l'Italienne 
In this particular historical moment, the only thing we can and must do is stay home.
Somebody might find this idea terribly boring, a huge sacrifice, while I truly think we can take advantage of this stop-period instead.
Because good ideas come always from moment of quiet and calmness.
So, during the lockdown, i decided to organize better my spaces, my home, the closet, my agenda, my Trello (and read here if you don’t know what this amazing tool is); i am projecting a new colored planner, since color make me feel good and i have already started thinking to new projects.
But everything while i am sipping my tea!
Because, yes! I desperately love tea and everything related to it.
And since it seems we are going to spend time at home, today I’ll show you how to set your tea table and make your personal home tea room!
Let’s say a small indoor event organized in the comfort of our own house that we can enjoy with husband, kids, or by ourselves (and even better if you ask me 😛 ).
Home tea room: how to set your tea table.
The space: furniture and table items
Ok. I will be clear.
Forget the picture that you probably have seen online with all kinds of things on top of the table. Forget them! Dozens of teacups, decorative objects, napkins, figurines, frames…No.
We need SPACE.
Once your tea is ready, you have to enjoy it just by being comfortably seated on your chair; and a table full of items, in fact, is not the proper image of the relax concept.
Remember: tea is synonym of tradition, calmness and elegance. That means that, of course, we can give a touch of color to our tables, but without exceeding by adding all kind of objects.
Therefore, now that i made this clear, let’s see what you really need to set your tea table:
- A table (of course)
- Tablecloth
- Vase for flowers
- Cupcakes stand
- Tea cup
- Tea plate
- Plate
- Napkin
- Teaspoon
- Butter knife
- Fork (small or for dessert)
- Milk pot
- Tea pot
- Sugar pot
- Chandelier
The table
Every small table you have at home, will be perfect.For example, I use my vintage outdoor tea table that i had to bring in because of the frequent storms.
The tablecloth
Roll out the tablecloth paying attention to the wrinkles. Something that i always suggest, is to use another tablecloth underneath, cause it helps to eliminate the wrinkles and to keep stable any object on the table.
Make sure that the tablecloth never touch the floor neither shows the legs of the table.
Flowers
The vase goes on the side of the table. We don’t want to prevent the conversation with the other person, neither obstacle our view if we are drinking by ourselves.
About the flowers it is always a good idea choosing seasonal flowers: of course if we are on December, we can’t expect fresh spring flowers on our table!
Tea table set up: from napkin to…
I always start with the napkins and then i put the fork on top of it. After that, and proceeding to the right: plate – whose diameter needs to be at least 2 inches bigger than the tea plate – butter knife and fork.
Now put the tea plate and the teacup on top of the bigger plate.
Teapot, milk pot and sugar pot are placed on a side, a little bit ahead of your plate, and at the opposite side of the cupcake stand and flowers vase.
Porcelain please!
Forget ceramic and metal bricks. Ceramic not always keeps the high temperature, whilst metal changes the taste of the tea. Porcelain is highly recommend, instead.
More beautiful and perfect for our very hot tea!
I am terribly in love with the Danish porcelain, but it is true that its prices sometimes are unfortunately not that affordable.
If you are an estimator…Well, nothing to say! But I have to say that there are a lot of porcelain brands with affordable prices and high quality of material as well!
One of those is London Boutique, whose tea services are made of resistant, beautiful and machine washable porcelain. Moreover, the style is retro with a touch of shabby motif and Provence style.
Teapot and teacup. 2 in 1.
A solution that i personally love – since we are talking about services – is the 2 in 1, teapot and teacup, perfect for a single relaxing tea. The greatest thing is that, once you wash and dry them, you just put the teapot on top of the cup and you save half of the space in the cabinet!
Malacasa, sweetime editon, offers very nice models of those kind of double item: porcelain, machine washable, resistant and simply stunning to see!!
5 O’clock afternoon tea. set your tea table with food and etiquette.
The scone is a classic of the British tea tradition, but if you are not crazy about its taste, you can opt for muffins, cupcakes and macarons too.
Remember: eat the food with the hands, hold the cup by the handle, take little sips of tea and…Put your pinkie finger down!
From Downton abbey to our homes: the tea cart.
For sure one of the most iconic home decor item of the history!
A vintage piece very common in Downton abbey, the serie – where they drink tea almost every 15 minutes – and now in high demand!
Perfect for English style living room, Provence style and farmhouse too, the tea cart can be used as a furniture, for magazines, books, lamps – small Tiffany ones for example – or simply as tea cart! 😀
But…How do I prepare the tea?
No no. No tea bags. I know they are easy and quick, but the afternoon tea is a ritual made of leaves, fresh water and boilers.
Every kind of tea has a different infusion time and a specific temperature, that’s why i recommend the use of food thermometers.
When the water reaches the ideal temperature, pour a little bit in the teapot and twirling it for few seconds. After that, put the infuser or the filter with your tea leaves (usually 1 teaspoon of tea for each person) into the teapot and close it.
Now pour the tea in your teacup and taste it!
Milk? always in the the milk pot, to be used only AFTER pouring the tea and never mixed with lemon.
So, organizing a perfect afternoon tea is tradition and art as well but everything including beautiful items and creativity and a personal touch is art, isn’t it?
“I say let the world go to hell, but I should always have my tea.”. Fëdor Dostoevskij