Our family room is really Beloved's den--library paneling, old leather, and overstuffed chairs. I love it, but sometimes a girl just needs a place to call her own. Our living room/study provides that haven for me.
It's one place in the house I can always count on to be uncluttered and calm--a refuge from people and projects. It's the place where I keep my pretty keepsakes and knick- knacks so I can see them and linger over the memories that go with them. It's a place where I come for a quiet cup of tea and a few chapters of whatever book I'm reading at the moment.
Today I'm using simple china, just the Gibson cups and saucers, but it's a nice change from my usual clunky mug! The roses in a cut glass vase and candle on a crystal pillar holder bring out the red accents of the room. 
Simple red linen napkins tied up with pearls just for today.....Burgundy by Reed and Barton to stir our tea....a tiny red and yellow teapot, a gift long treasured.
The white teapot holds just enough for two. I'm splurging today. No little yellow packets; real sugar cubes in my mother's sugar bowl with hobnail handles just seems a little more elegant.
I'd love it if you'd join me for tea...one lump or two? Kathleen is waiting here with lots of others to share their visions of white loveliness!
