain and crackle varnish, and various other artificial aging techniques.
Antiques are often discovered as discarded items, or at thrift stores and garage sales, so keep your eyes open. You can even find antiques in your family’s attic or basement, requiring restoration, but potentially fabulous show pieces.
Antique dining room decor can be fun to create, as the process will take you on a treasure hunt, and cause you to read about the history of decor. Enjoy your journey through time, and enchant your friends with the old world charm of entertaining dinner parties in a room that rediscovers the art of fine dining and classical elegance.
With wonderful wood furniture, you’ll need a wood preserver by Howard. The Naturals collection provides everything you’ll need to keep your wood furniture looking its best for generations to come. The wood preserver shown here will bring out the luster in your favorite decor elements. The best part? The Naturals line is completely non toxic!
When you follow the Naturals Wood Cleaner and Polish with the Naturals’ Wood Preserver, your furniture will be be gorgeous and protected from the ravages of time and wear. The wood preserver combines vegetable derived ingredients, Brazilian carnuba wax and beeswax with essential oils. This product will enhance the beauty of all types of unfinished and finished woods.
This is great for wood doorways, window frames, paneling, cupboards, and any other wooden house hold items, as well as wood furniture.
While other people are spraying or rubbing carcinogenic chemicals on the indoor surfaces of their homes, and exposing them selves and their loved ones to dangerous emissions, you’ll be showing them a better way. With Howard Naturals line of products, you’ll breathe safely, and the only fragrance will be the lovely scent of essential oils. What better way to freshen your house for spring cleaning? Practical, safe, and pleasantly uplifting, this line is just what you need. The icing on the cake? It’s very competitively priced. There is just no excuse for exposing your family to toxins when the eco-friendly alternative is so affordable.
Packaged in 12 fl oz, these products were made in the USA.
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Do you need a place to focus on one experience at a time, to truly savor the flavor and texture and temperature of life, and help you to be fully present and in the “now”? Do you simply have great taste in decor, and hold Japanese traditional home design in high esteem ?
Harmony In Design has done it again! They’ve brought us just the right furniture piece to complete our room design, and they’ve done it the eco friendly way. Their new Tea Table is made from the same sustainable Mango wood as the Raj meditation chair (shown in the previous post). The petite size and shape of the traditional tea table allow it to be versatile enough for a variety of functions. When not using it for a tea ritual, it can be used as an end table, or coffee table. The traditional round Zafu cushions store neatly under the table when not in use. This is a great help in saving space and in keeping the cushions clean. The table is available in 2 non-toxic waterbase finishes (Natural and Espresso) and the cushions are available with 2 different washable covers (Cream and Mocha). For descriptions of the pillow materials, see the post below this one.
You can feel good about Mango wood products. The mango tree stops bearing fruit after 20 years, and is then a good source of timber. Plantation grown mango trees are a responsible alternative to damaging rain forests. By eating the delicious and nutritious mango fruit and then building from the warm and beautiful mango wood, we do not waste any part of the tree before replanting.
The masterful craftsmanship of this elegant and understated table is truly harmonious. By choosing a round table, you also protect your shins from getting bruised and allow the room’s Chi to circulate gently. You will feel well in a room with such mindfully designed furniture; they help you to reach a state of no mind.
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This table is made from recycled plastic milk jugs that would otherwise be clogging a landfill and seeping into your groundwater. So, if you need a plastic kids table you won’t have to worry about, here is the more eco-friendly option. You can let them paint, color, work with clay, dissect pomegranates, and do anything else you wouldn’t let them do on your favorite wood furniture. It makes a good back yard picnic table too, because you can leave it outside in the elements all year long. Made to look like redwood, this won’t be an eyesore when you look out at your garden. It will blend in beautifully with your landscaping. Your kids will really appreciate this gift. Their legs won’t fall asleep dangling in the air, because this table and bench set is just their size.
This 4 foot long table will never require chemical treatments for weather proofing or insect repellent and it won’t rot, mildew or swell and crack. That’s less hassle for you, and less exposure to toxins for your kids.
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The same company brings you a better way to stash your trash:
What better way to bin your garbage and items to recycle, than a recycled plastic domed trash can with a pretty container made of the same material? It looks like wood to keep your yard and side walk looking good, and it’s made from recycled plastic to keep the planet looking good.
Another win win item from Engineered Plastic Systems.
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Look at this handsome cabinet; what a great Decor item! Made from previously-used white oak wine barrels, this Full Barrel Cabinet on Casters features a stationary storage shelf and removable maple serving tray. The cabinet measures 38″H X 26″ in diameter, and will turn any room decor into a success. Whether your design theme is rustic country, sophisticated elegance, European wine tasting chateau, antique nostalgia, or pirate chic, this is the cabinet for you.
A great storage option that actually enhances rather than distracts from the room’s beauty, you’ll brag to all your friends about how you did the environment a favor by reusing wood rather than cutting down forests. This eco friendly alternative is also a good way to improve your room’s Feng Shui. The circular shape will guide chi effortlessly around the room without presenting sharp corners in any direction. Your shins will thank you for the consideration. Order two, and place them at intervals on opposite sides of a long hallway to cause Chi to flow like a meandering river towards the bedrooms and offices. Verry auspicious!
This design offers platforms for potted plants, and hiding places to stash your secrets. Just turn the cabinet door to the wall, and no one will know it’s there or think to check; after all, it’s clearly a wine barrel (wink). Theives and pirates will never discover your treasures without a map!
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In the dining rooms and banquet halls of exclusive Southeast Asian resorts, you’ll find hand-spun glass. The beauty of the craftsmanship makes it valuable as an elegant decor piece. Natural Home glassware utilizes 100% recycled glass incorporated in this same hand-spun technique, for an eco friendly product fit to serve royaly . In a small artisan workshop, each hand-made piece is drafted from100% post-consumer glass to produce a highly functional work of art, demonstrating the talent of the craftsman. Less waste ending up in landfills is the goal of using recycled glass, and timeless beauty is the goal of the craftsman. Put together, you gain a center piece that will bring you pride every time you see this translucent sculpture displayed. The lovely play of light and color will present any drink you serve in style. The quality of the hand spun accented finish will delight your guests.
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Your table will be an artful exhibit of graceful form when you complete the set with the Natural Home recycled glass hand spun accented bowls and serving platters, both available in different sizes.
Can you imagine how the colors of your salads, soups, and dips will be enhanced by this hand spun glass? Food served from glass tastes better too. Bon Appetite!
Anything presented on such a platter becomes gourmet and more appetizing.
The square platters are available in both large and small. There is also a rectangular design.
Perfect for serving Japanese sushi and sashimi, French cuisine, desserts zig-zagged with melted Belgian chocolate, or for making your child’s first attempt at cooking look better when the family pretends to eat it amidst much praise and adulation.
You’ll love the way light dances on your table and display cabinet when you combine all the pieces in this collection to form a decor set. What could be a more perfect wedding gift for a bridal registry?
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Here’s a nostalgic tribute to your childhood. Memories of the country side, of your mother, aunts and grandmother solving all the worlds problems over a steaming pot of tea at the kitchen table. The ritual, the aroma, the bonds of kinship, hearth, and home, all come flooding back to you when you pour yourself a cup of something hot and sweet from this teapot. It is at once classically elegant and homey, a beautiful display piece for your dining room or kitchen table, and yet sturdy enough to use everyday and put in the dishwasher or microwave. Practical and decorative, this teapot makes any table look as though dressed in a bouquet of roses. Images of an English garden, or the deep south in spring time come to mind when you see this lovely hand painted stoneware teapot. The colors are cheerful without being garish, and would blend well with a variety of room decor color themes. The rosy pinks, light sage greens and hint of amber are so romantic, you’ll want to fall in love all over again.
The teapot is FDA approved, holds 44 oz, and stands 6 and 3/4 inches high.
A great gift idea for house warming, bridal showers, birthdays, and thanking your hosts, this teapot is affordable and beautiful.
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To make this gift even more special, add Octavia Paradise Certified Organic & Fair Trade Loose Tea
The exotic flavor of passion fruit, apricot and mango is delicious hot or iced. Octavia’s Paradise organic tea is rich in antioxidants and anti-aging properties. The loose and colorful tea stays fresh because of the designer tin that holds 4 oz (approx. 50 servings). Only the finest hand picked teas and ingredients are good enough for Octavia, and fair trade is their halmark.
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Beautiful young horses lovingly enjoying each other’s company in the soft pastel spring sunshine –the image is so optimistic it makes you want to go out for a walk and be thankful for the world’s beauty. This cutting board is too pretty to put away when you’re done using it. You’ll want to display it on your kitchen counter or with your china in the dining room. You’ll have more motivation to chop organic vegetables for healthy meals when you’re inspired by the image of these healthy strong young herbivores.
This tempered glass cutting board is easy to keep clean, is dishwasher safe, and has dimensions of 11.5 inches x 15 inches. The cutting board has protective clear rubber feet so that it doesn’t slide off your counter. Made in the USA, the Artworks cutting board comes with an unconditional replacement or refund guarantee.
Country decor starts with images of the country, and this one is iconic. A perfect gift idea for anyone born in the year of the horse in the Chinese zodiac. According to the principles of Feng Shui, the three horses here represent family harmony, and will encourage good family (or room mate) relationships, if displayed where you can see it from the table where you eat.
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