Tablescaping Essentials: Must Haves For Setting The Table
It's the most wonderful time of the year!
For me at least... and probably not for the reasons you think. I have never really gotten all sentimental about the holiday season; however, as I've gotten older, I've just come to appreciate certain, more traditional aspects of the season... one of em being tablescaping. It being a season of gathering - whether you're celebrating Diwali, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, or Kwanzaa - there are lots of reasons to practice tablescaping. TBH... even without a holiday to celebrate, tablescaping brings me joy. I know, however, that this isn't the case for everyone and that, in fact, some people get incredibly intimidated by the thought of tablescaping.
I've always thought of tablescaping as just another exercise in vignette styling - elevating everyday tablewares to express a theme, tell a story, or celebration a moment in time.
Note that I said everyday tablewares. That is because I believe there are staple items that go into every tablescape, whether it's Thanksgiving dinner or weekly Sunday brunch.
For me, there are 7 categories of essentials - dinnerware, flatware, drinkware, charger plates, placemats, linens, and accents.
Dinnerware
Dinnerware is at the heart of EVERY tablescape... obviously. Now for many of us, you probably knew that the table was set with plates and bowls, but dinnerware can include a myriad pieces - dinner plate, salad/appetizer plate, dinner bowl, soup bowl, pasta bowl, and dessert plate just to name a few. You can purchase entire sets with as little as 3 pieces or purchase a la carte to mix & match and build your own sets.
I use a combination of complete sets and a la carte pieces to create my tablescapes - depending on the mood I'm in and the mood I'm trying to convey.
Flatware
If I think of tablescaping like building an outfit, with the dinnerware being the outfit, then the flatware would be like the footwear - important to completing the look and a great way to elevate the look. Flatware is available in sets, as well as a la carte, making it easy to mix & match, not to mention the myriad of metal finishes available.
Like dinnerware, flatware can be as simple or as complex as you'd like it to be. I have simple 3-piece sets (including a flatware set for the mini) and I also have 5-piece sets. It can all be useful, and all comes down to the look I'm going for and the meal that's being served.
Drinkware
We have something to eat on and something to eat with. Now we drink!
Drinkware doesn't just serve a utilitarian purpose.
Whether you're using one or three, the glassware pieces you choose to use - and there are many you can choose from! - can add visual depth, style, and something unexpected depending on the pieces you choose. With drinkware, I get to play with shapes, silhouettes, and style.
Charger Plates
Do you know what the purpose of a charger plate is? With a diameter of about 2-4" more than a dinner plate, they're intended to catch loose food & hep retain heat. Personally, I don't care about any of that because a charger plate (as far as I'm concerned) is an opportunity to introduce color, pattern, and/or texture into your tablescape design.
Using charger plates as part of my table setting allows me to begin to differentiate between a table setting an actually table setting because of the way a charger plate can enhance the design... even when just using a simple stacked dinner set.
Placemats
Similar to charger plates, placemats are a great in between - between the dinnerware and the table. Placemats protect the table, define the individual settings, and add to the vignette design. Depending on the shape, material, and color, a placemat can be the different between a setting for a casual brunch, a romantic dinner, or a themed holiday gathering.
For some placemats are an alternative for charger plates. For some placemats are used in conjunction with charger plates. For me... it's both.
Linens
When it comes to setting a tablescape, there are lots of linens involved, including the aforementioned (and optional) placemats. When I think about table linens, however, I speak of napkins, tablecloths, and runners.
Personally, I'm especially partial to runners over tablecloths, based on the style of my dining table.
I prefer to have the dark charcoal wood finish of my table show versus being entirely covered up by a tablecloth. Paired with cloth napkins, I introduce texture & color that align with my hygge-inspired design ethos.
Accents
Remember when I started this, I said building a tablescape is almost like building an outfit. Following that analogy, the accents of a tablescape are like the accessories in an outfit... the jewelry and such. How you arrange arrange tablescape accents, as far as I’m concerned, is more intuition than “science” because, unlike all the other staples I’ve mentioned up to now, there are no prescribed rules for accents. It’s all about the look - how to enhance & elevate the look!
As I would with my outfit accessories, I like to play with my tablescape accents - sometimes only using a lil, sometimes layering on a few pieces…all depending on the vibe I’m going for.
After you put it all together and shake it all about... what do you get?
You get a tablescape that you've curated to match your design ethos and functional needs. No matter the meal you're serving, the guests you're hosting, or the occasion you're celebrating, what it comes down to is honoring what looks & feels good to you... "rules" be damned.
Now that the fog of back to back projects has lifted, I am excited to actually get back into tablescaping... to play around with pieces and just create beautiful settings for our meals.
