Ordinary Wonderment

Today's Joy: Flexing My Creative Muscles.
Got a chance to indulge my inner decorator today, Reader. One of the things I like most about my job is putting together fun & fresh looks for my customers' homes and for store displays. Decorating a customer's room challenges me to create something that's both gorgeous and practical for life with kids and pets. But store displays are where I can really dive into creative whimsy. Today I whipped up an ice cream-themed table setting with polka dot dishware, bright yellow salad plates, pink and orange spotted placemats and ice cream sundae cookie jars. Okay, it sounds like a nightmare, but it came out all sherbet-y and delightful.

Evidently cow-patterned stuff is big this year. We've got a whole line of cow-themed dishware: bowls, mugs, spoon rests that could double for dessert plates and two varieties of salt and pepper shakers--all with prominent pink udders. Well, we had an extra table top so I decided to do a cow table setting. (When in Rome and all that.) Someone suggested using black leather placemats, which I paired with white-washed scroll chargers, cream dinner plates and cow bowls. Each setting also got a cow mug and cow dessert plate. I topped it off with a centerpiece display of all our cow merchandise. Surprisingly, it was so wacky it was cute! Not my taste, at all. But someone somewhere will come in and rejoice in cow nirvana.

Where else do you get the chance to try out many different looks without spending a fortune? Ah, creative itch scratched.