DECOR ATE WITH FOOD TO MAKE PEOPLE FEEL INSTANTLY HUNGRY

Mcalpine sets out bowls piled high with apples or peaches. ‘They’re not only pretty, but the informal way people help themselves as the meal is winding down becomes really communal,’ she says. When setting the table, mix up heights and levels. Place laden cake stands interspersed with boards of bread and jugs of flowers haphazardly down the middle of the table, rather than in a neat row.