Every year, around this time of year, we see hundreds and hundreds of Christmas decorations in every shop we walk into. Whether it’s a new festive table cloth to adorn your reclaimed wood dining table, a display piece or two which would look oh-so-fabulous on that large sideboard in your kitchen diner, or a handful of gorgeous new baubles for the star of the show, the Christmas tree, it’s safe to say Brits love decorating for Christmas!
Eco-friendlymas
We’ve also noticed this year, there has been an increased focus on an eco-friendly Christmas. Like lots of areas of our lives, people are becoming more conscious of the impacts of their actions, and Christmas hasn’t gone unnoticed. Many shops are now offering decorations made out of recyclable materials and there is quite the trend online of people using or even making their own wrapping paper (an all-over stamp design can look really effective!).
If you are looking for something eco-friendly and homemade for your dinner table, these napkins are super simple. Most of us will have old clothes or blankets or bed linens lying around which we can repurpose into napkins. Simply chop your fabric into squares, sew down the edges to ensure the material doesn’t fray and roll up, securing with a piece of string embellished with a little piece of your Christmas tree. If you are using smaller items of clothing, you may need to use more than one garment. But with several different patterns around the dining table, you’ll create a cosy cottage feel which is full of personality.
Think outside the box
There is also a trend of people using non-traditional Christmas items to create their dinner table settings. After all, your entire house doesn’t need to resemble Santa’s grotto! If you are entertaining an army of friends and family (first, make sure you’ve got an extendable dining table at the ready), you may find place settings to be helpful. We love all the creative options we’ve seen on the internet this year; names written on chalk placemats in chalk or spelt out using Scrabble letter tiles and trays to name a couple. You may even find a way to put people’s names on the backs of your upholstered dining chairs (just be careful it won’t ruin the fabric!)
You can also get creative when it comes to your centrepieces. This year we’ve seen beautiful botanicals everywhere we’ve looked. To add artistic flair to your dining table, you could opt for succulents and potted plants for a fresh splash of green, even adding a terrarium for a little bit of drama. If you are missing this Christmas sparkle, you could even fill your terrarium with Christmas lights instead of a plant, or you could hang tiny baubles on a potted plant or two.
If you’ve been creative with other aspects of your Christmas dinner table, you may wish to keep it simple when it comes to each setting. We love the simplicity of this table setting with the flash of red and the little garnish on each plate taken from the garden (perfect for tying each setting into your botanical display in the centre of your table, perhaps?)
For the traditionalists
But there’s also a lot to be said for simplicity. If you are not so sure about opting for something a little out of the box or it would require you to shell out on lots of sometimes-expensive items for your dinner table (after all, that’s not in keeping with the eco-friendly trend we’ve discussed), then something traditional like this setting may be an excellent option.
We loved the fun addition of Santa’s coat looking after the cutlery for each place setting on this dining set up contrasted against the otherwise simple décor. If you fancy a little drama, you could drape sheepskin rugs over your dining bench or pop a mini Christmas tree or two at the centre of your table.
Let us know your favourite way to decorate your Christmas dining table – we’d love to see photos if you’ve already been entertaining this year fully decked out in Christmas glamour.