Alexandria Living Magazine
Sara Raak in her home, where she runs a design business.
I love to host big parties and small get-togethers, but I don’t have the time or creativity to set up a Pinterest-worthy table for events at home.
Fortunately for people like me, there are people like Sarah Raak.
Raak, who lives in the Mount Vernon area, has an interior design business (SKG Designs and Style), and the fastest growing part of that is Totable Tablescapes.
The service delivers all-inclusive place settings and table decor – in a reusable tote bag – to harried hosts. Raak, who until December did interior design on the side while working for a marketing company, started the service with her sister, Collyn Capp, of Reston.
Raak and Capp provide everything but the flowers – and they’re working on that part. High-end, reusable silverware, plates, glasses, paper napkins, a table runner, placemats and more can be included in the fully customizable, very Pinterest-worthy settings. They have started shipping nationwide. Every table is one-of-a-kind with different curations and a mixture of easy and fun.
“You only get what you want and what you need,” Raak said.
Each tote comes with a guide showing you how to set up the table so you can set up your party with confidence.
Alexandria Living Magazine
“Everything is disposable but mostly reusable. It doesn’t have to look cheap,” Raak said. “My mother is from the South, and she believed in a well-dressed table for any occasion,” Raak said. “While I whole heartedly agree with her, I hated that one of us would be stuck in the kitchen washing all the dishes, or if you do socialize then someone would be up late washing all the dishes.”
With this service, she said, “You can have a beautiful table and not have to stay up late or miss your friends.”
Planning a perfect table isn’t as easy as running to the local Target or Party City and finding thing that match. A table setting Raak laid out this spring, including creative napkin rings, a runner, cutlery, plates, glasses and more, was curated from seven different stores.
For those who do want to try curating themselves, Raak has started offering workshops and classes on creating great tables. Those began with a workshop with Katie Wells, founder of Alexandria’s AR Workshop, but Raak also hosts home parties with wine and cheese that turn the workshop into a girls’ night.
In the workshops, Raak walks participants through the rules that she uses to pull togeth-er a table, uses a pre-set table as an example, and then builds a second table in front of them showing them her thought process. She also lets those at the party try their own hand at creating a setting.
Alexandria Living Magazine
“You can use so many things from your home for your table, and I think a lot of people don’t think about that,” Raak said. “I use scarves as table runners. You should have conversation around your table, so you should build things into your table that have meaning.”
Raak said that the workshops are always uplifting for her and for the attendees. “They’re always amazing. And that makes me happy. Because they walk away with a little more confidence.”
While quitting her full-time job at the end of 2018 to focus on design was a bit scary, Raak said the past few months growing Totable Tablescapes and SKG Designs and Style have been more fulfilling than she could have imagined. “It’s been an amazing few months.”
Raak said she doesn’t get much sleep these days, but “I don’t think I’ve ever been this motivated in my life. But I’m doing things that I love and I’m working toward some awesome goals, so it’s ok.”
Raak said the idea for Totable Tablescapes came from talking to Capp about business ideas while one of Raak’s two sons was in the hospital as an infant. (He’s eight years old now and healthy. Raak’s other son is 11 years old.) Raak now lives in the Mount Vernon area with her two sons, husband and two big, friendly dogs her son named Reagan and Martha Washington.
Learn more about SKG Designs and Style and Totable Tablescapes at skgdesignsandstyle.com. Online ordering is available.
