How To Dress Your Dining Table For Christmas

By Katrina Lander

My favourite time of year, and for so many reasons. It goes without saying that I decorate every room in my house (even if that means just adding some fairy lights in the bedrooms to make them feel cosy).

My dining table is always the first to be decorated, and I look forward to it every year. There’s something special about knowing my family and friends will be over within the festive period, sitting around my dining table, all enjoying the season together.

My goal is always to make the room look cosy and inviting, and by choosing festive colours, adding candles and a touch of Christmas décor it’s easier than you think.

Here are some of my top tips on how to dress your dining table for Christmas.

Start with your colour scheme:
Picking a colour scheme will make shopping for decorations a lot easier; let’s be honest, it can become a little overwhelming as there are so many options to choose from, which more than often results in you ending up buying numerous decs to later find out they don’t quite go together.

If you prefer to go classic and traditional, choose red, green and golds – these are my personal favourite and what I tend to stick to.

Make use of what you have:

Leftover Christmas candles, already have a garland you can reuse? Look at your existing decorations for inspiration and where to start (Christmas is expensive enough without having to buy all your decorations from scratch). I use my garland year on year and have a bag of red baubles that I no longer use to decorate my tree, they’ve now become the perfect accessory to add to my table.

Foraging / Artificial foliage and flowers:

Foraging is a fantastic way to decorate your table, and, of course, it’s free.

Holly, mistletoe, ivy, ivy berries, pinecones and acorns are just some of the decorations you can pick up for free to help create a beautiful design. 

Pinecones and acorns can be used to scatter over your table, the mistletoe could be used for a name card (gold pen works great on the green).

If you (or anyone you know) buys a real Christmas tree there are always branches that need to be removed, these are perfect to be used as a table garland or to bulk out your existing table garland – I use fishing wire to secure the branches and to secure other table decorations.

Start with your centrepiece:

Now you’ve decided on a colour scheme, and you’ve chosen some decorations you want to use, it’s time to make a start on putting it all together. The best place to begin is with your largest item first, whether this is a garland down the centre of the table (like I’ve gone for) or a large wreath candle holder, these will be the focal points of your table. Once you’ve positioned these it’s easier to start building.

Candles are great to add, not only do they look lovely lit up they also add height variation to your display.

I like to mirror both sides of my table, it’s easier to decorate and gives the display a flow. 

Ensure your decorations are in the centre of the table and you’ve left enough room for place settings and glasses.

Personal touches:
It’s always the small thoughtful things that mean the most, right? Homemade Christmas crackers, mini candy canes, name cards with a Christmas drawing, they will all make an impression. 

Add a touch of elegance:

It goes without saying that salt and pepper will always be on any dining table, so why not elevate your table design with some elegant and luxury salt and pepper mills.

I have chosen the Hoxton silver-plated mill set, made from high-quality metal alloy, they stand proud on my dining room table and compliment my Christmas design.  

When incorporating your mills into your table décor, you want to allow them to stand out and make a statement. I would recommend using an alternative colour next to the mills i.e. I have surrounded my red baubles and beautiful silver mills with green foliage which really allow the colours to complement each other.

Choose black, white and metallics for a modern look and white, silver and blue for a frosty winter look.

The ‘in season’ colours change each year, so it’s always worth keeping an eye on these and deciding if you want to incorporate these into your tablescape.

My favourite colours that are in season for winter 2024 are deep burgundy, chocolate brown and olive green – the only difficulty with incorporating the on-trend colours is trying to get hold of them before they go out of stock.