23 Dec 7 Tips to Set an Elegant Holiday Table

Happy Holidays friends! It’s hard to believe we’re almost at the end of 2023 and Christmas is in 2 days. I’m finally into the end-of-the-year wind-down time relaxing with family, reflecting on all of 2023, and getting excited for the new year. Below, I’ve updated a post I wrote in 2020 7 Tips to Setting an Elegant Holiday Table with Bold Color and Pattern for you, cutting it way back, as that was when my posts were epic novellas. Be it simple or fancy, with family members or friends, my wish for you this holiday season is that this tabletop design inspires you to try different ways to bring beauty, hope, and joy to your holidays.  Discover 7 Pillow Goddess tips on how to set an elegant holiday table.

Choose a color palette

When setting a holiday table, the best place to start is by having a color palette in mind.  Since a Guest Participant in the fall 2020 One Room Challenge transforming our Living Room Salon (See Big Reveal HERE) it was easy for me to select colors.  I chose blue, green, and gold because they are the primary colors in our recently remodeled kitchen (spring 2020 One Room Challenge) and our breakfast/dining nook (fall 2019 One Room Challenge). However, my tabletop design is not a keeper, as I’m changing it up for our holiday dinners; you’ll see at the end of this post.

Look around your home for color inspiration.

If like us, your children won’t be home and you’re not setting a formal dining table this year, the kitchen table is just fine for 2020.  It’s smaller, more intimate, and can be dressed up or down, depending on your holiday meal and how many in your immediate family.

Our home happens to have an open kitchen/living room concept, so my husband and I are planning to eat our Christmas and New Year dinners here (below), just the two of us, in our breakfast/dining nook.

Breakfast/Dining Nook. Photography by Cody Kinsfather.

 

Go with colors you love

When choosing a color palette, don’t think you have to do it in traditional colors. These days any color combination works.  You’ll want to use colors that make you happy and complement your china and linens.  Bold blues, greens, and golds are my go-to colors in 2020 for sure!  What are yours?

There are no rules you have to follow.  You can select pink or yellow, or black, if these colors bring you joy.

Here are the blues, greens, and golds in our new Living Room Salon. You can see below how it is interconnected to our breakfast/dining nook and kitchen and why I wanted my tabletop design to complement these beautiful colors.

 

Living Room Salon photography by Cody Kinsfather.

Place setting inspiration

Replacements, Ltd., has a wonderful designer program, and after being inspired by the stunning china (below) my friend, interior designer extraordinaire, Jeanne Chung of Cozy Stylish Chic‘s, selected for the breakfast room she designed for the 2020 Pasadena Showhouse, I knew I wanted to reach out to partner with Replacements, Ltd.

Jeanne sums it up best with her view on “Telling the Story”

The process of designing a space is just as important as the end result. Every space we design tells a story – the process of designing, the artisans that produce the custom items we design, the history behind the art.  Great design rarely happens overnight – it is comprised of different layers that all come together to collectively form one artistic canvas. – Jeanne Chung, Cozy Stylish Chic

Place setting design, with Replacements, Ltd. china, by interior designer Jeanne Chung. Photography by Jeanne Chung.

 

Replacements, Ltd. is your source for beautiful china

The focus of this post is to share all the beautiful china I selected from the vast inventory at Replacements, Ltd.  to give you a sampling of the many possibilities you have when setting your table for the holidays. Be it Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year’s, an anniversary, or Valentine’s Day, Replacements, Ltd. has the world’s largest and most gorgeous china inventory. I was so thrilled when they wanted to partner with me for the One Room Challenge!

You really need to know about this resource because if you have family china passed down to you, or a pattern you’ve purchased, and you are missing a piece or have broken a dinner plate, your go-to source, hands down, is the fabulous Replacements, Ltd.

Or, if you just want to start adding different pieces to your china collection, Replacements, Ltd. has tons of inspiration and is the perfect place to shop around. You can use their handy filter system by plate color and even trim color.

Beware, it’s easy to go down the enticing rabbit hole and be on their site for hours, if not days!! But it is so worth it, especially if you love beautiful china like I do!

Replacements, Ltd., is all about creating meaningful experiences. Many of us have made many memories around the dinner table and often with beloved china. Now that I’ve discovered so many gorgeous new patterns, I know I plan on adding a few different pieces to my family’s china collection.

Selecting place settings

It was absolutely thrilling to select gorgeous china from Replacements, Ltd. Below are the four place settings I put together with the help of Julie Robbins, Replacement Ltd.’s in-house designer.

If you decide you’d like to shop on Replacements, Ltd. gorgeous website, please know there are millions of place settings from which to choose.  It’s a tad overwhelming your first time, so reach out for help.

I’m a little more familiar with the website now (I could spend, and have spent, hours on it admiring all the gorgeous patterns!), and getting help from someone like Julie, or another member of their amazing team, is crucial if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for.

Replacements customer service is incredible!  I know for sure it would have taken me a lot longer if Julie hadn’t pointed me in the right direction.

To learn more about Replacements Ltd., please visit their website and see the blog post I wrote in Week 5 of the fall 2020 One Room Challenge HERE. 

 

Fall 2020 One Room Challenge tabletop design featuring China from Replacements, Ltd and textile from Cotton & Quill. Photography by Cody Kinsfather.

It’s all in the mix

To mix patterns or not, is a personal preference.  As I mentioned, I love to mix patterns so my goal for these place settings was to have different rims on each plate and to have four completely different place settings so that nothing would match. I also wanted to mix high and low in the price range. A great place to start with was the dinner plates.

I happened to fall in love with the top right pattern, the Sheherazade dinner plate by Charles Field Haviland.  I was smitten from the start with its intricate pattern and gorgeous colors.

Here are the four patterns I chose (clockwise from top left)

1. Dinner Plate Medicis Blue by RAYNAUD

2. Large Dinner Plate Sheherazade by CHARLES FIELD HAVILAND

3. Dinner Plate Fitzgerald by NORITAKE

4. Dinner PlateTabriz by HAVILAND

 

 

Salad/Dessert Plates

I also fell in love with the aqua blue color in this “Golden Fire Blue” pattern (below; top right).  Here are the rest, clockwise from top left:

1. Salad/Dessert PlateFarahnaz Whiteby CHARLES FIELD HAVILAND

2. Dessert Luncheon Plate Golden Fire Blue by CHARLES FIELD HAVILAND

3. Accent Salad Plate Constance by BERNARDAUD

4. Salad Plate Gold Aves by ROYAL CROWN DERBY

 

 

Bread and Butter Plates

And then I really fell in love with the first bread and butter plate, a Versace. I thought it would be fun to really mix it up with just a touch of red in there and I love the festive intricate Jester pattern. I think out of all four place settings it is the one with the dark blue Medici dinner plate and the Le Roi Soleil  (Versace) bread and butter plate I love the most.

1. Bread & Butter Plate Le Roi Soleil by ROSENTHAL – CONTINENTAL (Versace)

2. Bread & Butter PlateKingston Jadeby ROYAL DOULTON

3. Bread & Butter PlateClassic Editionby LENOX

4. Bread & Butter PlateImperiaby ROYAL CROWN DERBY

 

 

 

Teacups and saucers

I wanted to add more rich color and pattern to the tabletop design, so I decided to go with flat cups and saucers. I have a teacup collection of my mothers, but I really didn’t have any in the blue/green/gold color that would work for these place settings, so I was thrilled to discover these four patterns. As you can see, I really love that touch of gold, which to me adds a lot of elegance to any table setting.

1. Flat Cup & Saucer Set Lady Anne Cobalt Blue by COALPORT

2. Flat Cup & Saucer Set Matignon Blue by HAVILAND

3. Flat Cup & Saucer Set Esmeralda (Gold Incrustation) by COQUET, JEAN LOUIS

4. Flat Cup & Saucer Set Byzance Green by CERALENE

 

 

All of this stunning china above (photographed by Replacements, Ltd.) is available to the public and the trade on the Replacements, Ltd. website.  If for some reason you see “out of stock”, please be sure to check with an associate as they may have more coming in.

Here are more detailed photos of the four place settings I designed with the gorgeous china from Replacements, Ltd.

 

 

You might be wondering what I chose to decorate the place settings with?

Glad you asked. Normally, a beautiful napkin would be positioned across the plates, but as a luxury pillow designer, I decided our studio’s holiday ornament collection would be perfect.

The Pillow Goddess design studio handcrafts holiday ornaments made from new and vintage fabrics and French trim, crowned with sparkling vintage jeweled buttons.  Each comes in a satin-lined gift box and they make elegant hostess gifts and perfect gifts for family members, special friends, or even favorite clients.

If you need a last-minute gift, please shop them HERE and we’ll ship it right out to you with our free holiday shipping through December 31st.

Here’s a glimpse of the four holiday pillow ornaments I used to decorate each place setting.

Selecting a tablecloth and trim

What you choose for your tablecloth is also another wonderful opportunity to add bold color and pattern to your tabletop. All I had on hand was white linen tablecloths and gold placemats. I didn’t think either would help me achieve my vision.

 

So I reached out to Cotton & Quill, and thankfully they were excited to partner!  Cotton & Quill is an incredible hand-illustrated fabric and wallcovering brand I had always admired. Their textiles are exquisite – full of color and pattern!

But it wasn’t as easy as you might think. They have over fifteen collections and about five patterns in each, available in up to six different colorways. And, of course, I loved them all!

But I had to make a very quick decision so the textile could be printed and shipped to me with enough time for me to sew it into a tablecloth. I chose detailed The Waldorf pattern from their Art Deco collection.

Delightful owner and designer Mary Catherine Folmar was super helpful in getting the textile to me pronto. In addition to shopping the Cotton & Quill website, be sure to shop their brand new cheerful placemat collection now available at Holly Stuart Home.

All the trimmings

Then, to my good fortune, my friend Jana Phipps, the Trim Queen, came to my rescue and overnighted me the perfect blue and black raffia trim and gold cording which I combined with a vintage teal velvet we had in the studio.

• Have I ever made a tablecloth before? Of course not.
• Have I ever sewn and matched up a complicated pattern? Of course not.
• Have I ever made a trim border for a tablecloth? Of course not.

 

But I have handcrafted a lot of luxury pillows in the last 15 years, and that’s what made this DIY part so fun and challenging. It put me into my creative “maker ” zone (and my messy studio) which felt fantastic! You too can try to make something you’ve never made before.

Here’s a detail of the rich-colored trim I made with the help of the Trim Queen’s incredible materials. Be sure to check out her Embellish and Ornament Kits now available on her website!

 

Pillow Goddess Tip

Test your own pre-conceived notions of what works and what doesn’t. That’s what I love about playing around with the different patterns and colors. Some designers instinctively know. I am more visual and really need to see things in front of me.

I was so grateful to Julie who added a few extra dinner, salad, and bread and butter plates so I would have some options. It really helped me finalize my place setting designs.

What’s a charger or service plate?

I didn’t know what a charger, or service, plate was for the longest time.  Until my stepmother sent me a beautiful collection of them from my grandmother that I now set our spring tabletop with because they are in pastel colors. (Watch for those spring 2021!)

Wikipedia definition: 

Charger plates or service plates are large plates used at full course dinners or to dress up special events like parties and weddings. Charger plates have been in use since the 19th century.

I had never set a table with charger plates before so it was a totally new experience for me.  And they are not required, but really do up the elegance factor when setting a table.  I wasn’t sure four of them would fit on our 47″ round dining table, but they did and looked gorgeous.

I selected the striking Vetro Gold by ARTE ITALICA

I also selected this gorgeous gold-plated flatware so that they’d complement each other.

Here I am styling the table on the morning of the photoshoot.  It’s just a partial view of me because my husband took such unflattering photos of me with my phone that this is the only one I could salvage…lol.

Here are two additional pieces I absolutely loved. I used the white and gold tureen for the centerpiece (I’m sorry I don’t have a photo showing it very well as the flowers cover it up) and the perfect green water goblets. The green matched the velvet green chairs we had purchased on Overstock, so the goblets really brought out this rich emerald color in the design.

Tureen & LidArizona (White Rim)by CHARLES FIELD HAVILAND

Water Goblet 15074-8 by TIFFIN-FRANCISCAN

Here’s two images that really show off the gorgeous goblets.  I’ve always been attracted to jewel tones, and for some reason, this emerald green makes me super happy.

 

 

That sums up my process in designing an elegant holiday table with bold color and pattern. I hope by sharing my decisions it helps you think through some exciting new ideas for setting your holiday table. As you can see there are many ways to do this.

The Pillow Goddess 7 Tips to Set an Elegant Holiday Table with Bold Color and Pattern

1. Mix up china patterns by color and pattern
2. Add a colorful table cloth with a bold pattern instead of the traditional ivory linen
3. Add color stemware instead of clear
4. Add different flatware. We’re fortunate to have two sets of silver-plated flatware, but I’m definitely going to explore different sets for the future
5. Napkins add another dimension too. Since I don’t have any particular color linens, I opted to not use them in my design and instead decorated the plates with our lovely holiday ornaments. But I’ll be on the hunt for some pretty patterned napkins for sure.
6. Add color and texture with a centerpiece floral arrangement and candles, and
7. Lastly, colorful pillows add a lot to your table design. That is, if you have a built-in breakfast/dining nook or a banquette. Obviously, we have to move some of these Pillow Goddess beauties if we want to be able to sit down and relax in our new dining nook for Christmas dinner..lol!

 

What I’ve learned

In designing two tablescapes now (one in 2019 and one in 2020 with the One Room Challenge) I’ve learned that my tastes have evolved over the years and I now prefer mixing up different plate patterns versus a matching set. And It’s easier than it looks. Selecting the colors is key and then the patterns fall into place.

I don’t have the luxury this Christmas and New Year’s to mix and match, so I’m setting our holiday table with my mother’s Maroon Oak pattern by Lenox, which I’ve always loved.

Like me, you might already have a matching set of china, or one handed down to you from your parents, grandparents, or a great Aunt. I’m lucky to have both my mother’s Lenox china and some china and gold-rimmed crystal from my Great Grandparents Main, from the 1930s.

Setting a holiday table with color and pattern

Now,  after shipping back all this gorgeous china, I had to come up with a plan to stick to my theme but incorporate my mother’s beautiful red and cream Lenox china pattern and red glassware. I ordered some inexpensive textured gold chargers on Amazon and two of the Replacements, Ltd green goblets, which I think work well.

I also was completely changing out the centerpiece to a red and white rose floral arrangement with a gold base surrounded by fresh cranberries.  One like this was gifted to me by a dear friend a few years ago and I now look forward to re-creating it every holiday season. (Catch the video of the process in my Instagram feed.)

The result is an elegant table set for two with my mother’s Lenox china.

 

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Happy Holidays Friends!

Many thanks to all of you, my dear readers, for a wonderful 2023. This is my final post for the year. Please follow me on Instagram. where I will be sharing more holiday fun.

Until next time, in 2024,I wish you and your family and friends a very safe and Happy Holiday. Cheers fo a bright future and a Happy New Year. I can’t wait to entertain and see you again in 2024.

Till then, keep hope and love in your heart and please stay safe. XO PG

Note: This blog post is sponsored by Replacements, Ltd, Cotton & Quill, and the Trim Queen. All photos are mine, except the professional ones taken by photographer Cody Kinsfather. Online photos of china and textiles are by Replacements, Ltd., and Cotton & Quill.  All opinions are my own.