Have you ever considered a hanging centerpiece in your home? Over a kitchen table, a dining room table or maybe the kitchen island? Maybe in your outdoor living area? Well, if you haven’t….you might want to give it some thought. This idea came to me in two ways….one of which was a fave table centerpiece by a friend of mine on Instagram, Sarah @blessedcrazytexasnest. I’ll show you a picture below of what I’m talking about and how motivated I was to make my own version of this. And, then I’ll explain why that particular piece wouldn’t work for my table.
As AMAZING as this is and as much as I want this….it just doesn’t function the way I need it to. One of the things my family teases me about the most is that I always have “stuff” or “crap” on the table that obstructs the view of the people across the table. Hahaha! I’m always having to go “oops!” and get up from the table to move decor out of the way so they can see each other. Soooooooo…..I didn’t want to have that issue with this piece. But, since we utilize the ends of our table, two people at each end, the design of this particular piece would obstruct those views which just wouldn’t work functionally. Sadly enough. And, I didn’t want to have to remove it and store it when I have family and friends over for dinner. I love decor and decorating and I have a storage shed for all my excess, BUT I’m trying to simplify to a certain degree. LOL. I’m an interior designer and decor addict by nature so there’s only so much simplifying I can realistically do!
I love the way the bottles hang down and the versatility of what you could do with them with regard to changing out themes, etc. So I started to ponder how to create a look without the visual obstruction or the storage necessity. And, then the visual image of some of the wedding venues popped into my head with the beautiful hanging centerpieces dressed up in the varying themes and colors. It was my “light bulb” moment. And, then the wheels started turning and voila I came up with a plan. I would do a hanging centerpiece that would create a similar vibe where I could hang the same bottles or other decor from. And, the bonus is that I could have tons of fun with holiday decorating! Win-win! So the process began….
I went to Home Depot and eye-balled some wood options that would be cheap and lightweight. I found these boards above. They were incredibly inexpensive, they were lightweight……perfect for what I needed. After playing around with them on the floor in the middle of the store (yes, I’m that person) I decided on a width of two feet and a length of six feet. That would be long enough for my large table and provide space for hanging all sorts of goodies.
Once I got home and laid them out on the table I measured the distance between each board.
Then I glued them all together and let them set.
Once the glue was all dry I screwed the boards into place.
I started out with a lighter stain and decided I wanted to go darker with to match my table a little better.
So for the second coat I used a darker walnut Minwax stain. I liked this better so I went over it a couple of times to be sure it was nicely covered and dark.
Once it was complete I had my installer come out and hang it (along with some other things) and I started playing around with some decor items I had on hand to style it with. I started with these lanterns.
And, remember the base container for the original inspo piece? Well, I found this water trough at a flea market and it’s the perfect size, shape and length.
A little more experimenting and I settled on this look for the summer. Simple greenery and yellow flowers. I decided to alternate the heights of the lanterns for a little more visual interest. And, I added some cascading greenery and some ivy vine.
Simple, but fun.
This DIY hanging centerpiece adds so much warmth out here and the trough/table centerpiece adds texture and interest. It’s not exactly the same cool centerpiece Sarah has above and although it’s a bit of a different vibe, her inspiration piece sure made this project come to life. And, I couldn’t be happier with the result!
Just by adding the black and white stripe chargers from Hobby Lobby and this black and white runner from Amazon this “semi-done table-setting” and ambiance feels ready for company, wine and fun.
I can’t wait for our first dinner party out here.
And, I can’t wait to decorate this for the different holidays. How fun will that be?
Here’s to a Happy Life By Design For Each and Every One of You!