Lovely ideas for festive place settings
Christmas decorations have a very special place in our hearts here at House & Garden, and though we have Christmas recipes galore, we're equally interested in what's underneath the food on the table. While the turkey and Christmas pudding may be the main event on December 25th, we feel strongly that your place settings should rise to the occasion as well. A beautifully set table sets the scene for a good dinner, and adds considerably to the festive atmosphere. Whether you prefer a traditional table decked out in gold and crystal, or something a little more bright and playful, we've gathered together our favourite Christmas place settings.
Owen Gale1/19A close-up of Amanda Brooks' table at her Oxfordshire farmhouse. Pomegranates are a quick and easy way to give the festive table some colour. The hand-blocked ruffled cotton tablecloth is by Zojora.
Owen Gale2/19‘I love the way that food brings everyone together," says Skye McAlpine. “Everything in your world can be crumbling and collapsing, but somehow you can lay a table, and invite friends, and prepare a simple meal, and in that little space is this perfect magical world. It’s such a brilliant magic trick to have up your sleeve.” Skye usually spends Christmas at her Venetian palazzo, where she sets the table with pieces from her own line of tableware, Tavola. The crackers are from Tavola, as are the ‘Achille’ side plate and ‘Aeneas’ dinner plate, named after her two sons.
Mark Fox3/19Christmas is an opportunity to go wild with your tablescape, as Luke Edward Hall and Duncan Campbell do. A striped tablecloth by Summerill & Bishop sets the stage, with a gold vase full of crab apples in the centre of the table. Coloured candles, glittery mushrooms from Choosing Keeping and Cutter Brook and bamboo cutlery join the fun, topped off with Skye McAlpine's marbled crackers.
James Merrell4/19'The way I decorate for Christmas is influenced by where I am from - Germany,' says florist Silka Rittson-Thomas, owner of The TukTuk Flower Studio. 'The china was a wedding present and I like to bring it out at Christmas and use traditional silver cutlery and salt and pepper pots. Silver vases of red anemones, hellebores and eucalyptus pods decorate the table. They work well together: the bulky eucalyptus pods not only smell wonderful, but also provide a pleasing contrast to the delicate hellebores.'
Dean Hearne5/19In December, Lulu Benson welcomes her extended family to Neidpath Castle in the Scottish Borders, where they celebrate the season with reeling and feasting in the vaulted medieval hall. In keeping with the vast setting, huge candlesticks and hanging arrangements of greenery set the scene for dinner.
Andrew Montgomery6/19To create a folk-inspired Christmas scheme, our decoration team set a table with colourful candles in a ring in the centre, paper crowns at every place and lots of lovely glassware. It's a tried-and-tested table setting that will never let you down.
7/19At the Inchyra Estate in Scotland the Byre has been decorated with flowers reminiscent of a Dutch still-life by Edinburgh-based florist Pyrus. Each place is set with a single winter leaf.
Rachel Whiting8/19For a shot of festive colour without falling into the red and green trap (not that there is any problem with red and green), opt for rich blues and green instead, like this lovely tablecloth from Svenskt Tenn. Add in hellebores for a seasonal floral note and you're done.
Rachel Whiting9/19In Paolo Moschino and Philip Vergeylen's Christmas dining scheme, mushroom plates from Alberto Pinto take centre stage. All the silver is by Buccellati and ‘every year,’ they say, 'if we're lucky, we try to add a piece or two to the collection.'
10/19What better way to kick off Christmas dinner than with a tiny table gift. Our decoration editor Ruth Sleightholme has perched it atop a stack of stoneware plates and dishes by Kasper Wurtz at Sigmar, with cutlery from Astier de Villatte at Sumerill & Bishop. Marbled wrapping paper from Liberty; wooden table sprinkles from The Original Pop Up Shop; mini-baubles from a selection at Anthropologie.
11/19Foliage sprigs have a certain natural symmetry, so snipping a few sprigs and branches up and arranging them as star shapes will look Christmassy. We suggest mixing - here we used fir, rosemary, holly and various shrubs - for visual richness. A stem of rosemary can be bent into a circle and tied together to create a quick and pretty place-card holder.
Paul Raeside12/19The patterns on to these plain cardboard baubles from RE were hand-painted, mixing them on the table with coloured-glass 'dew drop' baubles from The Original Pop Up Shop. Handmade origami stars (find out how to make them here) and crepe streamers finish the look.
Jan Baldwin13/19This colourful scheme is a particularly jolly one that works best if you're sitting down to eat at lunch so that the colours are more vibrant. The table has been kept neutral to allow all the colours of the candles, silks and decorations to pop.
Michael Sinclair14/19For a colourful setting in the evening, opt for rich yellows and reds. Rather than use a tablecloth, our decoration team employed long strips of wide ribbon to create a bespoke stripe on the table, adding candles and crockery in the same shades for emphasis.
Rachel Whiting15/19The co-founder of The Rug Company Suzanne Sharp chooses a green-and-white scheme for her dining room at Christmas. 'The tablecloth is from Ikea; I bought two, which means that with the endless meals and the inevitable mess, I always have a spare. The final flourish is lighting Diptyque's woody "Feu de Bois" candle.'
Rachel Whiting16/19'Christmas is all about exuberance, magic and chaos,' says Tim Gosling. 'If you try to do things that are too controlled or tasteful, then you're missing the point.'
Rachel Whiting17/19'The things I have chosen for the table are ornate, but when you look closely you see that they are actually extremely modern,' says designer Francis Sultana of the plates he has used on his dining table. 'From a distance this crockery looks like traditional patterned china, but it's a set by the artist Cindy Sherman - a send-up of originals commissioned by Madame de Pompadour in 1756.'
Rachel Whiting18/19Francis Sultana's napkin rings are by the costume jeweller Kenneth Jay Lane. Read the full story here.
Rachel Whiting19/19'This year, I chose fruits and flowers in russet shades, which set off the lime of the tablecloth and work well against the traditional red and green theme,' says Virginia White of her vibrant Christmas dinner table scheme. 'The cloth is a linen damask from my own fabric collection.'
'My girls are great table setters and there is a competition to see who can do the maddest, smartest setting. We celebrate as a family of five, with a constant stream of family and friends popping into our house in Islington for endless lunches and dinners.'
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