Hello, Friends, and welcome to the blog today. The Morning room is all decked out for Christmas and with Friends expected for dinner I decided to set a festive red and green table. Collecting Christmas china is a hobby and I love to mix and match the different patterns to create interesting tablescapes for guests to enjoy. The rules: there are none but I have found that it is easier to stay within a similar color palate. If you do that, things tend to turn out just fine.
I started with a checked tablecloth by Martha Stewart. This bright red and green tartan pattern shot with gold is just what Santa ordered for his dinner table. A green wooden charger is placed on the tablecloth giving a base for the china and providing a clear separation from the tablecloth. Next is a Kate Spade by Lenox, Rutherford Red dinner plate. It’s a simple plate with a wide band of red rim and a white center. A thin line of gold circles the outer rim of the plate. Longaberger, the company famous for it’s baskets, made the salad/dessert plate. This one has a beautiful poinsettia garland running around the rim of the plate. The reds and greens fit right in with the rest of the plates. Noritake’s Royal Hund china provides the soup bowl at the top of the stack. It is probably my favorite as I love the animal vignettes depicted on this china. The red and green checked pattern around the rim ties in well with the tablecloth.
Here you can see close-ups of the china used in this tablescape.
I added one more china pattern to the table using Spode’s famous Christmas Tree pattern for the bread and butter plate. The napkins from William Sonoma pull the reds, greens and golds together in a beautiful floral pattern. They are held together in a fan pattern by embossed napkin rings in red, green and gold depicting stags and trees. A Christmas spreader is tucked into each of the napkin rings to use with the bread and butter plate.
Here’s a close-up of the bread and butter plate in the Spode pattern.
A Gorham water goblet is paired with a clear red wine goblet. The clear glass let’s the eye rest from all the color on the table.
Beautiful silver-plate in a fan design echoes the fan design of the napkins. This silver-plate is quite substantial and adds some presence to the table setting. Love how the silver reflects the light.
I used a very simple centerpiece of white flowers in a crystal pitcher. Another restful place for the eyes when viewing the whole tablescape.
Here’s an overview of the table. All the elements work together to create an appealing whole.
Guests can easily see and talk to one another across this table. You can see the wall display from this view. It fits right in with the tablescape.
This is the view you see when you enter the room. Mercury glass candlesticks with simple white candles are set on the window sills. A single ornament wreath in reds, greens and golds hangs in the center window. A garland of holly leaves and berries is suspended from the chandelier and beautiful crystal Waterford snowflakes are suspended over the table.
This mix and match china tablescape was a joy to put together. It’s good to step outside your comfort zone and what better time to experiment than during the holiday season. Have a wonderful week and enjoy the season.
As, almost always, everything on the table was thrifted.