Kitchen Towels As Placemats

It just seems right that if you can get double use out of something in life, you should!  A fresh kitchen towel is one of those things in life that can certainly take on a second job.  I am a creature of habit and especially in the kitchen.  I always have a large bowl of "hand towels" rolled up next to the sink.  These are for drying hands only.  My family knows this and wouldn't dare clean up a spill with one of my hand towels. Insert eye roll here.  Never fear, I keep a very large stack of freshly laundered kitchen clean up towels in the drawer next to the sink.  These towels are not going to have double duty on a table as a placemat for sure.

Eleven years ago as I attempted to transition out of interior design and began to style tables and work on table setting projects, I tripped upon this idea for placemats. Note that I said 'attempted' to transition out of interiors. I was newly divorced and God had another plan for me for several more years and that meant a full schedule of homes to renovate and rooms to design. Everything has come full circle and I've certainly moved forward with table styling.

The photo with the pretty black and white toile dishes was my first foray into towels having a double use eleven years ago. As I look at the photo, I realize that some things are timeless like classic black and white dishes, farmhouse islands and vintage jars. The fresh taupe and white hand towel makes the perfect backdrop for this table setting.  

The bright robin's egg blue stripe is a great addition of even more color to this color-full summer table on the porch. I pulled out my hand towels and gave them a quick iron and voila! you have a placemat you never knew you had!

At a fall event at Williams Sonoma I spoke about using things that you already have to set a table and simply adding a new item here and there to give your table a fresh look. At this event I grabbed some of their wonderful pumpkin orange towels and layered them as placemats over a runner. Look closely and you will see that the napkins are Williams Sonoma matching dishcloths. There are many items in your drawers, closets and pantries that I bet you didn't know had a secret life. Who knew...a dish towel as a placemat?  It works!

Ready to try this for yourself? View our kitchen towels here.

Sources:

Kitchen Towels & Napkins: amymontgomeryhome.com 

Flatware & Dishes: Personal Collection