Style a Memorable Holiday Table

Even if you’re not hosting or attending a dinner with extended family and friends, there’s no reason you shouldn’t pull out all the stops for meals over the holidays. A beautiful table setting elevates your mood, enhances the appearance of the food, and sets the tone for an enjoyable meal.

Setting a beautiful table doesn’t necessarily mean shopping for supplies or spending a lot of money. By using what you have on hand, or can gather on a nature walk, you can create a show stopping table setting that will make family mealtimes over the holidays a little more special.

If your holidays could use a little extra sparkle—and whose couldn’t this year?—keep reading for some great holiday table décor ideas and virtual ways to include extended family in your “stay home for the holidays” holiday meals.

Rise and Shine (With a Little Extra Shine)
For some, Christmas breakfast is almost as big a deal as Christmas dinner, while others start the day with a handful of cookies and a cup of coffee. Whatever your style, there are ways to elevate Christmas breakfast and maybe even start a new tradition or two in the process.

If a sit-down breakfast is your thing, adorn the table with sparkly baubles borrowed from the tree, bowls of oranges and shiny red apples, springs of greenery, and small wrapped gifts or Christmas crackers. If you have red and white picnic linens that you tucked away at the end of summer, now’s the time to bring them out, or cover the table with wrapping paper or kraft paper for something different.

Those that are not into sitting down for breakfast can still get into the spirit by filling the coffee table with plates of warm pastries, mini quiche, cut up fruit and other bite size treats, and setting up a festive coffee/hot chocolate bar on a side board or bar cart nearby, jazzed up with battery operated twinkling lights and tinsel.

Set Up for The Big Event
You might have a full set of elegant matching dishes and serving pieces, or a collection of mix and match items that you’ve gathered along the way. Whichever it is, go ahead and use it all to create a table setting that reflects your style and shows your family how important they are to you.

For that immediate wow factor when you sit down, layer up dinner plates, lunch plates, salad plates, and bowls—whatever you’ve got. The same goes for cutlery and glassware; if there’s a positive side to having fewer people at the table, there will be room for it. Make sure that each place setting has a napkin, a place card if you’re feeling extra, and a special decoration that ties into the main theme of the table. If Christmas crackers are a tradition in your house, add those too. (Find easy instructions to make your own crackers here.)

Be sure to keep the centerpiece low, especially in spots where family members are sitting across from each other, or if passing dishes across the table is a possibility. If you’re stuck on what to use for a centerpiece, look for decorative or meaningful items around the home that can be incorporated into your table décor, and remember to think outside the box—there’s not much that can’t be “holidayfied” with a bow or curl of ribbon.

Don’t forget—before there was Martha Stewart, there was Mother Nature. If you’re not feeling what you’re finding inside the house, head to the great outdoors (aka the backyard) for easy decorating ideas and supplies like pinecones, twigs, and evergreen boughs. If the cedars need trimming, “borrow” a few pieces for your table—the flatter varieties make terrific natural placemats or look great peeking out from under serving platters.