One thing you may or may not know about me is that I love, love, love to set a table! Granted, I am not the most domesticated woman in the world. Michaels & JoAnn’s completely overwhelm me. I don’t love being in the kitchen either, although I do have about a dozen recipes I can make pretty well, especially those that require a crockpot! I can make some pretty great side dishes—mac & cheese, sweet potatoes, brussels—and my broccoli (Tammi’s broccoli!) is now the most requested veggie in my house.

All that said, I guess you could say I’m more Martha Stewart and less Pioneer Woman.

Few things bring me more JOY in my home than setting the table. It’s become an event around my house, meaning the evenings before Easter Sunday, a birthday, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day the girls and I turn on our favorite playlist (holiday appropriate) and go to work. We open all of my cubbies and cabinets and bring out my years-collected dishes, stemware, glassware, linens, and the like.

(Note: the above makes it sound like I have passed-down generational treasures. Not so much. My plates are from Pier 1. My most used glasses are from a restaurant supply store, my silverware is from Pottery Barn, and the napkins are from HomeGoods and Target.)

I love life around the table. I love the intentional conversation. The laughs. The tears. The games. The victory sharing. The lessons learned. The hurts. The breakthroughs. The face time! I believe a beautifully set table communicates, “let’s savor this.” We’re here. And we’re going to prioritize this time together. No rushing. No devices. And no distractions.

All this said, I’m thrilled to share my Thanksgiving table with you! Fancy folks call it a tablescape, but that just sounds weird to me. Ha! I thought it’d be easier to break it down with each item, and I’ll share my thoughts behind each.

Flatware | Table Runner | Napkins

White Tablecloth: I love a white, crisp tablecloth. This is one of my favorites. It’s the only color I own. Some folks prefer the bare table, and I think that’s beautiful too. But there’s something about a white tablecloth that seems to elevate the holiday or special occasion. Fun fact: I iron the tablecloth while it’s on the table! (Be careful not to damage your table though.) Also, I would recommend investing in a thicker “hotel-style” tablecloth. It will wear better, and the thickness looks really nice.

Table Runner: 1000%. No questions asked. I have never set a table that didn’t have a table runner on it. If the tablecloth is the sofa, the table runner is the throw pillow. It brings the color, theme, and feel to your table. Here are my three go-to’s:

The West Elm one is hands down my fave. I use it the most. Although, I’m using the Pottery Barn one for Thanksgiving Table. A more affordable option that I also LOVE is this classic jute burlap runner from Amazon.

Chargers: I love layers on a table. It brings that special-occasion feel that I love as we sit around the table with family. I have four sets of chargers that I rotate between. I’ve had them for years, and I use them over and over.

Here are my Pottery Barn ones.

Here are my World Market ones.

I’ve got gold & silver sets too that I got from Target YEARS ago.

I’m using the World Market ones for Thanksgiving.

Plates | Chargers | Glasses

Plates: Easy breezy. I like white. It’s classic. As my girlfriend, Tammi says, “we like to see our food!” True! But the great thing about white is that it will always be in style. And you can put literally any table runner, decoration, napkin, candle or anything with it, and it will match. You will never go wrong with white. My plates are from Pier 1. Again, I’ve had them for YEARS. I love this style and size, but you can find a similar pack of six on Amazon.

Napkins: I’m a sucker for cloth napkins. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about Bounty 365 days a year! But the five or so special occasion days, I’m going to pull out my cloth napkins and give that pop of color or pattern to my table. The napkins you see in this pic are from Joanna Gaines’ Target collection. I don’t think they have them anymore, but I found a good duplicate. Although, mine are black & white check, you can’t go wrong with buffalo check (a slightly different pattern). It’s just hearty & very Fall.

Glasses: Oh how I love these glasses! They are straight out of my childhood. My grandmother had these glasses, and I drank many-a-glass of (unsweetened) tea out these things. I found them on Etsy a few years ago and gave them to myself for Christmas. I love the mixture of modern and vintage on my table. Believe it or not, they have some on Amazon! You can also try Etsy. I have them in avocado (yep!) and clear. I know they won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, so to speak, but if you do like them, you can google:
“Green Indiana Whitehall or Fostoria Footed Drinking Glass”

Most of the time we use these restaurant-style goblet glasses.

 

Bark Charger | Candle Sticks | Tapers

Flatware: I bought a nice set of silverware probably even before Abbey was born. Last year, I started eyeing the gold flatware. I decided last Thanksgiving that I wanted to set next Thanksgiving with gold flatware. The style I was looking at, at Pottery Barn, was a little pricey, so I decided if I bought a set each month of this year, I’d have a service of 12 by this year’s Thanksgiving Day. I bought my last two a few weeks ago! They also have more affordable gold flatware on Amazon, Target, and a set on sale at West Elm right now!

Nametags: I love personalizing everyone’s seat. The fact that I have a calligrapher in the family makes it all the more “bougie!” Haley is my secret weapon in this department. She makes everything a little extra with her lettering. For this table, we used Hester & Cook’s table accents. These are super easy, festive, and you can lay them right on the plate. I’ll show you some different holders for my Christmas table!

Pumpkins | Greenery | Votives

Bark Chargers/Tree Slices: I have 3 of them, and use them ALL the time. Just a tip: when you do decorations, do them in groupings of three, whether it’s the chargers, votives, etc. I have these from Pottery Barn, but we found some similar in packs of 4 on Amazon.

Comment below if you have any questions~ And if it’s something you’d like to see, I’ll set up my Christmas table in the next few weeks, and show you that too!

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