For 39 years, the Cranbrook Auxiliary has raised money for the restoration of both Cranbrook house and the gardens via the Holiday Tables event in late November. This year, 18 designers spent the day yesterday decorating their tables for the holidays. I did a table for them at least 10 years ago. A good friend, client, and long time benefactor of Cranbrook asked if I would return, and decorate a room, this being the last year for this particular event. I am sure this group has an event plan for the future, with an entirely new format. As for this finale event-we were all in. The theme of this year’s tables-Illuminate the Season.
If you are local to our area, you are well aware of the Cranbrook property, house and schools. It houses one of the most respected graduate art programs in the nation. If you are not local, suffice it to say Cranbrook is a vibrant institution with substantial gardens of which we are very proud. Interested in the entire story? http://housegardens.cranbrook.edu/about
The house is of a particular period and time. The wood furnishings and tile are dark. The rugs are old and quietly gorgeous. The lighting is subdued. The period and style of this room drove the design for our table. For starters, Rob hand fashioned three strands of holiday lights – a reproduction of lighting from a much earlier era comprised of taupe colored cloth clad twisted wire, bakelite sockets, and large scale reproduction bulbs. Each bulb got its own vintage tin reflector before it was inserted into its bakelite socket. These light strands are outfitted with a dimmer switch, so the light can be adjusted to fit the mood of the occasion. A small flock of our grapevine deer sculptures with sparkly gold and cream lit collars help populate the space. The quality of the light is key to our design.
The china is my own, collected a few pieces at a time since my twenties. The Compleat Angler, manufactured in the early 1980’s by Portmerion China in England, was inspired by the watercolors of English game fish done by AF Lydon in 1879. I have never used this china-I display it, and enjoy looking at it. The flatware is Ambience Olivewood, made by Alaine St. Joannis. This we have used every day for many years. So why am I talking china and flatware? It is a tradition with this event. The sunset room is a fairly large room. We were going to need more than a table, set for a holiday gathering.
We placed three Christmas trees in the room-two of which are flocked. Detroit Garden Works is featuring flocked frasier fir trees for the holiday season this year. They are available in a variety of sizes and colors, by special order only. These are the first flocked trees I have seen since my childhood, but apparently they are popular from the mid west to Paris. The French blue is my favorite color. As the light string wires looked beautiful with that color, we had a color scheme for the decor. The wires themselves are handsome enough to feature them as holiday garland.
We did bring an artificial Christmas tree. This is my favorite style of artificial tree. It is clearly artificial-not a representation of a real tree. The branches are brown, and lightly dusted with snow. We decorated it with pale French blue glass balls, and long crystal drops.
The 10 foot long shallowly oval table with square ends is meant to be placed against a wall. This was a perfect size to set the table on one side, and decorate the far side. The flocked fir branches hold a variety of other materials. A light strand, the dried curling fronds of garden ferns, glass balls in cream and blue, and fresh magnolia leaves are interspersed throughout.
table detail
The soup tureen and pike oval platter
What I like best about this display is that it seems visually believable in this space. The antique Victorian wicker chairs are ours, but they look appropriate to the room.Every item has a vintage, or a garden feel. The color is subdued, but festive. If you are interested in seeing all 18 of the holiday tables, a formal buffet tea is scheduled for 11 to 3 today, a cocktail party for Friday evening by reservation, and general admission Friday and Saturday from 10-4. We think the Cranbrook House and Garden auxiliary is well worth your support.