Last Thanksgiving, the kids and I unexpectedly flew to my parent’s home in New Orleans after all our local schools were shut down as a result of the Camp Fire. It was such a tragic event for our community, but a little silver lining was that I got to spend Thanksgiving with family for the first time in a long time! It was nothing short of a miracle that we were able to find reasonably priced tickets around Thanksgiving at such late notice. And really a blessing to be away from all the horrendous smoke.

My parents have recently converted a barn on their property into a little guest house. Since there are nine of us kids, it really makes it nice when we come to visit! When my mom said she wanted to have Thanksgiving in the “breezeway” (the aisle down the middle of the barn), of course the men rolled their eyes at all the thought of lugging furniture around. My sister and I (who is an interior designer by the way, check out her gorgeous Instagram feed here) may have shrieked with excitement. I didn’t get a chance to share the photos last year, but I think it all turned out just too magical not to share.

First of all can we just talk about how gorgeous it all is! I love the brickwork they’ve done down the breezeway. To the right you can see the original barn structure and stalls. And to the left you can see that they’ve converted that side to the guest house. They used the original barn wood for the siding! On the far side the breezeway opens up to a pond. It’s really a beautiful setting (especially in the fall, maybe not as much in the summer with all the humidity!)

We brought two tables out and hung lights above the tables. The tablescape is mostly gourds and greenery. It’s hard to wrong with a hoard of gourds 😉

We stole some branches from the kumquat tree and it really ended up being gorgeous. Good thing that kumquat tree finally came in handy for something! And when you are going rustic, you definitely have to go sans-tablecloth (in my opinion).

One of my favorite little touches was having the kids write and decorate the placecards. And using a pinecone as a placecard holder is perfect for a Thanksgiving Tablescape. Just steer away from the ones covered in sap ;).

We went for more of an eclectic look for the dishes, rather than matchy-matchy. (My interior design sister is always telling me that matchy-matchy is out ;)) But I think it’s especially fitting for this rustic feel.

Here’s a few more photos that hopefully can help inspire your Thanksgiving Tablescape! Dangerous things happen when an Interior Designer, a party planner, and the woman who created them both get together! Muahahaha.

And yes, we might have eaten pie on the floor in the dining room as a result of this.

Be sure to follow along on Instagram to stay up to date with all the happenings around here. And if you’re looking for more Thanksgiving help check out my Gobble Gobble banner.