To achieve the same color palette as our inspiration photo from yesterday with blues, neutrals and woods, try bringing in cutting boards to use as placemats. This usually works wonderfully for casual lunches or dinners. Each cutting board doesn’t have to be the same either to mix things up. Pictured above I have a cutting board that still has the bark on the edge which visually makes the place setting very textural. (I bought this one at abc carpet & home) I just used my plain white everyday white plates, vintage bakelite flatware and navy napkins. The place card is pattern “Wallpaper” in French Blue, from Carrot & Stick Press. Below is another table I worked on for InStyle Home that featured cutting boards as placemats to give you an idea of how they can look.

My Stylist Note: Cutting boards are a great item to keep on your list when you go to flea markets, yard sales and sales  at your local home stores. You can always use cutting boards big or small as trays, placemats, for serving, to put candles and votives on to protect your table… etc. etc.. For example, to spruce up your Super Bowl party each person could use a cutting board as their own personal tray to carry their food to the table, coffee table or TV tray. Or they could look great on a buffet displaying your casual foods (and doing double duty as trivets for hot foods) like chili, chips, dips and the like.