VISIONS OF BEAUTY (INSPIRED BY FALL) / Day 2 -- BETH WEBB INTERIORS

bethwebbinterior
photocourtesybethwebb

Peeps,

In the weeks preceding Thanksgiving dinner, and the numerous gatherings for Christmas and New Year's Day, I wanted to remind fellow peeps of the need to plan logically and logistically for holiday entertaining.  Why, you may ask?  And the answer is a need for sophisticated civility, as well as a celebration of time's passage through ceremony and circumstance (if not pomp and circumstance).   For last month's dinner party could well have been avoided by me; to be greeted by a flustered co-host at the front door who quickly ushered us into the kitchen where the lady of the house was running between checking the temperature of racks of lamb in the oven, slicing veges for the starter salad, and stirring a saucepan of mango-and-fig chutney did not make for good entertainment.  Neither did wrestling with a wine-cork key, searching for red-wine glasses through numerous cabinets, and avoiding Snoopy and Buttons' food bowls which could not be moved from in-front of the freezer door (for fear of canine retribution).  Shouting across the vast expanse of black granite (known as the island) above the dim of Michael Buble's crooning, food preparation, and the excited barks of the dogs did not make for easy conversation between the guests.  The last nail in the coffin was the exclusion of a separate dining room in favor of a great room (in truth, an ill-lit, cavernous space for the purposes of billiards/snacking/lounging/watching TV); sports statistics and the appearances of former athlete-stars hawking beer, deodorant, and power-tools killed whatever intimacy one may have enjoyed as we all clung anxiously to oversized hall chairs surrounding a pool-table converted to impromptu dining table.  Suffice to say, dinner ended quickly and any offers of cognac paled in comparison to the thought of a long shower at home and 2 Advil caplets.

Party hosts and hostesses can make the whole experience of entertaining much more pleasant by being smart and realistic:  stick to simple and tasty menus which can be prepared before and then warmed; or purchase food already prepared from your gourmet grocery-store or favorite restaurant which can be dropped off at a designated time; any catering company can provide staff (for the positions of bartender/coat-check person/party chef/door-greeter)  thereby keeping the host/hostess out of the kitchen, and instead allowing them to spend quality time with guests.  A few hours should be spent before in laying the table and setting up the bar; pre-loading favorite CD's or Ipod (sure beats digging through the entire 1000 CD collection in search of mood music).  Purchasing well-made table linens, silver-ware, glasses, and so forth are worth every penny and can be  reused for many other occasions.  Flowers and unscented candles add the final touch.  A beautiful room make guests feel special and everyone then wants to linger...


After much delay, Beth Webb has launched her updated Web site (www.bethwebb.com) and it is a visual feast.  The colors used throughout her interiors are bold and rich; textures practically leap from the page; the mood created in each room is inviting and oh so right.  Everyone who has had a chance to purview Beth's impressive portfolio of homes, unanimously agree that Beth Webb is 'the new queen of Atlanta's designers.'  I love her style and can't wait to see more of her work show-cased in the upcoming months in my favorite shelter magazines.  


Please enjoy today's visual treat courtesy of Beth Webb, whose Holiday House pics are to die for (or at least copy)!!


Sincerely,
Shane