Thursday, January 27, 2011

Chanel-inspired Tablescape

As promised, this post is dedicated to the thought process behind choosing design details to a tablescape, specifically the Chanel-inspired photoshoot. With any design scheme, you want to have a starting point with your inspiration. Although a specific brand like Chanel might appeal to you, the word alone can only get you so far. Choose just a few of your favorite elements that you want your design to embrace. For me, I was drawn to the pearls and signature color palette of Chanel. And, I'm naturally a fan of varied textures. That was a great stepping stone to creating the non-floral bouquets....which in turn created a wave of inspiration for the rest. So, let me walk you through some of the detail of the table and give you a glimpse of the method behind the madness.
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Colors: Generally speaking, this is the second thing I consider after I choose a theme. The blush pink is so iconic of Chanel, it only made sense to throw it in the mix. How you distribute the color is a completely different issue for a different post.

Textures: Personally, I am a huge fan of keeping color palettes simple and playing up the textures as much as possible. Let's take the color black for example. Although this particular spread of pictures from the shoot don't show all the textures within the color, I'm going to explain them.The tablebloth is a button taffeta with hundreds of mini bunches throughout the fabric. The chair sashes give off a raw silk feel. Even the napkins are a different material in black tweed. Don't be afraid to use fun textures because they will add so much elegance to your table.

Accents and Details: Pearls played a huge part as the accenting item that was woven throughout the shoot...loose pearls on the table, strung pearls on the arrangements, pearl necklaces draped on the chairs, single pearls in the lotus pods and even pearls as napkin rings.

Another thing to consider is how the accents are applied. I wanted the chair sash and pearl necklace to reflect how a woman might accessorize herself. The napkins were folded in a way to reflect a woman's silhouette and the pearls/rose napkin ring served as a stylish belt. Be thinking about your table in terms of your theme in all the details. Trust me, those details will bring magic to a table!

I hope this was helpful to you. And I hope that you were inspired to be inspired! Happy designing!

And FYI, this shoot was also published in Singapore and Russia. Check them out!

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