DBC Darlings,

Earrings and placemats. Those two forms of adornment have consumed me (and I them!) since the pandemic. First, the earrings: they help feminize my increasingly casual uniform of straight-leg jeans and white tee-shirts and continue to elevate my zoom look, rivaling any ring light around. I find myself favoring those that are antique, clip and faceted. A faceted white topaz is substantially less expensive than a diamond and does the same trick – brightens the face.

Placemats also brighten the face. Allow me to explain. They are your daily passport to a harmonious place – but not all are alike, as I discovered during the early days of quarantine and the countless consecutive meals that came with it. With such frequent and continuous use, I realized not all placemats are created equal. Mats made of linen required time and money to clean. Cotton canvas styles quickly lost form. Cork-backed versions didn’t live up to the their easy-to-clean promise. Hand-embroidered, vintage mats didn’t partner (or fare) well with taco Tuesdays. And frankly, the laminated mats, with their block-letter personalization, stylistically crushed me. What I yearned for daily was a set of fashionable, functional placemats that didn’t lose form, could sustain heavy usage and were easy to clean, store and grip (a necessity for the smaller hands in my household). When finding such place settings proved impossible, I decided to design and create them myself. And by combining the names of my eldest daughter, Sage, and my sister-in-law’s eldest son, Will, who were born mere hours apart, I came up with SiLL—a name to honor a day that expanded my heart and my table.

While SiLL is meant to offer placemats for all ages, meals and moments, the intention is much more far reaching. Experts tell us the world will be better if we share more meals around the table with loved ones. SiLL makes that idea easy, and even more beautiful, and I am pleased to officially welcome you to my new venture – and table: www.sillthetable.com

There is room at the table for both SiLL and DBC Advisory because they share the same purpose: to help people share their stories and make meaningful connections via decorative objects. I think of placemats as jewels that adorn a table—they can be used as a means to share and connect with others, their timeless beauty endures far beyond their original purpose, and their return on investment is inestimable.

SiLL placemats, earrings, casual dress and your loved ones around a table – does it get any better?!

Stay adorned, x