ELEVATE | Why Eat or Entertain with Linens?

alison kent HOME KITCHEN thyme watercolor border graphic artwork

We eat around 3 meals a day, not including snack time, and for most of us – especially now during COVID – that means around 800 of our 1100 eating episodes are spent at a table of sorts. Whether we entertain for one or for the masses, the sometimes sloppy work of putting food in our mouths requires protective gear in the form of a napkin.

White paper towels are handy in a quick pinch, but – other than hardly being eco-friendly – do they really do the trick? Not to get emotional about a napkin, but having collected them for a decade now, there’s simply nothing like natural fabric on your lap to make the experience of sustaining human life through food all the sweeter, don’t you think?

Early on with a new family I would set a table with placemats and linen napkins – back then some horrid shade of brown cotton – to make every meal together seem special. It was just as easy as ripping off paper towel, but somehow I knew even early on that it would elevate our time together in a special way.

alison kent home kitchen dinner table setting napkins linen cotton gather entertain eating vintage french

My beloved Nana was a crafty woman, handy to the core with a sewing needle and piece of fabric. She was the one that taught me how to sew, forcing me to un-stitch all my rushed lines if they weren’t ‘to code’. She once made this tablecloth and napkin set that felt so special I was afraid to ever use them… In memory of her now, I really should.

Wandering the Parisian Flea Markets one early Spring, I saw and IMMEDIATELY picked up a set of 8 cream linen square napkins with a dark grey serged edge. Simple. Some wear. But beautifully curly and … authentic, somehow. Again, I was afraid to use them – to WASH them! – in case they fell into threadbare wastage. But, as with all my vintage, I’ve always thought that if I don’t use it, what’s the point? In the end, I’ve used them THE MOST and they’re still as perfectly imperfect as the day I found them. Or, the day they found me.

alison kent home kitchen dinner table setting napkins linen cotton gather entertain eating vintage french

My current collection of napkins – that I actually use for any and every occasion – varies in either Cotton or Linen, from plain white to blue striped IKEA dishtowels (great for Crab nights!), from vintage finds to, now, my very own collection.

alison kent home kitchen dinner table setting napkins linen cotton gather entertain eating vintage french ikea

As a sidenote, Linen, from the flax plant, has proven itself through our everyday gatherings to be durable and super absorbent. It ages gracefully, like a well-lived woman, softening but strong as ever. I love working with natural fabrics, the hand-feel in the rawness of threads derived from actual plants and not from chemical mixtures in a laboratory somewhere.

alison kent home kitchen dinner table setting napkins linen cotton gather entertain eating vintage french

With all the allergies in our house, Linen’s hypoallergenic loose weave and quickness to dry is just an added bonus. It’s official – I’m in love! They elevate any everyday meal to something more.

alison kent HOME KITCHEN design gather elevate compose home cook linen embroider napkins

HOW EXCITED AM I to finally have a DRAWER for easy-access to all my LINENS?!
You can follow along on my Kitchen reno progress on Instagram with #alisonsKITCHENreno, or HERE over at Compose.

alison kent home kitchen dinner table setting napkins linen cotton gather entertain eating vintage french

What do you use at home? Do you prefer cloth napkins or the simplicity of paper? Cotton or Linen?
Share a pic of your favorites and tag me on your Instagram Stories!