Linen Snob » Accents

That’s a Wrap! Holiday Gift Wrapping + a Contest

Jesse — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 17:32:05 +0000

We absolutely love Remodelista’s recent blog about the careful presentation of gifts – this holiday season or anytime, really:

Gift wrapping is one of the easiest ways to personalize a gift. In Japan, the art is known as tsutsumi. In Kunio Ekiguchi’s book Gift Wrapping: Creative Ideas from Japan, tsutsumi is described as the “gentle concealment” of the object. “Just as one helps a friend into a coat carefully and courteously, a gift should be wrapped tenderly and conscientiously.”

We take gift presentation seriously at Table Top & Home and do it the old-fashioned way. We start by covering our boxes with a beautiful embossed paper. Then we place a sticker logo sealing the inside tissue and tie each gift with a real grosgrain ribbon. Each gift has a gift enclosure card, completing the perfect presentation!

Contest alert! We’d love to see your most beautiful wrapping job this season. Post a picture of your masterpiece to our Facebook page and you just might win a holiday treat of your own!

Heirloom to be: Match Pewter

Jesse — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:24:19 +0000

You know we love Match pewter. On the sales floor and online, Table Top and Home staff can be found extolling the form and function of pewter. First, it is handmade by artisans in the north of Italy. I guess since the stuff has been used to make functional and decorative objects since, oh, 3000 BC, pewter is pretty much the bees’ knees. Rest assured: each piece of Match pewter is made with an alloy that is food safe, lead-free, FDA approved and requires little or no care. Today Match Pewter continues time-honored traditions that have been passed down through generations of craftspeople. The hallmarks on each piece are the signatures of their skilled hands. The classic forms harmonize with both traditional and modern settings and its warm reflections evoke celebrations at well laid tables. Put simply: an investment now equals an heirloom later.

As part of our seasonal gift-giving ideas, Lauren chose this Match cocktail shaker and martini glasses. Mixing a drink couldn’t be more perfect in these beauties, right? This is the gift to give to those who cherish the art of spirits and who showmanship behind the bar are worthy of these drinking treasures. Cocktail shaker measures 4″ x 8 ½”and martini glasses are 8″ high. Imported from Italy. Glasses offered as a set this season. Please call the store if you would like to purchase the individual pieces (425.454.7322).

Check them out on the web by clicking here. Stop by the brick and mortar Table Top and Home store in Bellevue to hear us rave in person!

Game On! Weekly Web Giveaway at Table Top & Home

Jesse — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 16:26:38 +0000

In the coming weeks, we are going to have some fun with our holiday shopping lists: staff members and customers alike will submit their hardest gift-giving challenges to our floor staff who will then come up with the perfect gifts for the holiday season. It’s like having a personal shopper, people. What’s more, you just might win some great stuff!

Would you like to play? Answer a few questions (see link below) and we just may profile you on the blog and/or facebook. You’ll also be entered to win a prize in our new Weekly Web Giveaway, starting next Friday!

So tell us: who’s the hardest-to-please on your holiday shopping list? For playing along, you’ll be entered in our weekly give-away. And if we profile you, you’ll totally get something, too! How fun is that?

Don’t forget: the pre-season sale is hopping online and in store. Our guests are taking advantage of the 20% on everything from luxury tableware and lines to our fun and always-classy home accessory selection. And back for 2011 is our staff picks for gift-giving. Everyone had a say this year and let me just say that if ANY of these items found their way to me this season, I’d be very happy! Remember, your online discount code (good through Saturday) is PreHSale11.

My Little Friends Quail Salt and Pepper Shakers

Jesse — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:54:31 +0000

Say hello to my little friends.

I met them last week when I was up at the store taking pictures of our favorite gifts for the upcoming holiday season. LuLu and Harry (yes, I’ve named them) were just sitting there, perfect and beautiful and pleading for me to take them home. And I was about to: they reminded me of my great-grandmother Francis whose collection of fine table ware always included memorable pieces like these. I thought they’d be a perfect start to my own collection.

So I picked them up and whispered, “Don’t you worry, I’ll be back.”

And not five minutes after I left them to continue photographing, my sweet quail friends found their way to another’s home. They are like that, these two. They will just melt your heart. Good thing we stock more than one set!

Made by Vagabond House and retailing for $69.95, I’m sure you’ll need a set just as much as I do! We’ve got them online and in the Bellevue Table Top and Home location. And don’t worry, you can name your pair whatever you’d like. I’m sticking with LuLu and Harry, though.

I’m totally smitten.

It’s the New Black: Pink?

Jesse — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:17:06 +0000

We love, love, love pink. It’s a color that packs enough punch to stand on its own or play nicely with other color-friends. But there are people who are, shall we say, afraid of pink? Perhaps it’s too bold or perhaps it seems too, well… too pink for some. To those people, I would say this: don’t be afraid to embrace the pink. It’s the new black.

Ok, maybe it’s just the new pink.

Although it will never be the “new black,” we do think it can be use as a fantastic color pop – especially against starker earth tones or even blacks, greys and whites.

See some really great ways to use pink from the folks over at Apartment Therapy. It’s a great little site and I love their tag line: saving the world, one room at a time.

We’ve got such wonderful home accents to add that special splash of color – check our our some great decorative accessories like throws and pillows and or our line of Abyss Superpile bath towels.

Or come on down to the store. You want color? We’ve got color! Don’t be afraid of color! We’ve also got a team of design-minded staff who will help with any of you with lingering color-phobia. We’re here to help. Promise.

We (heart) Kate

Jesse — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 03:34:38 +0000

Middleton, that is. Have you heard of her? I think she married some famous English bloke recently…

Well, the fashion world is abuzz with her recent nautical outfits and it got us thinking: we’ll design a bed the Duchess would love. Full of whimsy and a nod to classic nautical stylings, it’s a bed fit for – well, a princess. Or you. Whichever.

To accent the nautical, think luxurious throw pillows. Think Belle Note linens. Pictures and a special give-away coming soon.

For now, I’m off to have some tea…

Not Just Napkins

Jesse — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:03:13 +0000

We recently touted the new photography of our best-selling placemats by Deborah Rhodes. The little beauties are 15″ and perfectly round – pretty easy to wrangle for the camera. They behaved like nice little children – hanging there quietly. No arguing, no fussing. If they were a child, they’d be the golden one. You know the type.

So, when I say that our napkin collection behaved like a middle child, you’d know what I mean, right? Every step of the way, those napkins made trouble of one kind or another. Hang quietly? I think not! Nothing about the napkins was easy to photograph: they were each like little divas, wanting special attention and praise to hang just so. I kid you not, the napkins were some of my toughest photography clients. But, and this is so like having kids, after the project was over and I had a chance to step back a bit, I could see just how wonderful they truly are – especially as a collection.

Let’s take a step back a bit – When I first began meeting with Keva about showcasing our top-selling items in a fresh, new way, we spent a lot of time with the napkins. I was fascinated to learn that TT&H napkin wall display was custom designed and is like nothing else around. The cabinets pull away from the wall and allow for inventory to be stocked behind the display (genius) and the napkins are hung so their natural drape (and personality) can be seen at eye level. It’s both utilitarian and beautiful: the best of both worlds!

We wanted to replicate that beauty in how we showcase the napkins online as well. It’s not enough to see a folded square online – or worse, a fabric swatch. With napkins, you want to see how they drape. You also want to see how the pattern evolves in a relatively small area (your hand or lap). In my home studio, I photographed the napkins much like they are displayed at the store, hanging from a rod by a clip. The resulting photographs capture much of the same feeling you’d get from a visit to the store. Each napkin’s natural drape and patterns are unique. Just like you and the beautiful table you’ll set with them!

I hope you’ll check them out online and visit us soon. We’re so excited to share them with you!

Carnival on your Table – South Coast Salad Servers

Jesse — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 17:43:20 +0000

So you’re stuck hosting a stuffy, boring afternoon affair. You know the one: too many acquaintances, not enough BFF’s. A Wednesday afternoon snooze fest.

Your mind drifts to the menu. It’s … predictable. Solid, but predictable.

Your afternoon has turned into a pale, grayscale version of a more vibrant world: a poolside world – with fancy drinks and lively banter.

And then you remember your secret tour de force: the salad servers.

These salad servers:

Suddenly, your green salad isn’t just a green salad! It’s a carnival on the table. Gaps in conversation have been replaced by the “oohs” and “ahhs” of your fascinated guests. You are, in the most refined sense, the host with the most.

Once again, TT&H is here to save your day. These secret weapons, made by South Coast Designs, arrive on the floor soon and will retail for under $60. We’ll have a dozen styles.

The cost of saving your afternoon? Priceless, right? You’re welcome.

Sferra Festival Napkins

Jesse — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 16:45:12 +0000

Italian fine linen producer, Sferra, amazed us at the The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishing Market Expo last week with a new, 101-color Festival napkin sampler. Beautifully basic, the Festival napkin line is a workhorse for your everyday table. Care is simple, colors are enduring and the quality is unsurpassed. What’s even better? We’ll have the sampler in the store next week!

We’ve got a fun contest over on Facebook about Festival napkins. Come play with us!

Lacquer Bath Accessories

Keva — Sun, 30 May 2010 15:47:27 +0000

: Hand finished Bath Accessories

It is true that good things are worth waiting for. This is particularly true when it comes to hand finished lacquer bath accessories. We have patiently been waiting to fill in our stock on our very popular hand crafted bath accessories by Gail DeLoach. These accessories are made by very skilled craftsmen who have applied layers of tiny pieces of eggshell to the white lacquer bases. On top of these fragments of eggshell, a pearl sized amount of paint is brushed. Finally, a layer of clear resin is painted to create a product that yields deep luxurious colors and a smooth lasting finish.

We have successfully carried these products for years and our customers rave about their quality and functionality. We particularly love the clean lines of the rectangular wastebasket. It fits perfectly in a more modern aesthetic and is fabulous when teamed up with stone or steel finishes. You can also purchase these items from our website.I have added them to our decorative bath accessory section of the on-line store. http://christinalynn.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=CL&Product_Code=WhtSnake&Category_Code=DBA . I also recommend that you take a look at some of the related products for these items: fabulous Elegance towels and modern Serge Lesage throw rugs.