Whether you’re channeling a hunting lodge, a seaside cottage, or full chaotic maximalism, here are our favorite tablescape looks for your specific flavor of festive.
Putting together a tablescape can teach you a lot about yourself: how you define your personal aesthetic, how much you’re willing to spend on candle holders, the relative importance of napkin rings to your chosen lifestyle. Putting together a tablescape can also be overwhelming: there are a lot of home goods sites out here on the internet, and each one contains, like some demonic Russian nesting doll, a seemingly infinite array of options for accessorizing your place settings. Who am I?, you might find yourself asking as a hundred equally winsome placemats blur before your eyes. Who do I want to be? What have I done?
The great thing about home entertaining, though, is that it simultaneously allows you to be yourself and embrace a lifestyle that isn’t necessarily your own. What is a dinner party if not an exercise in aspirational living? As someone who has spent many hours throwing dinner parties and even more hours trolling home design sites, I have done a lot of aspirational living, and, as such, have a lot of thoughts about table decor. With that in mind, I’ve curated a guide to four different themed tablescapes. Because even if you don’t own a seaside cottage or rustic hunting lodge, you deserve to be able to eat like you do.
It’s Autumn in a Hunting Lodge Somewhere WASP-y and Cold
The mood: Tradition meets rustic elegance, with a charcuterie board on the side
A Winter Seaside Cottage
The mood: Rocky shores, churning surf, and the reflection of candlelight on sea glass
The Kitchen in The Family Stone
The mood: Modern country farmhouse with a soupçon of bric a brac
The Happy Maximalist
The mood: Bright colors and bold prints to keep the seasonal gloom at bay
