What to do When There's No Room for a Server in the Dining Room

what to do.....what to do.....???????

Sooooooo.

I left you guys at this point of decorating Connie and Chris's dining area where I crammed a long table into a not so long space.

There was no room at either end for a piece of furniture.

Unfortunately, they have a large family, and a long table was required for the job.

It looked unfinished with nothing against the walls.

Remember....

I had been given the edict that there were to be no plates hung on the walls in this house!!!!!

Sooooo.....

I whined to Connie about the appropriateness of walls in eating area having stuff on them there related to eating stuff!!!!!

SHE WAS NOT SWAYED.

Her hubby wasn't going to buy it.

Soooooooo.....

When we were at the Boston Design Center looking at antique furniture in Charles Spada's showroom.....

There behind the glass of a display area was......

(at this point there must have been angels singing.....AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!)

a VERY LARGE plate rack hanging on the wall of the display window.

It was wonderful and felt unique.

Connie just loved it.

I pointed out that it's purpose was to hold plates against the wall.

HOWEVER!!!!!

It seemed the rules were that they couldn't be hung against the wall themselves....

BUT IT WAS ALRIGHT IF THEY WERE SITTING ON A SHELF!!!!!!!

Wellll,

coming back to reality,

it was too large for the wall we wanted.

Worse.

There weren't two of them.

I needed two.

That's 2. 

Not 1.

2

So this wasn't going to work.

WHEREUPON!!!!!

Charles informed us that he had a guy that could copy the look of this baby, down to the distressed finish and all.

All I had to do was a drawing showing what I wanted.

I could do that!!!!!

Soooooo...

This is what I sent to Charles.

I wanted the middle two shelves to extend across the whole rack, as we had no clue what we would hang in the center otherwise.

A piece of artwork that low would have seemed awkward.

Besides.....

the more shelves.....

THE MORE PLATES!!!!!

In case you're wondering,

that squiggle to the right is supposed to be me.

I always draw myself into an elevation so that I can get a sense of scale.

I wish my ass was that round.

Well, that's what Fredrick of Hollywood underwear is for.

are they still around?????

Sooooo.....

I sent the drawing in with a purchase order, 

and Connie paid her money,

and 

we got them!!!!!

The cabinet maker did an absolutely bang up job.

The finisher excelled him (or her) self.

At this point, 

Connie hauled out the brown transfer ware that we had collected for her Vermont home.

She had shipped it down to Flerida, just for this use.

Remember her dining room in Vermont?

Well....

all that pottery is now retired in Flerida,, where old things go to collect dust.

I had the cabinetmaker groove two rows into each shelf, in case we wanted to have a platter behind a plate.

I love this shot through the hall from the kitchen into the living room.

It shows how everything flows together.

So,

here they are,

both up on the walls after Connie's handyman did his magic.

It was wonderful,

all I had to do was point.

I didn't even need to hold a hammer!!!!!

(just a tape measure.....)

We had so much fun arranging the pottery.

I had Connie buy some extra stoneware to fill out the shelves.

We had enough for both racks.

Of course if it were my house there would be more stuff, 

but Connie has more restraint than I do, 

she's more mature because SHE IS OLDER!!!!!

So, 

here is one of my famous side by sides, so that you can see what a difference something on the walls with three dimensional qualities has.

It's starting to get cozy.

Just wait till you see it with the draperies!!!!!

On that note,

Latah, Gatah