This past weekend we had dinner at my mother's house, and we cooked for her and two of her old friends. It was a lovely summer evening. My first job was to set the table, something I love doing. For this table I kept it simple and went with three runners that Sara Kate's mother had made on her last visit and some grasses from nearby...

I consider table-top making an art form and these little experiments, so I thought I'd photograph a bit of the progress.

1. This first pic is the after pic with the runners, plates and glasses, four small votives with Ikea candles, a vase of grass and lavender from her garden and the wine (wine bottles are great decorations!).

2. Before - this is the table with nothing on it. It was also very dirty and had to be washed.

3. For the first arrangement I used only two runners and realized that - as pretty as it was- it wasn't going to work for five people.

4. I then switched to three runners which made six places, but used one for the vase and lavender so that it didn't seem awkward. Note, as well, that I seated everyone so that they could see the water as the sun set!

5. After - For a finishing touch, I placed a sprig of lavender across each plate (note: these are my mother's old Wedgewood blue plates that she got from her mother. They're lovely, but not white. I prefer white when table setting as it sets everything off so much better). Oh, and there's Ursula.

Got a great table setting of your own? Let us hear about it - email newyork@apartmenttherapy.com.