To some, the dining room is considered the heart of the home. It’s a place where family and friends gather around the table to eat, laugh & drink, creating memories that will last a lifetime.
The Christmas season, especially, is filled with wonderful family traditions! Arguably, the biggest Christmas tradition is a Christmas dinner! What better way to make your festive feast memorable than to steal one (or two) of these Christmas tablescape ideas?
🎄 A lovely guest post by Taylor(ahomefortheholiday.com)! Thank you! 💚
Before you run to the store, let’s talk about the basics of creating a beautiful Christmas tablescape! First, make sure that you choose a cohesive theme for your dining room décor.
This will make the room feel thoughtful and intentional to your guests! Second to your theme, make sure that your table remains functional! You don’t want to over decorate it and make people feel cramped! The last element to consider is the height of your centerpiece.
The goal of your table is to encourage conversation. So, make sure that your centerpiece is below eye level. If you love tall floral arrangements, don’t worry! You can add them to your sideboard or buffet, where they can still be appreciated!
🎄 8 Christmas tablescape ideas
Bring nature to the table!
Earthy tones are a huge trend right now, and Christmas is no exception! When done thoughtfully, a neutral color palette can be enchanting and elegant.
The natural elements surrounding Christmas make creating earthy-toned table displays SO easy! Whites can play on the “snowy winter wonderland” aesthetic, while wood tones and shades of green connect to the tradition of a Christmas tree.
A centerpiece is an easy way to add earth tones to your table! You can DIY one or if you are looking for a natural, store-bought centerpiece this one from the National Christmas Tree Company will fit the bill perfectly!
Use warm & welcoming tones
If you want your Christmas meal to feel more homely, try using warmer tones in your table décor. Golds, reds & rich wood tones can make a table feel intimate and cozy! These are easy accents to incorporate since red is a traditional Christmas color.
You can add red chargers to your place settings or perhaps holly berries to your table’s greenery. You could even incorporate holly berries into your napkin rings for a personal touch!
Create a winter wonderland!
A winter wonderland theme can transcend December 25th. It is a classic, woodsy look that will carry your table well into the winter months! To achieve a beautiful winter wonderland tablescape, use things like fake snow, flocked greenery, and wood accents!
An easy way to decorate your table is to lay a white or cream table runner, and stagger mini, flocked trees across the table’s center. You can add candles, frosted pine cones, or tea light bowls throughout! You’ll be shocked at how whimsical this simple tablescape can be.
Be Inspired by a country Christmas
Rustic décor can be cozy and chic if you are strategic in your placement! Country Christmas décor typically consists of raw wood accents, shabby chic antiques or antique look-a-likes, and chippy distressed pieces.
Buffalo plaid is also frequently used in rustic Christmas décor! Country Christmas décor is easy and fun to DIY because it doesn’t have to be perfect since this style of décor uses imperfect pieces to create a cozy charm!
So grab some wooden servers or trays, some mini Christmas trees, and some buffalo plaid ribbon & arrange it however your heart desires!
Use a traditional color palette
Green and red are obviously the traditional colors of Christmas. Using this timeless color scheme for your tablescape will surely bring back childhood Christmas memories to all that sit at your table!
I love displaying decorations that have been passed down by family members, to really add some sentimental value to your traditional table décor!
This could be your hand-me-down Christmas China or a snow globe that your grandmother gave you. Regardless of what you use, you can’t go wrong with a traditional Christmas theme for your table.
Make the most of muted shades
This is probably my favorite modern trend! Muted greens, reds, and browns will bring sophisticated and simple beauty to your table.
For this trend, you will want to avoid using vivid greenery and use more muted tones like eucalyptus and burgundy florals instead.
My trick to getting the perfect muted Christmas décor is to GENTLY mix shades like sage, burgundy, and olive green in with light, natural wood tones, off-whites, and creams!
Strategically place statement foliage & florals
One of my favorite ways to add a wow factor to my table is by adding a statement floral arrangement!
Centerpieces are the most common statement piece on a table, so be sure to spend some time thinking about what your vision for it is. Centerpieces have high visibility in a functional dining room, since it is the first thing that your guests will see when they sit at your table. Add florals and greenery that will catch the eye.
You can use a combination of color, size, shape, and height to make your centerpiece stand out! Just make sure that it doesn’t restrict people’s line of sight when seated.
Arrange festive place settings
Place settings are a bit tricky to master. You want them to be beautifully layered, but still super functional.
There is nothing worse than sitting down at a table and being overwhelmed by the number of plates, bowls, and silverware! My tip is to customize your place settings around your meal.
For example, if soup isn’t on the menu, skip the soup bowls when arranging your settings. The same thing applies to silverware. If you’re not having salad, you can omit the salad fork.
🍴 Casual dinner setting
- Put the placemat on the table (optional)
- Place the charger on top of the placemat (or directly on the table if you are omitting the placemat)
- Place the dinner plate on top of the charger
- Put the napkin long ways on the dinnerplate so that the short end hangs off the edge. If you are using rolled silverware with napkin rings, you can skip step 4.
- Place a salad plate on top of the napkin
- If you are having soup, put the soup bowl on top of the salad plate
- Place the salad fork and dinner fork from right to left, to the left of the dinnerware
- Place a dinner knife and soup spoon (if needed) to the right of the plates from left to right.
- Add a water glass above the knife and soup spoon & place a wine or whiskey glass to the right of the water glass
I rarely use formal place settings, because I like my dinner table to be a bit more relaxed, but if you want to learn how to create a formal place setting, this article from Martha Stewart will teach you how!
Hopefully, this has given you a ton of ideas on how to decorate your table for a memorable Christmas feast! If you are looking for Christmas decorations for the rest of your home, check out my post on affordable Christmas décor!
You can also find all kinds of amazing recipes for your Christmas Dinner here! At the Vividly Christmas Blog, I use Villeroy & Boch dinnerware in almost all of my food shots. If you like the style, check out Villeroy & Bochs' online store, you'll find a lot of gorgeous Christmas dinnerware sets there.
Freya says
I love Christmas and you have given us some beautiful ideas!
Nora says
Thank you so much, Freya!