I thought it was about time our lovely concrete top dining table finally saw some dinner party action since we had Otis, so last weekend we threw a diner party for some of our friends and American family in celebration of thanksgiving, aka our friends giving feast. And not only that, for the occasion I worked up with my favourite American brand West Elm for our second collaboration, to decorate our already owned West Elm Tower dining table in their lovely dinnerware plates, glasses and accessories.

It certainly gave me all the hostess with the mostess vibes.

Tower concrete top dining table £899, West Elm; Orion Blue rug £499, West Elm. Blue frame wire dining chair £199, West Elm. Round velvet cushion £39 on the chair from West Elm. — **Tower concrete top dining table** **£899**, West Elm; **Orion Blue rug** £499, West Elm. **Blue frame wire dining chair** £199, West Elm. **Round velvet cushion** £39 on the chair from West Elm.

Orion rug £499 from West Elm. — **Orion rug** £499 from West Elm.

I rarely snap this room. Mostly because I hate the ugly UPVC doors which are in the back of the room, but I suppose they’re not so bad, and I bet you didn’t even notice them from looking at all the shiny bits on the table. So let’s talk about those items, and how West Elm helped me make this our most memorable dinner party to date.

Half circle metal vase £49, West Elm; Modern Brass candle holders from £32; Large glass hurricane £59, West Elm. — **Half circle metal vase** £49, West Elm; **Modern Brass candle holders** from £32; **Large glass hurricane** £59, West Elm.

I chose the organic washed cotton runner and napkins in Graphite to set the tone and then layered the West Elm 5 pc brass cutlery set for each person.

I personally think the brass pops lovely against the dark grey and they also contrast great with the grey concrete table top, while still picking up the hints of brass on the table legs. Oh yea, this dining table even has brass legs.

Being an all white dining table, it means I can really have fun with the highlight colours switching between blues and greys, and the Orion rug from West Elm, really helped pull all the colours of the dining room chairs and linen all together.

Organic washed cotton runner £19 from West Elm, Organic washed cotton napkins £4 each from West Elm. Half circle metal vase £49, West Elm — **Organic washed cotton runner** £19 from West Elm, **Organic washed cotton napkins** £4 each from West Elm. **Half circle metal vase** £49, West Elm

I then chose the West Elm Metallic charger plates as the base for the plate layering. I love a charger plate. They’re so much more sophisticated than any placemat, and not only are they decorative but they’re also great at stopping the heat mark your dining table. I then chose the reactive glaze dinner plates and pasta bowls and the gorgeous West Elm constellation salad plate as a middle layer plate for the 3 courses. This little plate was a real hit due to its striking design as its a work of art in itself.

We chose to to do a self serve menu using the reactive glaze large platters to hold the different courses. And it was all about the glassware for this table setting and the stunning agate blue/ gold coasters bought a touch of luxury, so I chose the stemless water and shorter wine glasses. These glasses are beautifully edged with metallic gold around the rims so these pull on the pops of brass from the metallic chargers and cutlery.

Reactive Glaze dinner plate £12 each from West Elm. Reactive glaze pasta bowl £12 from West Elm. — **Reactive Glaze dinner plate** £12 each from West Elm. **Reactive glaze pasta bowl** £12 from West Elm.

Our brass drinks trolley was purchased years ago and this was great to hold all our alcohol and to be a little self serve drinks station, I chose the West Elm brass wine cooler and icebucket to compliment the drinks trolley, and I already owned the West Elm Deco brass barware collection for mixing up cocktails and shorts. It’s these details that add glamour and sophistication to any dinner party/ christmas table and we’ll certainly be using them over the coming months as we entertain guests for Christmas drinks.

Reactive glaze dinner plate £12, West Elm; Metallic charger plate £29 each, West Elm. — **Reactive glaze dinner plate** £12, West Elm; **Metallic charger plate** £29 each, West Elm.

Brass wine cooler £49 from West Elm — **Brass wine cooler** **£49** from West Elm

The centre of the dining table was decorated using the West Elm Half circle metal vase in brass. The flowers are artificial sprayed gold from John Lewis’ christmas decoration range and I also chose the West elm large and medium Modern Brass candle holders and the Large glass hurricane which is also in brass, so it all tied together nicely. I love layering candles and using different height candle sticks and hurricanes. It definitely gives the table decor more dimension and makes things more interesting.

Mongolian lamb cushion 41cm x 41cm £69 from West Elm. Orion — **Mongolian lamb cushion 41cm x 41cm** £69 from West Elm. Orion

The red wine was decanted into the West Elm glass wine holder with wooden stopper, which prettied up the table, and the great thing about this holder is it can hold two bottles of wine, which is always a win win with me.

Brass ice bucket £69, from West Elm. — **Brass ice bucket** £69, from West Elm.

Orion Rug £499, from West Elm, Tower dining table £899 from West Elm. Grey Lenox dining chair £249 from west Elm — **Orion Rug** £499, from West Elm, **Tower dining table** £899 from West Elm. **Grey Lenox dining chair** £249 from west Elm

We bought our West Elm Tower dining table and dining chairs last year as an investment purchase, and they were worth every penny. At first I was scared about how to treat the concrete top, but after it arrived we soon realised that the concrete had already been pre treated, so it was ready to go and nothing (so far) has ever penetrated through into the concrete. Basically what I’m trying to say in a not so fancy way is, you can just wipe any mark or spot of grease/ dirt off and it never marks it, so it’s still really practical and looks really nice too.

Blue Reactive glaze vase £79 from West Elm; Brass ice bucket £69, from West Elm; Brass wine cooler £49 from West Elm — **Blue Reactive glaze vase** £79 from West Elm; **Brass ice bucket** £69, from West Elm; **Brass wine cooler** **£49** from West Elm

Blue Reactive glaze vase £79 from West Elm. Drinks Trolley old Marks and spencer. West Elm do similar; Deco barware set £79, West Elm — **Blue Reactive glaze vase** £79 from West Elm. Drinks Trolley old Marks and spencer. West Elm do similar; **Deco barware set** £79, West Elm

And lastly the menu, because no dinner party is complete without talking about the food. We did camembert rigatoni pasta to start, a Italian salad with panettone croutons and a beef wellington for our main. Desert was my signature chocolate mousse and coffees to finish. All accompanied by all the drinks! My favourite Chablis for the white wine drinkers, a Rioja for the red and of course, plenty of prosecco. Chin Chin.

Constellation salad plate £12 each from West Elm. Agate blue/ gold coasters £64 for a set of 4 from West Elm. — **Constellation salad plate £12** each from West Elm. **Agate blue/ gold coasters** £64 for a set of 4 from West Elm.

This dinner party has got me all excited for Christmas now. What did you think of my table setting, I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas on how to revise this for Christmas.

Source list - Constellation salad plate £12 each , West Elm; Gold Cutlery set 5 pcs £34, West Elm, Large Oval platter £39, West Elm; Reactive Glaze pasta bowl £12 each, West Elm; Reactive glaze dinner plate £12, West Elm; Organic washed cotton table runner £19, West Elm; Organic washed cotton napkins £4 each, West Elm; Modern Brass candle holders from £32, West Elm; Tower dining table £899, West Elm; Lenox grey dining chair £249, West Elm; Wire frame dining chair £199, West Elm; Orion blue Rug £499, West Elm, Stemless glassware - Water glass £7 each, West Elm; Stemless wine glass £7, West Elm; Glass wine bottle with wooden stopper £34, West Elm; Gables large round velvet cushion £39 from West Elm; Large glass hurricane £59, West Elm; Hipped Glassware £6 each, West Elm; Agate Coasters £64 for a set of 4, West Elm; Chelsea brass Ice bucket £69, West Elm; Chelsea brass wine cooler £49, West Elm; Deco barware set £79, West Elm; Reactive Glaze large vase £79, West Elm; Half circle metal vase £49, West Elm; Metallic charger plate £29 each, West Elm; Mongolian lamb cushion 41cm x 41cm £69 from West Elm; Blue Reactive glaze vase £79 from West Elm; Hayle large round mirror in champagne £199, Select mirrors; Brass drinks trolley, Old Marks and Spencer; 3 Industrial pendant lights £69 each, Industville; Paper honey comb decorations from Christmas Time UK.

This room makeover was generously gifted by West Elm. I was extremely lucky to choose the pieces that I love and I will cherish these for years to come. All words and opinions are 100% my own. Thank you West Elm for making for making my dinner party of dreams come true.

How was New Year’s Day already a week ago?

This year’s already getting off to a flying start (I’m already 7 days late with this post for a start), but before I go all spring mode on you, I wanted to go back a week and share my New Year’s Day table.

For me, New year’s dinner is up there as another important day to gather some of our nearest and dearest family and toast the new year with a prosecco fuelled lunch. On the menu, this year was an 80’s family classic; prawn cocktail to start, followed by a beef wellington with trimmings.

This year I was kindly given these gorgeous sea green plates, bowls from the Denby Greenwich range and beautiful crystal glassware also by the lovely folks at Denby. So, what better way to show them off than with a small fam-a-lam dinner while the Christmas foliage is still out.

I’m a massive fan of British design and have been a fan of Denby pottery for years. Just like the prawn cocktail, Denby is also a family classic having grown up with my parents having denby dinner plates when I was a child.

Made in Derbyshire, denby has been making pottery for over the last 200 years and their range still offers some old classics like the Halo collection which has a beautiful ombre effect to some more modern shapes and colours like the Deli collection in pretty pastel tones with red rims.

Their expertise doesn't stop there either. They have an expansive range of cookware and glassware including the Lotus crystal champagne flutes and Rio crystal tumblers shown in the photos.

Denby pride themselves on their craftsmanship and it really shows in their products. These sea green plates and bowls have such a strong personality, they were the big talking point around the table when everyone’s use to seeing run of the mill white tableware..... Oh and even the cat joined us at the table, but I think that was probably because of the Beef!

(To see all of the plates, bowls and glasses in more details, click on the links at the bottom of this post).

And if you're quick you can make the most of the Denby winter sale, with up to 40% off. (As of January 2018... Happy shopping!