Decor

With spring in the air, designer Monica Pedersen walks us through a sunny brunch table designed to kick off the warm weather.

Above: table and chairs, buffet, table light, Decorium; chandelier, Biltmore; dinner plates, juice glasses, S&P shakers, pitcher, glass vases, cherry blossom branches, Pottery Barn; runner fabric, Designer Fabric Outlet; rug, W Studio; cake stands, napkins, HomeSense; twig cutlery, West Elm

To get started, look at your decor and through your dinnerware: Do you have any prominent colours or serving dishes with some colour? If so, take that colour and run with it. In this case, the yellow wall and plates were the jumping off point for this entire Easter brunch scheme.

Invest a small amount of money in a few festive pieces. We purchased a canary yellow fabric with a lattice detail to create a do-it-yourself runner that adds huge drama to the center of this table. Be sure to keep the size of your table in mind when purchasing your fabric because you don't want your runner falling short.

It wouldn't be Easter without a few eggs, bunnies, or chicks, so include one or two items that really speak to Easter traditions. We splurged on salt and pepper shakers shaped as chicks to add a whimsical touch to the table top. Similarly, we found cherry blossom branches and hung Easter eggs from them to create a bold and festive statement on the sideboard. We were able to find some sparkly egg ornaments, which we hung, but broke it up with some DIY eggs that were speckled foam with ribbon hot glued to the tops.

When pulling together a holiday brunch table really think in abundance. We filled vases with mounds of chocolate and candy. They act as a fantastic centerpiece and will create easy and foolproof parting gifts for your guests. Fresh flowers are also in abundance on this table. In the spring, flowers like mums, daffodils, and tulips are relatively inexpensive, so splurge and do them in repetition. We always suggest keeping your colour scheme monochromatic to avoid too much visual clutter.