Patterned Plates

I can't be the only person under the age of 21 who is dizzy in love with Anthropologie's dinnerware. I know it's too early to think about furnishing an apartment, picking out china patterns, and buying silverware...but I'm addicted to the "grown-up" section in Anthropologie.

I can't help exclaiming over each and every accent plate, bread and butter plate, fruit plate, appetizer plate, salad plate, dinner plate, and dessert plate...Even though no two look exactly alike, I find them to be equally appealing. I'm dying to buy a few of the multicolored dishes to use as backdrops in my "foodie" pictures (ha - my photography skills are a running joke around here)...but I think they just may be sensational enough to upstage the main attraction.

Some of them look like watercolor paintings splashed onto circles of smooth ceramic. Many of them are carefully crafted by Parisian artists and have a distinctly French motif. I have a hard time justifying spending upwards of $25 just for a stoneware plate...but what kind of a French major would I be if circular plates painted with petites files, pommes, and papillons didn't just call out to me?  

Pretty Plates, from Anthropologie

However, I stumbled upon another use for slightly quirky, mismatched, and brightly patterned plates: wall decor! I'm much more inclined to buy an expensive plate now that I know it can live out on display instead of just collecting dust stacked in my cabinet. That's reasonable, isn't it? Of course, said plates don't all have to hail from Anthropologie...

I'm thinking about mixing in some of the plates we have at home that seem to have lost their brothers and sisters over the years: a vintage floral plate, a delicate keepsake from Greece, a gold-rimmed china plate from my grandma's wedding, a faded but sturdy survivor from my early childhood, etc. Even lonely plates rescued from garage sales, antique stores, or thrift shops would add some personality and make for a good story (like Joy the Baker's).

Source of Inspiration 1

Source of Inspiration 2

Cute As A Button

After compiling yesterday's post, I must have had home goods on the brain. A quick peek into Target (for an inexpensive card table for my tray-glued-to-a-nightstand project) turned into a lazy stroll filled with several exclamations of oooh look!

Are you surprise to learn that I was on cloud nine in the scrapbooking and organization aisles? Target carries Real Simple's line of planners, notepads, and calendars!

I was equally delighted to find brightly colored kitchen accessories (turquoise spatulas, pink garlic presses, yellow nesting measuring cups, purple colanders, etc.) by KitchenAid in the cookware section. Apparently my thirst for highlighter-esque colors is no longer being adequately satiated by my neon workout gear...

Mom managed to drag me away from the pots and pans by promising me that the beauty department was worth checking out. And since a handful of my favorite tried-and-true nail polishes from Essie were displayed front and center, this section of Target didn't disappoint either.

Essie, from Target

By this point, my initial quest for an unobtrusive folding table had already slid halfway from high priority to low priority. When I stumbled upon the hanging wall decorations, I may or may not have crumbled up the priority list altogether. The last thing I need is more wall "art" - but can't you just see the frame below living comfortably above my dresser?!

New York Traveler, from Target

Any lingering thoughts about staying on track were squatted away like a pesky fly when my mom and I spotted a set of absolutely irresistible plastic plates (for only 99 cents each!). With expressions like "one tough cookie", "spill the beans", "better with bacon", "best thing since sliced bread", and "easy as pie", each one was cuter than the next. We simply couldn't resist.

Appetizer Plates, from Target

Girly Yet Grown-up Garlands

I originally saw this post about Confetti System on one of my favorite blogs: Cupcakes and Cashmere. Emily added some grown-up sparkle and shimmer to one of her office walls by hanging up Confetti System's neutral tassel garland (which consists of a pretty array of silvers, grays, coppers, and creams).

However, after checking out the company website, I fell in love with their brighter multi-colored version which features splashes of peach and tangerine, rose and fuschia, and seafoam and turquoise draped in between strands of silver and gold.

Multi-color Garland from Confetti System

This particular piece of wall decor (which would be called a show piece! around here) is perfect for a soon-to-be college grad like me because:

1. It's slightly reminiscent of the tutus I loved during my ballerina years (okay fine - it's more like weeks...I quit when I didn't like the costume for the spring recital), but the point is that it's more ladylike than childlike

2. It's sparkly (I went through a MAJOR sparkle phase which my mom made no attempt to harness and which is arguably ongoing - but with a little more taste I'd hope)

3. It exudes femininity (which is needed to counteract my running collages and darker framed prints)

4. It's a light and wispy decoration, but it takes up a substantial amount of wall space

5. It's expensive enough not to fall apart in a year and versatile enough to find a new home in my first apartment after college

6. As Emily pointed out, it's cheaper than a good painting

7. There are SIX reasons to justify buying it, which is one over the required five to scoot it out of the emotional, hasty, and impulsive shopping category*

*My purchases used to fall into this category more often not...two mistakes that come to mind: the yellow and white Nike Shox I just had to have that never quite fit and the fluffy Ralph Lauren bathrobe I swore I needed for my freshman year of college (that remained suspended in my closet with its tags attached once I discovered that everyone else was just using towels to cover up on the way to the shower).