Winter Dining Room
I love switching up our dining decor with the season. We rented for years and I can honestly say seasonal decor may just be my favorite perk of home ownership, that and the whole greatest investment thing.
Now that Christmas has been put away it’s time for clean and tidy again. I love Christmas and the memories they bring our family but I am always ready to put it away. Clean and freshly dusted, my house just seems to sparkle with the possibilities of the New Year.
This year I decided to create a simple tablescape for the winter months. I wanted something for everyday use with a centerpiece that was simple.
Our table is counter height (36 inches tall). Decorating it can be tricky. Are there rules? Are there things I’m not supposed to do? The beauty of table decorating is that as long as there is room for your food you can kinda do whatever you want. Notice I did not say place settings, that is a different topic for a different day.
There really only seems to be one rule for a bar height dining table, no table cloths. Sure you can use one, I certainly have, I mean throw caution to the wind and be crazy! But when you are wanting to earn style points remember these tricks.
It’s best to use runners that don’t hang over the edge of the table. Also placemats, as seen here, or chargers tend to be the rule of the day when it comes to pub style or counterheight tables. The placemats are from Crate and Barrel, they are soft, fibrous and sleek in their Magnolia inspired black and white. The pattern is welcoming and neutral at the same time. I’ve found bright and cheery colors is best suited for the kitchen table or breakfast bar. For our dining room, I keep it natural and neutral.
The pop of green is fresh and clean, it helps remove the drab of brown winter. I got the white pots and plants at IKEA. Succulents would look great as a set of three here too. If you’re eyeing the garland, I got it at Michaels last year on Black Friday. I intended to just keep it up for Christmas but liked it so much I decided to make it a permanent fixture. I think it adds a little whimsy and helps tie the room together.
We eat as a family almost every night of the week so I wanted the winter centerpiece to be functional. Everyone can easily see each other and no one has to peer over anything to have a conversation. We also enjoy family style dining so having less on the table itself allows for the food to be the focus. Again, this is when less is more and a muted color scheme shines with brilliance.
Enter the buffet, gifted to us by my mom when she downsized. I don’t know if you have one but if you don’t put it on your dream list. My purpose for this piece is to be ready when its game time.
I learned a long time ago, a stressed hostess is not a pretty hostess. So use your buffet as a loading dock and prep station for easy entertaining. The drawers are full of service ware, paper and cloth napkins, handy plastic utensils, place cards, and napkin rings. On top I keep my beverage pedestal out all year, ready when we have company. I keep the beautiful canvas out all year too, it was a housewarming gift, makes me smile, and reminds me of intentional living. I got the cotton stems at Hobby Lobby a few seasons ago and I love them. I move them around the house and try not to fuss with them too much. The black and white placemat was a quick buy in the linens section at Walmart. It continues to tie everything together. The round chargers come in handy when we need to make room for a few more at the table.
The other items are as you see, condiment containers for clean, easy, thoughtful, dining. Do yourself a favor and elevate your entertaining game like my Grandmother taught me, squirt that ketchup into a pretty dish, throw in a spoon, then place it next to the salt and pepper. Because your guests will be touched by the extra effort and because we can all use a little more classy in our lives mhhmmkay?
I’m a firm believer that some of the best family memories happen around your table. We prioritized it years ago when PDH little kids turned into big kids and life started traveling at the speed of light. As silly as it sounds, it has helped ground and reset us. Phones don’t touch the sacred tabletop (we set that culture right away) and we are present together for those few minutes. Sometimes family time has to be intentional and this is one easy way to do it, I mean we all need to eat. So spend a little time and energy, make your table a beautiful place to gather and a share a meal with those you love, you’ll be so glad you did.
