Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!  If you can’t make it to the stores today, we’ve got a great selection of items at 50% off.  They can all be conveniently gift wrapped and shipped to your doorstep.  But hurry, quantities are limited!
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Are the holidays sneaking up on you?  Thanksgiving is a week away, and the rest of the holiday season is going to come rolling along.

The good thing is that it’s still not too late to get a tablecloth for your Thanksgiving meal.  Here are some customer favorites from past years (and one great value at the end) that are still available, and with express shipping, they’ll be in your hands in no time.
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Do you need a gift that’s both thoughtful and personal this holiday season?  We think that Sferra’s Modern Monogram Linen Cocktail Napkins are a steal at only $25 for each set of four (that’s $6.25 each!).   We love that they are the larger European 6″ x 9″ size (so chic, and much better for hors d’oeuvres) and that they are appropriate for so many occasions: weddings, housewarming, hostess presents, and “just because” … At home, when we’re not serving drinks, we have them on small trays underneath our candles and soaps.  It just dresses up the room ever so subtly.
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It happens to the best of us: drinks can spill and plates can drop.  Over time, dining tables can really sustain a lot of wear and tear, especially during the holidays.  Tablecloths help, but with larger spills, clanging of plates, or dripping wax, tabletops can easily get damaged.  Sometimes the repairs are easy, but with antiques and precious heirlooms, often they are not.  Since good furniture is an investment, it’s much better to be prepared.
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The holidays are here again!  Even though it’s 90 degrees outside (we’re in Los Angeles), we’re starting to see turkeys and reindeers cropping up everywhere.

As you get ready for holiday entertaining and setting your holiday table, here are five tips for choosing a tablecloth, based on the questions our customers have asked us time and again:
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As we get ready for the holidays and the end of the year, we’ve put a few of Anali’s bath and guest towels on sale at 25% off.
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When Bergdorf Goodman announced in 2005 that they had hired interior designer Kelly Wearstler to redo their BG Restaurant on the 7th floor, many in the design world were shocked.  She was, after all, from California, and how would her penchant for exuberant designs and fearless use of color translate in New York?  Thankfully, the folks at the venerable department store knew what they were doing, and BG is now one of the most visited spaces in the whole store.
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We love Erin’s musings in her Elements of Style blog.  For those who don’t know her, Erin Gates is an interior designer and stylist based in Boston.  She’s young and has a great eye for style and color, but what we really appreciate about her is how down-to-earth she is.
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We got a really good response from Sferra’s table linen sale last week, so I wanted to make sure you knew about their sale on bed linens, coverlets, throws, and pillows.  These are also 25% off now.  If you’ve been eyeing any of these beautiful linens for yourself or if you are expecting guests this holiday season, now’s the time to stock up.  To take a look at the entire line of bedding on sale, click here.
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Flowers, butterflies and insects can all have a place in the home.  Maybe not necessarily real ones, but the ones that have been recreated in such detail they’re practically dancing before your eyes.  Anna Weatherley’s dinnerware is the perfect way to add a touch of botanicals to your home.  Once you are finished dining, you can do what many designers do and hang them on the wall.

Every piece of Anna Weatherley dinnerware is hand painted in Hungary by a group of master artisans, each of whom specialize in a particular design.  The flowers and fruits are painted mostly by men, while women tend to be the experts in painting the charming bugs and butterflies with miniature detailed wings and legs and gold-dipped eyes. The grasshopper is a favorite and each one is given a different personality. To finish, softly brushed golden borders on the porcelain are painted by a single painter with special mastery in this special application technique.

Ms. Weatherley was inspired by the work of botanical illustrators of the 18^th Century.  You can clearly see the same attention to detail and appreciation for natural beauty in all of her pieces.  Eighteenth-century European illustrators such as Pierre Joseph Redoute, William Hooker, and Georg Dionysius Ehret are considered the masters of botanicals.  For instance, pictured below are two pieces by Redoute.  It’s easy to see the inspiration that Ms. Weatherley has drawn from these historical pieces. Each work of art is simple, beautiful and in vivid detail.  While Anna Weatherley’s designs are refreshingly rooted in history, they are equally at home in contemporary or traditional settings.  Prints of these botanicals have long been a staple in many decorators’ repertoires.  Framed and hung in groupings on a wall, they offer maximum style to a home.

The same can be said for dinnerware by Anna Weatherley, which has just as much impact on a wall as it does on the table.  I love the idea of a table filled with her plates and saucers, alongside tiny finger sandwiches and a few pots of delicious tea.  Guests will certainly smile when they discover a butterfly, ready to spread its wings, or a tulip that’s as wonderful as the real thing.  If you are like me, and are just starting to add botanicals to your home, you might simply tuck one of Ms. Weatherley’s plates next to your bed on your nightstand, or in the entryway to catch your keys and daily trappings.  What a beautiful way to add a bit of whimsy to your home!

To see our whole collection of Anna Weatherley dinnerware, visit us here.

Gracious Style is an online retailer of sophisticated, high-quality products for every room in the house.  We love helping others create warm and welcoming rooms for themselves.  To read more, visit our blog.