Tablescape Design
Tips for your holiday table
Our Tablescape for the Swarthmore Historical Society House Tour
With the holidays quickly approaching I wanted to give you some inspiration to craft a memorable Thanksgiving table. Styling a table is one of the lowest-hanging fruit of interior design--you can transform the feel of your space without spending the time and money on a re-design. Follow a few easy tips below and add a bunch of fresh greens and a few carefully chosen tchotchkes, and you can have a fun and stylish holiday table.
How should you approach styling a table? More is more. From Marie Kondo to the Mid-Century Modern craze, everything seems to be trending towards minimalism these days. When it comes to styling a table for a holiday, though, don't skimp--a full table with greens and other elements will be more festive and lively.
First, pick a table theme and a color scheme to go along with it. Think outside the box: Venetian masquerade? Thanksgiving by the sea? Rustic plaid? Fox hunt? Go nuts!
Your theme and color scheme should tie in your flowers, napkins, plates and name cards (if you have them) and other elements. If you are doing Venetian masquerade you can have masks instead of place cards, Venetian tile or glasswork, lace and gold glitter just to name a few ideas.
Next, to go beyond simply coordinating the basic elements add some more off-the-beaten-path items. Here I used a soup tureen instead of a vase. Unexpected odds and ends from an antique store or thrift shop can come in handy.
Our Tablescape for the Swarthmore Historical Society House Tour
A few ideas--feathers, figurines, fruit, glitter, old silver trophies, Christmas lights, glassware of all shapes and sizes, seashells, antique books, ribbons, tile pieces, or anything that fits your theme.
Finally, load it up with flowers and greens--you'll be surprised how much it takes to fill a table. Go out in the back yard and clip some holly or other evergreens if necessary to fill out the look. Real flowers and greens are are preferable since they only need to last one day. This centerpiece had over twelve different large flower bouquets and cuttings from the backyard.
Our Tablescape for the Swarthmore Historical Society House Tour
Another great idea is to make a greenery rope because you can use it later in decorating for the Christmas. The key to keeping your greens alive longer and not crackly by December is to soak them fully with a greenery antitranspirant such as Wilt Stop to prevent the moisture to leach out after cutting.
Need more ideas? Here are a few of my favorite tablescape selections with links in the caption below!
From Left to Right: Chargers , Napkins, Cane Candle Holder, Candle Holder, Cabbage Plate, Silver Bowl, Ribbon Napkin Rings, Pheasant feathers, Silver Napkin Rings