With the holidays quickly approaching, decorations, recipes, holiday music, and parties are underway. We all love putting ornaments on the tree, hanging stockings by the fireplace, putting lights up, and displaying nutcrackers and Black Santa decorations, but another way to incorporate gorgeous holiday decor is by creating a tablescape. With people attending holiday parties with friends and families this year, tablescaping is becoming increasingly popular. The art of this festive decoration allows homeowners to transform their dining room into a magical entertainment space where guests can dazzle and look at your display in awe.

The best thing about creating a tablescape is that there are no rules. Include however many plates, silverware, candles, napkins, and decor that you desire. Dress your table in traditional holiday colors, or go with something bold and unique. Tablescaping is a great way to show off your and your home’s personality. Whether you’re hosting a small party or having the entire family over for Christmas dinner, there are so many fun ways to create a magical atmosphere on your table.

Here are a few beautiful tablescape ideas to take inspiration from this holiday season.

Choose Your Color Palette

Choosing a color palette is the first step to creating a tablescape. For a traditional Christmas tablescape, utilize colors like red and green. For a winter wonderland theme, silver and white work best. Plates, glass cups, and napkins should match the color palette you choose. After picking out silverware items, incorporate matching decor like fake snow, ornaments, mini Christmas trees, fake berries, placemats, and candles. Having the right color palette sets the tone for your holiday party and the foundation for your tablescape.

Work Around Your Tablecloth

If you’re going back and forth between the color palette and theme for your tablescape, consider working around it and take inspiration from the tablecloth you plan on using. This allows you to build out the table around the color and theme of the tablecloth to determine which silverware and decor pair best with it. Choosing a cloth with a simple design or central theme will help best in this instance to create that focus.

Make Your Tablescape Magical

Use antiques, glass, and elegant Christmas decor to make your tablescape look elegant and magical. A white Christmas theme with fake snow, silver or glass ornaments, snowflake decorations, and desk trees will bring life to your table. Vintage decor, fresh flowers, and fake berries also add elegance to the table. Use your best silverware and plates for a sophisticated look. Expensive China plates, glass or porcelain plates, wine glasses, and candles will add a unique charm to the space.

Keep It Simple and Sweet

Hosting Christmas and holiday parties can be stressful. From having to cook to cleaning the house and setting up decorations, there is so much that needs to be done to prepare for having guests over. If you find yourself struggling to get everything done in a short amount of time, consider going the simple route with your tablescape. You can’t go wrong with a few white glass plates, a white tablecloth, gold silverware, and a few staple decor pieces.

Build Around the Centerpiece

The centerpiece is going to be the focal point of the party in any tablescape. Because of this, you’ll want to use your centerpiece as a starting point. Once you have your centerpiece, decorate around it based on color and design. If you have a traditional Christmas centerpiece, consider utilizing unique decor pieces like fake pinecones, fake berries, mistletoe, holly, florals, and candles. If you have a unique or rotating centerpiece pair it with fun decor. Fake deer, a small train, fake snow, mini desk trees, cinnamon sticks, or tealights are great decor pieces that will bring your tablescape together.

Go for a Maximalist Ambience

If Christmas is your favorite holiday, and you have a maximalist and colorful home, use this to set the tone for your tablescape. Trade in the traditional Christmas colors and decor for other shades and create holiday-themed decorations that match your home and aesthetic. This could be unique or colorful ornaments, DIY giant candies, different-shaped desserts, flowers, colorful trees, or cool Santa decorations. Take things up a notch and make it a themed tablescape with a Christmas movie, character, or book-themed table.

Add Height

For a dramatic effect, add height to your tablescape. The best way to do this is using candles, but you can also add height and dimension with different decorations. Add mini trees that are of different heights or tall and short wine glasses. Decorate around the center or the base of the table by using florals of different heights or a centerpiece with dimension.

Gift Your Guests

Every good party has gifts and goodie bags for guests. Make your guests the star of the show by displaying their gifts on the table. Use Christmas-themed gift bags, wrapping paper, or boxes for the gifts. Label each of the gifts with your guest’s names, or add cute label tags to each plate or chair and include the gifts on the table where they are sitting. For those on a budget, the gifts don’t have to be expensive. Small gifts like candles, body wash, gift cards, etc. are perfect. For those who plan on spending a bit more and personalizing each gift, try to make sure the wrapping for each gift is the same size.

Match It With Your Holiday Decor

If creating a tablescape is the last thing on your to-do list for Christmas, this is the perfect chance to match your tablescape with your decor. If you have a regular Christmas tree with elegant ornaments, make sure your tablescape reflects that. If your tree and decor are more colorful, experiment with different colors in your tablescape. Utilize red ribbon, fake snow, deer figures, snowflakes, pine cones, candy canes, and more to create the perfect warm Christmas ambiance on your table.

Center Your Personality

Tablescapes and decorating for the holidays should be fun! Make your table a reflection of your personality. If you’re considered fun and quirky, use unique decor items and incorporate lots of color into the theme. If you’re more quiet and reserved, utilizing Christmas colors or black and white with simple decor might be a good fit. Make your tablescape stand out and highlight the best parts of you and your design aesthetic.