Set out to dine in style
IF THE centrepiece of your Christmas dinner table is the turkey and sprouts then perhaps this is the year to try something different. Make your table as decorative as the Christmas tree with stylish new crockery, sparkling cutlery and special glasses, all finished with a sprinkling of baubles or pine cones and holly.
John Lewis is running free Colour My Christmas workshops at many of its stores over the next week or so and the message is to experiment with colour: emerald, amber, sapphire, ruby or jet.
There’s similar advice from designers at cutlery and kitchen brand Robert Welch, where experts suggest picking a colour that features in your dining room to use as a focus on the table.
Dressing a table, as opposed to just setting it, is all about layering.
Start with a white tablecloth or neutral
Creative
surface then add place mats – natural wood is very on-trend – followed by a dinner plate, salad plate and soup bowl on top.
It looks excessive but that’s the point and even if you’re not serving soup you can use the bowl for Christmas baubles, a Christmas cracker or a gift for guests.
Some people just can’t remember where your side plate should be – it’s on the left – while glasses should be on the right above your knife, according to British cutlery company Viners, which has an online guide to setting a table.
Sales of table runners are soaring, according to John Lewis, and this is where you can really get creative by decorating them with holly, ivy, cones, candles, even tinsel – another bestseller.
If you’re wondering what to do with the turkey, well there’s your excuse to splash out on a new sideboard. BEST-LAID PLANS: Abigail Ahern Ophelia chandelier, £180, Wave dinner plate by John Rocha, £9, Wave side plate, £8, reactive bowl, £6, from Debenhams (0344 800 8877; debenhams.com) ANTI-CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Stainless steel Stanton Bright 30-piece cutlery set, £125, from Robert Welch (01386 840522; robertwelch.com); copper titanium coated Aeris 16-piece cutlery set with hammered-texture handles, £45, from Viners (0151 486 1888; viners.co.uk); acacia wood and bark round place mat, £18, pine cone napkin rings, £15, burnished copper votives (set of three), £18, from John Lewis & Partners (03456 049049; johnlewis.com)