Set A Table…Moore House-Style
Just like that, we blinked and we’re thinking about Thanksgiving! There’s something so wonderfully comforting and cozy about the holidays. While your plans might be different this year, there’s no reason for a lackluster table. With plenty of experience thanks to our chef night’s for guests and our Moore House Dinner Series, we’ve come up with some great ideas for how to deck out your dining room. Here are some of our no-fail table setting techniques that you need to try this holiday season:
A textured tablecloth
A tablecloth not only adds color and texture to the surface of your table, it can also disguise multiple tables pushed together to form one or any additions you need to make to fit extra company. We love to use woven fabrics with a lot of texture like burlap or linen, also, layering a sheer runner can add more movement and color if that’s something you’re looking for.
Change up your flatware
We have different sets that we like to switch in and out depending on the occasion, it’s so nice to use something special for a holiday. If you can’t splurge for another set besides your everyday utensils, a pretty cloth napkin can help them feel a little fancier than what you’re used to seeing.
A pretty menu
It doesn’t matter if it’s just your immediate family, a menu makes a meal feel like an occasion. We’ve had some really unique ones over the course of our dinners. Everything from a menu done in calligraphy on rice paper to printed text on seeded paper that could be taken home by guests and planted. We like to get creative and you can too!
don’t forget the chairs
There are plenty of beautiful ways to dress up your dining chairs or benches for a special dinner. We’ve covered vintage chairs with rope, added sheepskins to make long wooden benches feel more comfortable, and woven greenery around the ends of backed benches too.
Add natural elements
We love using what’s available to us or even better, reusing materials for something other than their intended use—it’s kind of our thing. From foraging for branches and dried florals and creating centerpieces or floral installations or repurposing scrap of wood as candle holders, there are many inexpensive ways to elevate the look of your dining table.
Try Sky High Tapers
We don’t use just any candles, we like to vary the height of our tapers. We’re also not afraid to experiment with colors besides white. We’re game to try other neutrals and even a bold black depending on the look we’re going for. We prefer when they feel delicate instead of clunky, it makes it easier for dinner guests to chat across the table without their view being totally obstructed. Instead of traditional candlesticks, we’re game to make our own out of wood or metal, depending on what we have around and again, their footprint on the table is minimal and still keeps the candle heights relatively low. Remember candlelight makes everything and everyone in a room look their absolute best.
bring some drama
We don’t know the meaning of extra. Some times it’s fun to go all out with a themed centerpiece or woven wall hangings. Use your imagination and try out a playful theme or some sort of installation over the table. It can add so much to the overall experience.
Serve good food
Sure, it sounds like a no-brainer but really a wonderful dinner revolves around good food and good company. What we love the most about our Moore House dinners are all of the lovely and interesting people we get to meet through them. If you can share a wonderful evening and get to eat and drink together, everything else is just extra.
Images: Erin McGinn
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