One huge inspiration for me came in the beginning when I was watching couples dancing on that wacky show, So You Think You Can Dance (Yes, I like Reality TV). A Viennese waltz performed by Twitch and Carrington swept me away. The impression of the dance stayed with me but how could I incorporate this notion of intimacy into a dinner party for 20 people? I decided that instead of 20 separate settings there will be 10 settings for 2… How romantic of me.

Many of the room components for the Dining By Design event have come together. Now it is time to set the table! I find that thinking about what my “dinner party” will be like is a fun surprise. Each place setting is as much of a component in the space as the architectural elements. And so I had an idea… Settings for two.

AAA Upholstery agreed to fabricate the sofa slipcovers for my table at the Dining By Design event. Things are really coming together but I need a finishing touch. Since the color red is now a fundamental design element of my table, I decided to use a little bit of red vinyl as a way to provide boundaries to the slipcovers.

I’m purposely trying to keep the number of vendors who contribute to my table at the Dining By Design event down because I want everyone that helps to really be seen. In looking around for fabric for the slipcovers, I found this cool material that is part of Barbara Beckman’s new collection. The fabric is called Mail and is a printed pattern on a sumbrella ground. The organic quality of the material will play well into the images on the rug I am using. She is on board and so now we just have to get those slip covers done!

So now that the metal fringe is a factor in my Dining By Design table, I need to properly light it as well. I put a call into Eurofase, another vendor we work with and asked them if they would be willing to donate two rolls of their adhesive LED tape. It’s an amazing product that we can apply to the apron of the table. It should easily pull off the effect!

In cleaning up the office today, I came upon a metallic vinyl that I had picked up at the HD show in Las Vegas. I had the wild idea of seeing what it would look like if I cut it into small pieces. WE HAVE METAL FRINGE! I have called the vinyl supplier and they are on board for 10 yards… Now I get to spend my Saturday nights until the event cutting my way through yards, upon yard of material for my Dining By Design table. I can’t complain, the material is cool and hip.

Rossi was gracious enough to provide me with an amazing bubbled glass material for the top of my dining table for the Dining By Design event but I still have to construct the actual table that it will sit on. A great idea came to me regarding the design of my table. Mimicking one of the design qualities that makes Melograno blu such a cool lighting line… FRINGE. So how do I find 45 linear feet of fringe? Anybody have any ideas?

I searched the showrooms high and low for the final addition to my Dining By Design table, the wallcoverings. I feel that something sleek yet elegant will bring the entire concept to life. I decided to go with Robert Crowder’s lacquered paper in a brown tone. The material provides a wonderful element of earthiness and offers a little masculinity to all that is female in my “environment”.