Event Planning Made Easy with Chelsey Hale

Hi! I'm Chelsey and I write the lifestyle blog West Coast Capri where I share all of my passions from entertaining and cooking a delicious meal to my favorites in fashion, beauty products and designs for your home - all while being a mom to three little kids here in southern California. I also run an interior design business @chelseyhaledesign where I work with clients on new home builds or smaller remodels. I have always had a passion for design since I was a little girl but didn't know I could make a career out of it until I got my interior design degree and loved the work. I've worked at design firms in Salt Lake City and around LA until starting my own business after I had my daughter, Capri.

My style is ever changing with each project I work on but I am always drawn to crisp traditional design with modern elements. I love a neutral color palette that's layered with texture and beautiful finishes. I always think that the beauty is in the details and the finishing touches can completely change a space like hardware and lighting.  

Entertaining is something I really love to do because it's such a labor of love to create a beautiful tablescape and delicious food to enjoy with people and invite them into your home. We love to eat out on our back patio whenever we can, so that's where we set the table for thanksgiving and I created a tablescape with everything I already had at home. You can easily create this look with a simple neutral tablecloth and table runner.

Then layer your place settings with a fun set of dishes and glasses. I always think you should bring out your nice set of silverware or dishes because there is never going to be a better time to use them and everyday should be celebrated. Instead of using the traditional napkin rings I  decided to do a knot in the napkin to give it a more unique look. You could also tie a little name tag for guests on a pear or a pomegranate and set it on each place setting to match the decor.

I made a floral centerpiece arrangement with mostly flowers from the local market and then ran candles of different sizes down the middle of the table. Remember when you're putting your flowers together that you want to keep the centerpiece low so that people can see across the table to each other and also to mix in flowers of different shapes to help give the arrangement some dimension. You could even just keep it simple and cut a few branches from your backyard and use that down the center of your table instead of a center arrangement. It's amazing how good some simple greenery can look on a table and then your food will be the main focus. I try to keep all of my serving pieces in matching whites and always serve everything in a dish, never the container it came in.

 

Having people in your home is such a great way to get to know new friends and it always makes me happy to see my table filled with people enjoying a good meal together. It creates such a more intimate setting to really develop great friendships.  

I get inspiration from lots of things around me, sometimes I'll find a color palette in nature or walking through a great decor store and I'll try to incorporate it into a room. Traveling and new places always inspires me, I've been pinning a lot on Pinterest for inspiration on some current jobs I'm doing and I also am inspired by some amazingly talented people I follow.