Ok so random aside.

I went to the RT Facts site just to look around, and I must have these huge antique terracotta olive jars! I must also have a real Tuscan villa (the kind in Tuscany) to go with.

I know he is there to show scale, and I guess wants privacy, but doesn't it look like he is peeing? ROTFLMAO!

I can’t tell the ceiling height in the entry but it doesn’t look like it would support a tall arrangement like the one in the photo plus two hanging lamps. I would be more inclined to use a vase with one very pretty spray of something—- substantial but not a branch that would get all the way up in the hanging light space. You could def try it with that glass thingie.

Do you have a collection of nice shells or magnifying glasses or anything that would lend itself to display on the table? You don’t have enough books on it to read ”library table,” so I would either replace the all the books with something else or get a lot more to stack. (Or you could keep a few of the books as stands for items in the collection.) The table and lights are lovely!

So you don't like the shorts? Tee hee. I can certainly beef up the books. But in the inspiration photo, they don't use a lot of books either?

Can't think of any collection-y stuff.

I wasn't thinking necessarily *as* high, but more than general shape; i guess in this case it'd be between the lanterns.

hmm. Should I ... remove the lanterns?

This is from the back door looking toward the front. Diff rug, diff bookcase on the right, diff iphone camera for sure!

I love a traditional round table in the foyer with a dramatic floral arrangement (preferably something in season— like peonies, or hydrangeas or pussy willows.) here is a floral arrangement using a vessel similar to yours

This one is also pretty but a bit too too

Mock ups ---can scale the greenery to some exten

No to removing your lanterns, they're great! I do like that look of the vase with the branches. I would try the demi john or another vase with some cut branches from your yard.

Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers, so i’m sure the urn looks great with them.

And yes, my first thought was the guy looks like he’s peeing, lol!

From the short end, the table looks fine. From the long side, I think it looks a bit cluttered. Plus, one side is mostly white/light objects and the other side is mostly dark. You know how I am about symmetry. The books in the other house are more symmetrical. All of the books are of similar size. There are 2 books in each pile. And the colors are not such a marked contrast.

The first thing I thought when I saw the picture of the olive jars was that the guy looks like he is peeing! Surely we are not the only two people who see that.

Do you ever use the foyer and that table for dinner guests, maybe overflow when you have quite a few people dining with you? If so, I would definitely not remove the lanterns.

Give the demijohn with long branches a try.

I love the long branches. It really balances the space. It is interesting as before I saw your mock up, I thought... hmmmm that might be a lot going on with both larger lanterns. Then I saw your mock up and thought, wow this reallhy makes everything work so well together.

As always, everything you own and what you do with it is always inspiring! I would go for it!

Oh and yeah that guy totally looks like he is peeing! That thought was the first thought and image that came to mind. I barely noticed the massive jars. haha

one side is mostly white/light objects and the other side is mostly dark.

... good point, i can definitely do that! I had them that way because the books on the right are our dictionaries, and my huge OED with glass, which is too big for any bookcase. I don't have anything that size to balance it, so it has to go.

Do you ever use the foyer and that table for dinner guests, maybe overflow when you have quite a few people dining with you? No, we have never done that. One of the unfortunate things when we moved here was that we had this lovely table (DH and I's first married purchase, too) and no place to put it (too formal for our DR, plus we bought the PO's table since it fits the DR so well). We also had an oversized custom Stickley cherry round table from our old Kitchen and no place to put that, either! We actually built an addition for that table (our craft room). Our kitchen here has a rectangular trestle table that just fits there. So we have four dining tables all told. We have not had to disturb the foyer yet.

I have already edited my post twice. I really wish there was an autocorrect for spelling here!!

It is dark here, and cold. Even so I am dying to scavenge the grounds for branches. I would probably do it but for the fact that i have no table there right now because the floor people are due in the morning!

Aha! I shall not be daunted. I grabbed some bamboo from the just by the side door. Oh no, now I want demijohns everywhere!

There's that darn bar again!

I need that horse!

Because the table is oblong and not round, I would put three large pots/vessels/jars and make that the focal point. The urn/vessel + books will always be ”lopsided” because of the table shape.

If the three items are big enough, then I might not add anything else.

I would just do a large vase with the arrangement more vertical.

I don't think need all books especially since your eye goes to that bookcase on the right.

The bookcase is out; it was finally jettisoned when we emptied the house for the floor people yesterday. Its OTT style and mammoth proportions worked very well in the space for which it was acquired, the formal and grand second floor hall/stairwell in Montclair. Here is was literally and figuratively shoehorned in.

As for the horse, I believe I have told this story before. I feel like an old married couple.

Anyway, I came across a Berkshires dealer who had an orginal Sutro Baths poster. I wanted to put it on our big empty wall at one end of the pool (where I have the Frida Kahlo standard?). It was far more than I wanted to spend and not wise to keep it an uber-dry environment such as our pool, but DH and I decided to drive up one crisp fall day on a lark. We spent the afternoon with the dealer and his wife touring their gallery/home, had cocktails, and came home with a rusty horse.

Could you keep the current urn and use floral foam to insert branches then cover in moss? That way you could make the arrangement taller as well as wide. Perhaps raise the height of the arrangement by placing urn on book stacks or a riser?

How about some type of tall cloche on the urn--could be made from twigs with greens inside? Or a glass cloche. Perhaps a topiary surrounded by moss?

Def leave the lights where they are, add proportional arrangement between them and either more books arranged all the way around or no books. Or a collection of old Playbills fanned out, do you save those? They’re always something fun for people to look at, Or well-composed / interesting framed pictures of your travels— not people but of mountains, temples, market streets, etc. I know photos seem to be disappearing from interiors these days, which might be a good reason to feature them.

I love the branches in the demijohn. I would probably do that plus books only. And I am tickled to have learned the English name for damigiana, thank you!

And now I have learned it in Italian, Zalco! I love the branches too. The gardener is hear doing some work today else Id be scouting something with a little more oomph than dying bamboo. He was with the property 10 years before us and he is very protective of it. DH gets scolded when he drives on the grass, LOL.

KSWL, I have a lot of books, even after giving many away to the library, so I will start trying to up my game and not focus so much on the few books we actually use (i.e. the dictionaries).

Could you keep the current urn and use floral foam to insert branches then cover in moss? That way you could make the arrangement taller as well as wide.

Teeda, oooh, i have both floral foam and sheet moss and clumpy moss (whatever you call it). I got on a moss kick after envying Rubyclaire's big beautiful bowl of it (I think that was whose it was?) I will have to look up some ideas about how to do this!

I do have a cloche but it isn't nearly as wide as the urn.

Why all the books? I don't understand anything besides the urn/flowers on there unless it's just coming or going with someone. Too cluttered.

Well, it is a pretty big table for an entry ... it is my DR table sans leaves. I'd guess it is 8 feet, but I can't get to it right now. I felt it needed something.

Love the lanterns and your mock-up of large arrangement in the center of them. I think the foam/moss idea is a great way to use the urn, which is beautiful.

I recall the tale now of how you acquired the horse--the dealer's hospitality struck a chord. They must have been just lovely people, the kind we appreciate crossing paths with.

Kswl wrote: I know photos seem to be disappearing from interiors these days. I didn't notice that until I watched one of those Beach Cottage Chronicles recently that featured a photographer who displayed her work, which is something I hadn't seen in a while. Why is this depersonalization a trend?

Well, people have argued for years about the appropriateness of family photos in entertaining areas. I think it comes from the discomfort of feeling the need to comment on huge portraits, IDK. Personally I think if you have a jumble of small photos in frames on a table, it becomes almost like a collection or pattern and does not loom over people. YMMV

Feathers, they were just lovely.