By Archana Ram
Dinnerware company Oneida hosted an elegant party last week at their Gramercy design studio, where Shyema and I got to check out the brand’s new line of dinnerware and learn about creating inviting spaces for dinner parties. Being huge dinner party/potluck fans, you can imagine how excited we were!
Oneida enlisted Angela Giannopoulos, a former visual merchandiser for Barneys who now owns design firm SC3, to design four very different but equally beautiful table settings:
The Asia to Cuba was the sleekest of the bunch with various objects on the table (i.e. a bedazzled skull head) that were inspired by artists like Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst and Jonathan Adler.
For the Classic Picnic Table Twist presentation, Giannopolous revealed that she bought the fabric for the table and napkins from IKEA. “I love jumping into IKEA!” she said. “But don’t be afraid to use fabrics or objects around the house. It can complete the table.” How thrifty!
My favorite was definitely the World of Whimsy, or “kid’s table,” as Shy and I dubbed it, but that was probably because it was the only one loaded with candy. For kiddy-style tables, Giannopolous encouraged us to place children’s toys on the tabletop to add “a whimsical touch.”
For table settings like these, she also mentioned that not everything has to match because the discord could create a really fun look. That’s good news for us 20-somethings who don’t yet have complete China sets!
Clearly the most black-tie of the bunch was the Fanciful Formal table, whose blue accents were influenced by the blue-patterned dinnerware.
I would’ve loved to host a dinner party with any of these settings, now I just need to figure out how to get a big enough apartment! Details, details…
Archana also writes her own food blog at LettuceVeg.com.
loved the place setting and dinnerware looks beautiful shy you know how much facination I
have with beautiful setting loveed the pictures wish I was there—–