It’s holiday entertaining season and aspire design and home has turned to our design community for tips on setting the perfect holiday table. From the dinnerware to the purely decorative, let these 16 design experts guide you in curating a festive tablescape.
Photo courtesy of Auberge Resorts Collection.
Nathan Turner | Nathan Turner
I love using old-fashioned materials like satin and velvet ribbons, lots of candles, and natural greenery. In this tablescape I created for Auberge Resorts’ White Barn Inn, I’ve also added a Scandinavian influence with a custom-designed print on stockings and table linens.
Dan Mazzarini | BHDM Design and ARCHIVE
I like to make sure people can talk and connect at the table, so we keep things relatively low. Generally, I recommend doing one of something, or plenty of smaller somethings – like one long strand of garland, or twenty short, tapered candles.
Don’t be afraid to keep it casual. A woven charger with your everyday place setting and seasonal napkin says holiday without doing too much.
I also always like to add a hint of nostalgia. Bring out your grandparents’ china or mom’s gravy boat, or if you haven’t inherited these goodies, take a trip to the thrift or flea market and see what treasures you can find.
Mary Patton | Mary Patton Design
Like with all forms of design, mixing high and low price points, as well as colors and textures makes a tablescape feel very thoughtful and curated. I love finding vintage china, glassware and flatware and mixing it with fresh florals and random on-theme accessories.
Lighting is so important too! Turn off all overhead lights (a chandelier is great if it’s on a dimmer) and use a mix of regular and votive candles. Everyone looks better in candlelight.
Vanessa DeLeon | Vanessa DeLeon Associates
Curating a festive tablescape is all about balancing aesthetics and ambiance, and I love using the dining linens from my collection H’OM by Vanessa DeLeon to add a personal touch. I start with a beautiful tablecloth or runner featuring unique designs that resonate with each person’s zodiac sign. Layering in textured elements, like cloth napkins or placemats, adds depth and interest.
Photo by Tim Lenz.
Gideon Mendelson | Mendelson Group
I treat table settings the same way I think about interiors. While I love color and patterns, it’s important not to overwhelm the table because the food should be the star. Pick one pattern and a few solids to complement, and incorporate something from the outdoors to invite a natural feeling for classy holiday decorating. Plus, handwritten place cards make everyone feel extra special and show the time and effort you put into the décor.
Elizabeth Bolognino | Elizabeth Bolognino Interiors
The flowers should be the main focus of the table. I currently have some drying hydrangeas that are antiquing on their own, making the space feel lived-in and cozy. For the holidays, you cannot go wrong with tartan overlaying the table and garland to decorate. I also love to incorporate beautiful linen and lace hand-me-downs that I am lucky to have from my grandmother. No table is complete without lots of food to share as well!
Christina Samatas & Renee DiSanto | Park & Oak
Our tablescape has become a beloved tradition, with linens and place settings thoughtfully paired with stemware for a festive touch. At Park and Oak, we love partnering with Marcel’s for their gorgeous Juliska dinnerware, which adds a timeless elegance to the table.
Each guest’s seat holds a small, thoughtful gift tailored to everyone — men, women, teens, and kids alike. We include delightful surprises like ornaments, hand creams, face masks, and chocolates. For the little ones, treats might include coloring books with fun, unique crayons, mini-games, and take-home hot cocoa mugs.
Finally, to create a warm and inviting atmosphere, we add taper candles for that soft, cozy glow that brings everything together. It’s these small, personal touches that make holiday gatherings feel extra special.
Kristin Harrison | Bungalow 10
Simon Pearce makes beautiful hurricanes for spreading candles up and down your table. In addition, I love to intertwine greenery, cranberries, and whatever other festive live pieces I can get my hands on. It creates a beautiful ambiance (and smell), but don’t underestimate your glassware and your serveware in general. Having coordinating colors and patterns that aren’t too distracting can really create a calming, cozy atmosphere.
Kyle O’Donnell & Christopher Sale | Gramercy Design
We start with a constrained palette — a monochromatic palette of two to three colors is best. We love to use a favorite piece of dishware or glassware as the jumping off point for the palette or theme. Think outside of the box… Any palette can become festive! In this spring tablescape, we repeated pale blue from vintage stemware on candlesticks and napkins. Herend songbird plates set the theme for bird nests and robin’s eggs nestled into the centerpiece.
A mixture of live plants provides a great foundation for a festive, deconstructed centerpiece that feels special without feeling fussy. A collection of evergreens in different shades is the perfect backdrop for a holiday tablescape. Flowers or berries that coordinate with your palette can bring in color, while collected silver or glass provide sparkle.
Timeless classics — like these glasses from William Yeoward, Haviland and Parlon dishware, and Christofle silverware — can work with virtually any palette. Depending on the mood you desire, fine china could be swapped for classic stoneware, for example. Don’t be afraid to mix and match formal pieces like silver or crystal with natural or handmade pieces for a collected and elevated look.
Darren Henault | Darren Henault Interiors
Flowers flower flowers. I’m lucky enough to have an amazing cutting garden so my tables are always laden with flowers. I keep tall arrangements on sideboards with a clean table or masses of low flowers clustered on the table. In the 17th century, they didn’t have dining rooms per se so tables would be set up wherever convenient. I often set up tables in various rooms depending on the occasion.
The brilliant and charming society photographer Mary Hilliard is a great friend and a tennis mate. She once taught me to have guests sign and date their place cards on the back and use the same card each time for that person. Then the place card becomes a record of when you’ve seen that friend.
Sydney Levy | Anthony Wilder Design/Build
I love when our clients change accessories for each season. A recent client asked us to help with seasonal kitchen dècor for a huge island, where most of their weeknight family dinners take place. I accessorized with a large antique dough bowl filled to the brim with a colorful variety of fruits and vegetables that pair with dinner. Vegetables sourced from local farmers’ markets or even Trader Joe’s, which has a good assortment, are the best accessories. Filling a vase with fall leaves to emulate the turning of the leaves outside or with holiday greenery adds to the festive decor.
Georgia McElveen | Casa Branca
Pick a theme or color theme and then build around it. We have a number of fabrics that lend well to a holiday themed dinner. Mix and match our Limoges dishware. The Papavero dishes and tumblers are especially on theme as well as the Bosco dishware. You can even use wallpaper to wrap around your clear vases to spruce up your floral arrangements and take your color and pattern theme even further.
We recently tied ribbons around our napkins, wreaths and centerpieces at our popup in New York. Go wild. Put a ribbon on anything! Balloons can also be a fun and unexpected addition (silver and green!?). Whatever you decide to do, make sure you have fun with it!
Laura Lubin | Ellerslie Interiors
For holiday tablescapes, layering is key! I begin with textured linens and a velvet table runner to establish a rich, cozy base. From there, I love to incorporate a colorful charger paired with some beautiful china featuring subtle gold or silver detailing – it’s a small touch that instantly elevates each place setting with a sense of refinement.
To bring a personal touch, I finish with hand-lettered place cards or a sprig of seasonal greenery on each plate. Thoughtfully layering textures, colors, and special details create a tablescape that is both polished and inviting – perfect for holiday gatherings that feel as special as they look.
Phoebe Beachner | Phoebe Beachner
For a festive tablescape, it’s all about layers of texture, color, shape and… sparkle! The occasion should always be reflected through fanciful patterns, palette schemes, and with various décor elements. I always love including La Petite Abeille beeswax candles at our settings. Remember to light your candles about 10 minutes prior to serving your meal. Napkin rings can also be a unique detail to a setting. I’m fond of the gold collection of rings from Jaye’s Studio, as there are ones specific to every festive affair! Also, never be afraid of fresh flowers on the table setting, just keep in mind to keep them low so your guests can see each other, and enjoy the company!
Kelsey Wing | Thos. Moser
The holidays are a special time that harkens to family traditions, unique gifts, and loved ones’ memories. To rekindle the gatherings of holidays past, polish the box of silver your grandmother gave you, pull out the elegantly hand-forged pie server from Erica Moody, and get ready to dish out the memories. Small Furoshiki fabric-wrapped gifts accented with a sprig of rosemary act as place cards to complement sustainable cloth napkins from Made Trade while layering in soft textures to create a warm, inviting, and personalized tablescape.
When choosing a scheme, play on your desired color’s tones and hues. Inspiration for your color scheme can come from anywhere: the wood species of your dining table, artwork, or upholstered elements in the room. Choosing a color scheme will set the mood and help inform the more intricate aspects of your tablescape, like napkins, stemware, and candles, while creating a cohesive look. Whites, deep greens, and silvers create an elegant and harmonious wintery look, while burgundy, blacks, and gold lend themselves to rich, sophisticated, and indulgent gatherings. Companies like East Fork and Estelle Colored Glass offer a kaleidoscope of delicious colors for their dinnerware and glassware, giving you the green light to be playful with your table settings. For those who desire a more classic and timeless look, we love the stemware from companies like Simon Pearce paired with traditional white or gold-rimmed dinnerware.
Holly Hollenbeck | HSH Interiors
Decorating a dining table is like adding the perfect jewelry to an outfit — it’s the finishing touch that brings everything to life. Thoughtfully chosen accessories, from elegant glassware to artfully arranged centerpieces, bring warmth and personality, making the table both inviting and memorable. Just as jewelry completes an outfit, these finishing touches elevate the dining experience, turning each meal into a special occasion.
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