10 TIPS FOR SETTING A GORGEOUS CHRISTMAS TABLE

Christmas is only a few days away and if you’re hosting a Christmas dinner you’ll want to set a beautiful and memorable table. And setting a sugar plum table is easy when you know a few tips to help! Today I have 10 tips to set a beautiful Christmas table.

Let’s set a fabulous Christmas table now…

CREATE A COLOR SCHEME FOR THINGS YOU ALREADY HAVE

Many of the same items in my Christmas table turn up year after year. It’s good! I just touch them up to look fresh. And one way to prevent your Christmas table from always looking the same old is to change up the colors you use on the table. Using the planters on a table might be a favorite, but the items in them and the colors are different.

This year my table was silver, white and celadon green. How about pink, red and aqua or mostly just a hint of red and green?

Or how about brown with red and white for a forest color scheme!

USE WHITE Crockery EVERY DAY

If you have white dishes, use them. They’re the perfect backdrop for every other beautiful Christmas-inspired thing on your table. I used to have a set of Christmas tableware and loved it, but I can do a lot more and I’m not fenced in by the motifs or colors on my old Christmas tableware. When it comes to white tableware, you are only limited by your own imagination!

White crockery is so easy to find and cheap. I’m looking for white dishes with great edges. So beautiful.

USE FAUX SNOW

Oh I LOVE fake snow!!! It makes the most fabulous “table runner”. It makes an instant Christmas statement… and what a statement!

I run it in the center of my table and then lightly sprinkle some over my place settings. Definitely a fantasy look! When dinner is over and it’s time to tidy up the table, I collect the snow and use it next year!

The snow, which is my first choice, has big flakes and looks like torn plastic bags. This snow looks the best.

ADD AN ELEMENT OF SURPRISING TO ANY LOCATION

Christmas is the perfect opportunity to add all sorts of surprise Christmas elements to your table settings. Most of us eat appetizers and a libation before serving dinner so those fun elements can be enjoyed before they have to be brushed away.

Here are some great little surprises to add to a Christmas table…

• Log slices that act as chargers
• small wreaths between the plates
• Snow… Everywhere!
• Pine cones holding name cards
• Cutlery tied in a bow with bells
• a fun napkin fold like a Christmas tree
• a small present on a pile of dishes
• a small wreath that works like a napkin ring
• Kugeln filled with snow and a votive candle

Add a small takeaway gift to each location

Place a small wrapped gift or a pretty Christmas bauble on the top tray of each place setting for your guests to take home and commemorate the time spent with you. This is a signature dinner at StoneGable.

One of my cute friends invited us to dinner and put together a little flip book of a field trip we took to a local museum. We all loved it!

Some great little souvenirs are…

• a bunch of candy canes tied in a pretty velvet bow
• a bleached pinecone made into an ornament (see HERE how to bleach pinecones)
• a Christmas ornament
• a Chinese take away box with homemade truffles, sweets or biscuits
• a small candle
• a small rosemary tree
• a gilded pomegranate
• a small picture frame
• a small bag of coffee or tea

USE LOTS OF GREEN FAUX OR REAL

Decorate your hallways and table with vegetables. You are Christmas through and through!

USE CANDLES AND LANTERNS

Even if you have a Christmas brunch, use candles and lanterns. They radiate a beautiful Christmas glow! A little light from a candle uplifts even the simplest table. Place lots of pretty candle holders and lanterns in the center of a table for a gorgeous effect!

As you can see on the woodland table below, I love pinecone candles!!!!!

REPEAT CHRISTMAS ELEMENTS

That’s a big design secret! Repetitive elements are perceived as attractive by your mind. And think of all the Christmas elements you can multiply on one table!

Repeating elements on a table make it look cohesive!

Here are a few repeatable Christmas elements to use on a table…

• trees
• wreaths
• pinecone
• greens
• candy canes
• ornaments
• snowmen
• snow
• Ribbon
• Berry

USE CLOTH NAPKINS

Christmas is one of those occasions when just cloth napkins will do…unless you’re having 20 or more guests, then opt for pretty paper napkins.

I don’t have any Christmas themed napkins, but what I put around the napkins makes them look Christmassy!

If you don’t know what to use, GO WHITE! You can’t go wrong with a nice white napkin. They are perfect for every table! Just look how a white napkin accentuates the other elements of each place setting!

If possible, use linen. Oh sigh!

MIX IT!

These are my favorite tips! I like to mix crockery, cutlery, glasses, napkins and anything else that comes to my table. If I have dinner for 10 and don’t have 10 of the same dishes, I get dizzy! I then use two different styles of tableware on my table.

Every other place setting is different on this wintry white table. A mix of round and square plates looks so pretty!

Even if you get tired of one kind of table element, mix it up anyway!

Here are some great table elements to mix and match on a Christmas table…

• plates
• Peel
• glasses
• Cutlery
• ornaments
• napkins
• about everything!

Let’s go my sweet friends! Now it’s your turn. Gear up with these festive ideas and SET A PRETTY CHRISTMAS TABLE!

Here is my Christmas table ready and waiting…

See more of this year’s table HERE.

You might want to follow me on Pinterest and see what I find to pin HERE.

See more new articles in category: Decor & Design