Neon is Back!

Do you remember the neon clothes in the 80s? Somewhere in my house there is a great photo of my daughter all decked out in various neon colors, but I cannot find it anywhere!  I really wanted to use it in this blog, but it turned out all right, because when I opened the May “Southern Living” magazine, I saw a picture of one of my favorite designers, Lindsey Coral Harper. In the accompanying interview she mentioned shopping for neon clothes!  Aha – this will do, I thought.

Lindsey is the daughter of a friend of mine (Hi, Emily!).  She grew up in Georgia, but made her way to the Big Apple, where she is making a name for herself in interior design.  I am always opening magazines (“House Beautiful”, “Elle Décor”, “Atlanta Homes and Lifesyles”, “Garden and Gun”) and finding Lindsey’s work inside the pages or on the cover.  She is pretty well known for her innovative use of color.

Just look at the recent table she did for the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Benefit featured in the online blog,  "Stylebeat".  Have you ever seen such a colorful and dramatic centerpiece? I spot some neon in that arrangement! Stunning!!!

Lindsey, also, decorated the library for the 2012 Cathedral Inspiration Home in Atlanta. Look at the color of these walls in this photo taken by Jennifer Boles – would you have the nerve to paint wood that color?  Oh, I wish that I did!!

I am much bolder with color in setting tables, than I am in decorating rooms.  Slowly, though, Lindsey’s color choices are starting to inspire me.  I have been thinking about painting a piece for one of my bedrooms (more storage for china, of course) and I really would like to go bold.  

I went all-out (color-wise!) on my neon table.  I had purchased these Laurie Gates “Hailey” salad plates and pitcher last year, when they went on sale, but never had used them. 

On a recent trip to Florida Linen, I found these wonderful orange napkins.  The yellow napkins used with them were purchased online and are meant to go with Sunflower Fiesta dinnerware. The Sunflower Fiesta tablecloth was bought at the same time.

The real inspiration for the table, however, was this round placemat from Steinmart.  How could you not do a neon table, when you have a few of these in your home?

I used white Mikasa “Yardley” dinner plates and green flatware from World Market.

The gorgeous lime green highball glasses are Bormioli Rocco “Sorgente” from Macy’s. 

I always seem to have a funny story that goes with my posts.  This time it is about the Laurie Gates “Hailey” mugs on the table.  The morning I decided to do this table, I realized that I had no flowers to go into the pitcher for the centerpiece.  I set the table and went out to find some seriously colorful flowers.  My Publix grocery store is not too far from my Dillard’s store, so I decided to make a quick detour to see what new tableware had arrived. Oh my, Dillard’s was having a big sale – always dangerous for me.  On the first sale table that I spotted were four “Hailey” mugs.  They were marked down to $1.71 a piece!!  Since I had envisioned this table to be for breakfast (these colors should really wake you up!).  I bought them (and a few other things!) and rushed home to add them to the table.

I did stop by Publix and buy the flowers.  I placed them in the matching “Hailey” pitcher, so the table was complete!

I hope that all of you are bold in your choices of color (I am getting there!), but if you need some inspiration, just look for Lindsey Coral Harper on the internet. She is an amazingly talented young woman who is blazing a trail of color throughout New York City and beyond. If you love color, be sure to look for photos of her apartment!  Thanks, Lindsey for all of the inspiration that you are giving me!

Diane

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Sharing Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday