Alice's Summer Table

We have a little log cabin upstate and when you are out on the deck, it feels like you are tucked away in a secret tree house somewhere. We use the deck like another room in the summer and into the fall, and there is nowhere we like better to have breakfast, lunch and dinner.

One hot, sunny day a few weeks ago we had some friends over for lunch, and while I was too busy eating and chatting to take any action pictures, I did snap a few before we began. Here it is for your viewing! Next time, come for lunch!

Let's start from the bottom up. Try as I might, I can’t get past a stripe, and this tablecloth is one of the best—both in color and in its lovely soft feel. Generally, I am not a "pinky" girl, so I paired it with green striped napkins to push this color more. That being said, I do think that the strength of this tablecloth is in the pink pop.

I love our pagan plates so much—they were one of the first PORTA products I brought to the cabin. The depth of their blue, the terracotta texture of the edges, and the unique symbols borrowed from the tops of Pugliese Trulli, engraved on each, give them a dreamy and magical feel, like talismans across the table. They work year-round and feel casual but special. For glasses I mixed our Celeste water glasses in green with our transparent Lauren wine glasses. I like that they don’t match and that they have their own weight and texture. Both of their surfaces refract light in a wonderful way which looks beautiful on the table.

For flowers, I head to the roadside around our house, where there is always an abundance of things growing. I’m not sure if you’re allowed to snip away at public flowers, but so far, no one has stopped me! I love bringing whatever is growing in the moment to the table, as it ties you into how the season is expressing itself around you. If things look good together in nature, they will also look good on your table. The jugs they are in have been gathered from here and there. Like a stripe, I also love a jug, and I don’t think you can ever have too much of either. And when there’s a stripe on a jug, well, say no more.