Right before we started our summer road trip a very special package arrived from our friends at
Ardmore in South Africa, containing table linens, pillow cases and some gorgeous handcrafted candlesticks that I've been dreaming about for months! These pieces are some of my favorite souvenirs from our world trip and now that we’re back in the US I’m looking forward to sharing more interior design and entertaining inspiration with you again as we incorporate these keepsakes into our new home, which is really how this blog began!
A bit of background on Ardmore: during our journey aboard
Rovos Rail, our train stopped in the foothills of the Drakensberg Mountains of KwaZulu-Natal to visit
Ardmore, a ceramic studio creating a magical, dreamlike world through ceramic and textile designs that inspire Hermès scarves and Christie’s has hailed as “modern collectibles”. (
More about our visit here.) The ceramics are certainly investment pieces (one vase I was eyeing was $35,000!) but even more than the ceramics I fell in love with the founder's family,
their ethos and vibrant new line of
home textiles,
table linens and
pillows celebrating the lush landscape, flora, and fauna of the
Zambezi River.
When these goodies arrived I couldn’t wait to style the table for a family dinner. The fabric collections are inspired by and created alongside the artists from Ardmore’s Ceramics, resulting in a explosion of color and cheeky motifs like lounging leopards and exotic blooms. I love the patriotic table settings that come with summer in America, but this set of table linens gave our everyday plates, chargers and glassware a whole new look.
The bold patterns of Ardmore's linens make even the simplest dishes feel special. To set the table I chose this
tablecloth,
mixing and matching napkins from the collection to bring out the gorgeous coral and dusty blue hues. I feel like each piece is a work of art and the
bush bandit napkins are so beautiful they're worth framing in their own right. I pulled out my
classic basketweave dinner and salad plates and used
rattan chargers to frame them against the colorful tablecloth. I love our
bamboo flatware (which is the perfect weight and feels great in your hand) and these
blue water tumblers with a pattern reminiscent of pineapples allude to the tropical theme. Potted plants make wonderful summertime centerpieces and these red begonias paired perfectly with my
Ardmore candlesticks. (Which are one-of-a-kind and signed by both the sculptor and painter who made them!) The candlesticks just happen to coordinate with the linens perfectly, but a silver candlestick would look beautiful too.
I cannot wait for more dinners spent gathered around this beautiful table, and hope this inspires vibrant summer get-togethers of your own!
[show_shopthepost_widget id="3176849"]
Thank you Fee, Catherine, Megan, Jon and all our friends at Ardmore for collaborating on this post!
xx, SF
All photos by Stacie Flinner for stacieflinner.com.
