The Holidays are here, and whether you’re decorating for Thanksgiving or Christmas the table sets the mood for this special season. Below I have pulled together some ideas to help you on your journey to the perfect table for you.
Happy Holidays!
Let’s Get Inspired
With today’s technology, there are so many options that can help you on your way to creating the perfect setting for your holiday tablescape! It just takes a little deep dive into social media, perusing some magazines, or a shopping trip to our local home stores to gather ideas and inspiration.
I always like to create a Pinterest board and start pulling ideas and images that catch my eye, then a month or so before my event I go in and choose my top 10, saving the others for the following year. This helps narrow down your thoughts and ideas, so you have a clearer path to the direction you want to go, keeping in mind that sometimes getting out of the box is the most fun and creative.
Choosing Your Color Scheme
As you’re looking through your inspiration’s photos, is there a common color you are drawn to? If so, this is your color palette for the year. It could be you’re drawn to the more traditional red and green with a sprinkling of gold. Blues and whites are beautiful hues that go together creating a calming effect, while silver and gold are elegant and easy to blend with multiple design directions. I personally am drawn to silver, white, and gold using natural elements.
Special note: It’s important that you take into consideration how you want the adjoining rooms to feel; the design and color palette should flow throughout the rooms, so it’s cohesive and blends beautifully.
Layering Your Linens
One of the first things you’ll want to decide upon is the type of linens you want to use. Be intentional and choose wisely—this is the basis of your design. Do you want to pull in plaids or florals, or keep it more formal and elegant with solid colors? If you choose to mix patterns make sure they are very different yet pull the same colors—you want it to look intentional.
There are many ways to use linens on your table. You may choose to use a tablecloth, a runner, or just a placemat and napkins. There’s no wrong answer here; it’s your design, your choice. Here are some ideas for each.
Tablecloth – Choose a tablecloth in your color palette, or go neutral so you can pull in the elements of your color scheme with the other decorations.
Special note: Layering your tablecloths adds dimension and interest. You can use a larger one then smaller on top, or use a larger one and layer with a runner or two running the width of the table. If using a round table, you can use a larger circular linen that drapes over the side, then add a square linen over the top in either a solid or print pattern.
Table Runner – A table runner can add interest, depth and texture to your tablescape. You can layer this over your tablecloth or use it on its own. Again, think: layering. If you use a larger table runner with extra width on the bottom and add a smaller runner over the top, it’s easier to add a bold pattern or a table runner with its own personality like feathers, fur, or jute.
Special note: Using a bold pattern as the bottom layer works well as a peekaboo to the solid over the top, tying your color scheme together.
Placemats – If you choose to use a placemat, you can have a lot of fun here. Use solid or print, rectangle, square or circle, cloth, rattan, or leather; be creative. The main thing to remember is to make sure the placemat is large enough for your place setting.
Napkins – Napkins may be one of the last elements of your design you add. You can put them in a glass, create special folds, tie with creative elements to put on the plate, fold in a long rectangle and place under the main plate… There are so many options! Look through your inspiration photos and see which one will work best for your design.
Choosing Tableware
Dinner Plates – When choosing dinnerware, the most versatile is classic white. With this being said, and if it’s within your budget, try to coordinate with your design and color scheme. For example, adding a coordinating salad plate with a pattern or subtle design elevates your tablescape and adds a bit of charm and elegance.
Chargers – Use chargers in place of placemats; you can go with standard gold and silver or be creative with wood rounds, feather, leather, fur, or greenery. The options are endless.
Flatware – Traditional gold or silver works perfectly here, but don’t be afraid to incorporate flatware with a patterned handle.
Serving Dishes – These important dishes should coordinate with your color scheme and overall design, but they don’t have to match your dinner plates. Have fun with them!
Make It Personal
By adding personal elements to your design, you welcome your guests in a whole new way. It can be as simple as a name tag tied with jute around a napkin or as elaborate as a special gift with their name on it placed on the top salad plate.
The Centerpiece
Here is where you bring your table to life. You can choose to use a simple traditional floral arrangement, adding some candles, or design an elaborate tablescape scene. Just remember to use different heights and materials to add depth. This can be in the form of candles, candlesticks, trees, garland, greenery, faux animals, ornaments— the list is endless. Below are a few ideas to help get your creative juices flowing.
Natural Gatherings
For this tablescape, start with a neutral runner; you can use burlap, a runner with fur, or even a jute runner. Don’t forget layering—it’s fun to put a wider runner on bottom and a slightly thinner one on top with a different material or pattern to add dimension. Get a full evergreen garland strand and put it in the middle of your table, then start filling it in. Add different-height candles or use a glass cylinder lined with cedar branches and filled with water and finished with a floating candle. You can add pinecones or faux animals for filling or pull in the color scheme with floral picks.
Snowflake Inspiration
Start with a white or silver glitter or a white fur table runner, then add different heights of faux white and silver trees from your local home store—these can be made of all different materials, feathers, ceramic, glitter, or wood. It’s fun to search out just the right balance of trees and hues of white to add interest and elegance. Add your varied-height candles using candlesticks and votive holders. Reindeer are a fun element to add to this design, as are white ceramic holiday houses.
Classic Christmas
Here we are pulling in reds and greens while adding gold accents. Start with a thick green garland, fill in with plaid ribbon, poinsettias, and/or ornaments, then take gold candlesticks and votives and place them throughout the garland. These can match or vary to add additional texture. When layering your garland, there are a couple of ways to configure how you place the candlesticks. Think of a triangle with the larger candlesticks in the center flowing downward to each side of the garland, or work in horizontal lines flowing across the garland. In either case, you’ll want to use shorter candles to add depth to your tablescape.
