I love tablescapes and I love styling, but I don’t love the pressure people likely feel to have different sets of everything for different occasions (perhaps exacerbated by people like me?). So for this shoot, I challenged myself to use mostly the same foundational pieces, only switching out a few elements, the more “holiday indicators” (like colors or icons). I partnered with Crate and Barrel on some social stories, but not this blog post, and decided to shoot it because I liked the challenge of making things easier while still looking festive and fun. I concepted this “Thanksgiving to Christmas” post with the pieces that I featured in the stories, but you could do this “move” with other basic pieces as well. The trick is only changing the “seasonal indicators” (especially if you are more casual like me).
Linens: Table Runner | Placemats | Plaid Napkins | Yellow Napkin
Dinnerware: Wine Glass | Ribbed Water Glass | Dinner Plate | App Plate | Bowl | Flatware
Decor: Pitcher | Ceramic Turkey | Glass Candlestick Holders | Candlesticks | Salt and Pepper Mills
As you can see, we have some fall motifs – the plaid runner, the amber candle holders (and candlesticks), one mustard napkin, some fall leaves and you know, THE HUGE CERAMIC TURKEY. But beyond that, it’s just white plates, with green napkins, glassware, and pretty silver flatware. All these things work year-round in my house (which leans green/blue modern farmhouse). Of course, you could add WAY more, but we were just shooting this quickly for a social campaign when I begged Kaitlin to throw her expert talented lens on it.
Linens: Table Runner | Placemats | Plaid Napkins | Yellow Napkin
Dinnerware: Wine Glass | Ribbed Water Glass | Dinner Plate | App Plate | Bowl | Flatware
Decor: Pitcher | Ceramic Turkey | Glass Candlestick Holders | Candlesticks | Salt and Pepper Mills
So much of entertaining comes down to vibe, and as you might suspect I lean hard into the “fun and casual” because I’m an Enneagram 7 and like to have fun (and not very into being a proper “host”). So regardless of the occasion, that is our tone. But the same principles could be applied if you lean a bit more traditional or luxurious – just with a different foundation and amped-up seasonal indicators.
Linens: Table Runner | Placemats | Plaid Napkins | Yellow Napkin
Dinnerware: Wine Glass | Ribbed Water Glass | Dinner Plate | App Plate | Bowl | Flatware
Decor: Pitcher | Ceramic Turkey | Glass Candlestick Holders | Candlesticks | Salt and Pepper Mills
I think it’s fun to think of some of these colors, patterns, and elements as “seasonal indicators”. Fall branches + mustard + a warm plaid + Turkey = Thanksgiving. Some scattered pine cones or wicker/wood elements for turkey day and you get the same “vibe”.
Linens: Table Runner | Placemats | Plaid Napkins | Yellow Napkin
Dinnerware: Wine Glass | Ribbed Water Glass | Dinner Plate | App Plate | Bowl | Flatware
Decor: Pitcher | Ceramic Turkey | Glass Candlestick Holders | Candlesticks | Salt and Pepper Mills
You want some color as to not look like a catering company, so I chose green as my foundation (appropriate for Oregon) but you could choose some other neutrals (like mauves, browns, ivories, blues) because when you have a burst of mustard and a big turkey there will be no confusion.
Ready For Christmas?
Linens: Table Runner | Placemats | Plaid Napkins
Dinnerware: Wine Glass | Ribbed Water Glass | Dinner Plate | App Plate | Bowl | Flatware
Decor: Wood Trees | Glass Candlestick Holders | Candlesticks | Salt and Pepper Mills | Napkin Rings | Ornaments
Now that I’m seeing them next to each other they don’t look THAT different, lol, but I suppose that’s because barely anything changed. And yet it does read as a casual, fun, Christmas day brunch.
Linens: Table Runner | Placemats | Plaid Napkins
Dinnerware: Wine Glass | Ribbed Water Glass | Dinner Plate | App Plate | Bowl | Flatware
Decor: Wood Trees | Glass Candlestick Holders | Candlesticks | Salt and Pepper Mills | Napkin Rings | Ornaments
Here’s what I did: I switched out the runner, added red candlesticks, a pop of red with the ornament, and those green trees. In person this felt appropriately “Christmas brunch” and you bet we put on Mariah Carey. This was our first holiday shoot (mid-October) and you know I was into it 🙂
Linens: Table Runner | Placemats | Plaid Napkins
Dinnerware: Wine Glass | Ribbed Water Glass | Dinner Plate | App Plate | Bowl | Flatware
Decor: Wood Trees | Glass Candlestick Holders | Candlesticks | Salt and Pepper Mills | Napkin Rings | Ornaments
I switched out the napkin into a ring mostly to show you a different idea, but you don’t need to do that. I think the pops of red (with the green foundation) are what indicate “HI I’M DOING CHRISTMAS NOW” to you and your guests.
Linens: Table Runner | Placemats | Plaid Napkins
Dinnerware: Wine Glass | Ribbed Water Glass | Dinner Plate | App Plate | Bowl | Flatware
Decor: Wood Trees | Glass Candlestick Holders | Candlesticks | Salt and Pepper Mills | Napkin Rings | Ornaments
I LOVE those trees (they match my dining chairs and my sofas perfectly so they are my new Christmas element this year).
The red candlesticks even make the amber candleholders look more festive. It tricks your eye. The red and white ticking stripe runner could be great on a buffet (or in our case our island where we put out all the food for our casual 30-person ornament exchange party).
And there you have it. A fast and dirty, fun and festive Thanksgiving-to-Christmas casual tablescape. Add more if you are up for it. Just switch out your turkey for a tree and call it a (holi)day. 🙂
*Photos by Kaitlin Green
This all looks really beautiful and I love the seasonal flexibility of the green items. I do wonder if other people have an amazing strategy for somehow both having a tablescape with pretty seasonal decor while also serving all the food! The best I can do for Thanksgiving is to set napkins, glassware/china, and maybe a table runner because there’s no room for anything else on the table once the food comes out (we end up improvising a buffet table for things that have been passed around once so they’re available for seconds but not taking up room on the table.) Candles or a floral arrangement or a ceramic turkey or ornaments will not fit. I’ve got a pretty standard dining room table (oval, 40×60) and anything longer wouldn’t fit very well into my dining room plus I don’t need to seat eight day-to-day.
Do other people just quickly swap out anything not require for the meal right before bringing the food out? Does everyone have an adjacent buffet table? Do guests serve themselves in the kitchen and then sit down? Maybe the open-concept kitchen lets you put the food out without taking up room on the table?
Also have this question
I don’t have necessarily an open concept home, but I do leave food in the kitchen, or I set up a collapsible table in the dining room. We cut the main dish at the table, and then I serve everyone one, but move it. I like to leave food away from the table so it also allows for moving around during the dinner. I like the option of getting up and down, and then other people end up conversing.
I think everyone makes the mistake of setting a bulky tablescape for a hosted dinner only once. Most homes don’t have tables large enough for an elaborate tablescape and the food. I look at it as two ideas in one: use the tablescape idea to decorate your table when empty and the place setting ideas for hosting.
I’d love to get Emily + the team’s insight into this exact question! For example, I love those tall glass candle-stick holders and I’d love to buy them, but them I’m like, “how would we see across the table to talk during dinner”? Do people typically arrange a beautiful table scape for pre-dinner oohing and aahing and then remove tall centerpieces before eating?
I honestly think that what people do for photo sessions or to make a table look great and what they actually need to do in order to create a good EATING and talking experience at that table are two different things. Older “hospitality” books I’ve seen pay careful attention advice about things like keeping your flower arrangements low, etc. so that people can see over them. And if you look at older photographs of table settings from 40, 50, 60 years ago, they were much more sparse than the more social-media worthy settings we see today. Times change, and what’s currently in style is not quite as practical for actually EATING at the table. If I were set on using those decorations on a Thanksgiving table, I’d for certain be moving them off or paring back before we sat down to eat. That’s way too much glass / fire / height / fabric to be dealing with when passing food around, trying to have conversations, passing around salt/pepper/butter/rolls, and refilling glasses while shoving around place settings that need need water glass, wine glass, salad plate, etc. At least, on a table my size. If I had a much, much larger… Read more »
Buffet on the kitchen island! Often even just for the two of us. “Passing” dishes at the table is just a lot when there are so many Littles at the table too. Plus it’s way easier to go back for seconds …
I love the spirit of this post – find ways to mix up what you have instead of going to Target 🙂 Beautiful and fun – thank you !
I would love to see more patterns in EHD rooms (outside of stripes and wide checks)! Your shirt here looks so beautiful with this tablescape. Look forward to your take on mixing patterns more heavily!
I also really love her shirt! Anyone know where it is from?
It’s Ulla Johnson but no longer in stock:/
Love the flexibility of this! Have you ever tried shooting the sunroom at night time?? Would be so lovely to see it all dimly lit and cozy. The bright sunshine kind of gives brunch vibes? Not dinner party vibes (but maybe our family is just weird that we usually do Christmas dinner in the evening?)
Ooo, this is a fun idea! I would love to see the sunroom at night.
This was really fun! Thanks for showing us both!
I love this post! I have an oddly narrow antique table so we have to do big multi-dish meals buffet style anyway. With only an 8″ strip for table decor, a couple of “seasonal indicators” and no other changes is all I have room for– now I feel like it’s a style statement too, and that’s oddly empowering. 🙂
I recommend the podcast Honestly by Bari Weiss/ the Free Press. Diversity includes diversity of thought. (Isn’t that why we value men and women in the workplace?) Diversity is not dismissive of different points of view, or platitudes and accusations. It’s fine to disagree on a subject, but it’s best to be informed on an issue and not simply marinate in Fox News or MSNBC and CNN.
Warning – Her former colleagues called her a Nazi and a racist. You forgot to mention that.
Perfect. I think many of us are trying to simplify and pare down but still be festive without buying more.
Oh agreed! Would love to see the sunroom decked out for a dinner party!
Love this idea! It’s so nice to have an easy way to transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas without completely overhauling the decor. Thank you for the inspiration!