If you were sat around my table

If you were sat around my table, we would have a lovely time.

There would be conversations – fluff and big things to discuss. There will probably be a small (read hefty) pile of interiors magazines and cookbooks perched on the end of it. And a dog or two hovering under it. I’m not mentioning the seed trays that are currently hogging a corner.

If it’s at least Wednesday, there will be wine and the Co-op’s Salt & Vinegar crisps after work. And there would most definitely be food. Good food, simple food, very delicious food.

If just you and me, we’ll eat something that’s a bit of a treat from the fancy food market. If it’s a crowd of us, then it’s lashings of simple but tasty dishes. The table would be set with handmade linen napkins and David Mellor cutlery that is at least ten years old, and all the better for it. There may be meat – but not necessarily. It may be a homemade cake or crumpets.  Or it’s a scrap dinner. What you can do with a sausage, a jar of butterbeans, good oil and the bottom of a veg drawer is truly miraculous.

We would feel full – both in our bellies and our hearts – and we would know what home is.

Food and gathering around a table is fundamental to my family and by natural extension, to the team at Atelier Ellis. We have a full working kitchen and ever extending tables at our studio in London. Lunches are made and as a love language, discussing what everyone is eating for lunch is part of who we are. Today – a lot of eggs were consumed and the debate on the merits of shakshuka continued.

I believe the table is where most things happen and where human connections are made. Idling around a table is a beautiful pastime shared by people all over the world and it’s such a privilege. The act of setting a table is love dressed up as respect for our guests and our homes. Breaking bread (or crumpets) together – gives us a chance to pause, look around at one another and be grateful for what we have.

You will notice that many of our paint colours are named after food or the act of gathering. Fallen Plum, Jam, Rubus, Tea & Toast, Ice Cream, Lunching Ladies, Milk, Summer Pudding, Brown Betty, Sunday Suppers, della Casa, Landrace, Pollen, Putecotte and our very best Bread & Butter – all speak of time, people and place.

We can’t get enough of comforting, warm and human scale colours. And I felt our sunny, warm neutral family of Landrace, Bread & Butter and Cloth needed some friends at their table.

And so, we serve you Crumpet and At The Table. I’ll think you’ll find them very easy to live with, and a delicious reminder of the joy of sharing a table and our homes.

Cassandra x 

PS : This was filmed in our London studio and, yes, those crumpets were homemade.

 Photography by Ellen Christina Hancock