Brown and white toile

 

In flipping through the September issue of House Beautiful I ran across this set of dinnerware, a new Juliska pattern called "Country Estates."

It's very pretty stoneware, but pricier than I could afford for a whole set ($22-$175 per piece).  I might be able to swing a couple key pieces.  I particularly like this hostess platter:

The set reminded me a lot of this vintage saucer I found a while back:

I use it to store matchbooks.  My dad travels overseas sometimes for work, so I ask him to bring back matchbooks from around the world; it's pretty difficult to find matchbooks in the U.S. since so many places are now smoke-free.

As I am trying to spruce up the living room a bit, I also bought a yard or two of this brown and white toile fabric:

 A few weeks later the whole bolt got moved to the clearance aisle, and I briefly toyed with the idea of buying it and upholstering some walls (an idea I've wanted to try for a while).  I figured my husband might be a little leery of my arrival with gallons of starch, yards of fabric, and an internet DIY tutorial to guide my plans, so instead I stuck with the idea of making a couple small throw pillows.

I added some brown ball fringe to trim them out (DIY tutorial coming soon!).

Making these pillows, in turn, got me thinking about grander uses of brown toile, such as those in these rooms:

Traditional Home

 via ArchitectsForLife - kind of a greeny-brown

Heather Chadduck

Colefax and Fowler toile via Cote de Texas

I do like other colors of toile, but I always come back to brown as the one I could probably live with the longest (ok, maybe blue too...).  I also think that toile looks good on a big scale, and I admire those people who can swath an entire room in the stuff: wallpaper, bedding, even lamp shades.

For now, I'll stick with my flea market china and my little throw pillows.  And maybe I'll start saving up for some Juliska.