Set The Table For The Holidays

There are more than a few things to worry about during the holidays, but your table shouldn’t be one of them. Formal dinners, buffets and cookie exchanges bring in tons of company – are you ready to wow them with your holiday table? Follow these ideas from Anne Steele, a certified American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) decorator who has been in the business for 25 years, to get the absolute best from your holiday table.

Sabroso - Winter2008

HOW TO

By Charlotte Tallman
Photography by Marty Snortum Studio

When entertaining for dinner, consider how many people you are going to have over, and how you are going to serve the food. “Those two things change the dynamics of decorating,” Anne says. If you serve family style while everyone is seated at the table, you are going to want to keep decorations low so everyone can see each other and talk.

Use something elaborate as a centerpiece, like a large bowl or plate, then remove and fill with food when it is time to sit for dinner.

Mass decorations together. “I don’t put just one poinsettia on the table, I put four. I like to add more, always massing items together,” Anne says.

Keep the table decorated throughout the holiday season, even when you are not using it for dinner – it is a central focal point in the home, and can be the holiday highlight for anyone who enters.

Use a lot of natural greens. Anne suggests buying a small pine tree to cut up for decorations. “Pine greens make the house smell so good. The more of that stuff, the better,” Anne says.

Place something large on the table when you are not using it. Anne likes using large bowls filled with holiday balls and natural greens.

When serving buffet style, Anne recommends placing something up and down the table like mini pine trees with fresh pine greens and holiday colored ribbon.

Don’t forget the fruit. “Fruit is a wonderful addition to decorations, especially citrus fruit,” Anne says. Mix fruit with fresh greens, candles and ribbons in bowls, vases and serving plates. If you don’t like using fresh fruit, Anne says there are wonderful reproductions out there that look like the real thing, and last a lot longer.

Be careful with candles. “Candles are wonderful, but you have to make sure you use them safely and put them in and around something to handle the drip,” Anne says, adding that it is even better to find something like a beeswax candle that doesn’t drip. “Spend a little more for a decent candle because it will work better for you in the end.”

Don’t forget the path to the table. Using luminarias to the front door, or even around the outdoor patio table, is a wonderful addition to the season.