– Yay for Thanksgiving table decor and tablescaping ideas! –
Since it’s just past the middle of November, Thanksgiving table decor and tablescaping ideas are a hot topic. I think it’s a welcome change in discussion from the insane election chatter that’s still filling our feeds — folks just want something else to think about, something fun and creative. I get it. I need a break from the melee, too.
I’ve been rethinking the concept of tablescaping lately, especially when it comes to efficiently designing a table on a budget. I love a well-put-together table, but in reality I’m not willing to spend a ton of money on table decor (which I use once or twice, and then have to store year after year after year… no thanks).
I’m getting much more into the idea of reusable table decorations that are affordable and flexible enough to be used on a variety of occasions, with a few select seasonal items that bring it home to the holiday at hand. Kind of like this tutorials on how to setup a gorgeous rustic Christmas table, using stuff you’ve already got around the house.
Oh, and they have to be tasteful. I’m putting a moratorium on sparkly, fluffy turkeys or snowmen at my table. Yikes.
This year I’m working in a new space, one with a smaller table and not a ton of light. My dining room table sits in a corner now, so that limits the angles I have to work with when it comes to table decorations — but it also limits the the number of angles I have to think about when putting together a design.
It’s a lot harder to setup a tablescape that will be viewed from all sides, so even folks who have a fancy middle-of-the-room banquet table might consider pushing their serving table against the wall to make the job of decorating it easier.
My Thanksgiving table decor and tablescaping ideas
The table I designed this year is very simple. I wanted to use flexible tablescaping elements that can contribute to a range of events beyond my Thanksgiving table decor. That means I started fishing out objects I already had, and made a few key purchases that I knew would extend past a Thanksgiving centerpiece.
Then there are the few little items that truly make it a Thanksgiving tablescape, but selecting a few key pieces that are tasteful and not gaudy. Here’s a head-on view of the Thanksgiving centerpiece I designed, end to end, so you can see the layout:
Given the lack of space, this mini tablescape is not as spread out as I would have liked, but there needs to be room for the food. I would have given a little more breathing room to the individual elements if I’d had more space to work with. Mental note, buy a huge house with room for a colossal banquet table. ?
As I mentioned above, I tried to keep it simple this year. I started with a standard red tablecloth that I had already purchased from Bed, Bath, and Beyond earlier in the year, which can be used for any occasion that warrants a vibrant foundation. The embroidered table runner in the back also came from BBB, and while it’s got a sort of “fall table decoration” feeling to it, this runner is flexible enough to be used almost any time of year. It looks like winter berries, summer berries, or even springtime flower buds. Yay for flexible table decor.
See that glass dish in the middle, which adds height, color, and texture when filled with the goodies inside? That’s a trifle dish from my cupboard. It’s just an everyday serving dish that I bought from Home Goods years ago.
As for the goodies in the trifle dish, it’s filled with pine cones and pink berries, which are also totally reusable for a range of holidays. The jute twine and gold ribbon on the bottom of the bowl were culled from a box of scraps I have stuffed in my closet. They’re not only pretty, but they also give everything in the dish a vertical lift.
The velvet pumpkins were one of my few 100% fall table decoration purchases. They came from Home Goods and literally cost $12 for four of them. Despite being obviously designed for a fall tablescape, these pumpkins are still pretty flexible. They can be used for Halloween or any other fall theme you can think of beyond Thanksgiving table decor.
And….. here’s where I went a little crazy, because I have a shiny objects fetish. (I’m part crow, dont’cha know?) The above crystal pear and the below crystal acorn totally made me squeeeeeeeeee when I saw them, and they were on clearance for $10 at TJ Maxx/Home Good, so I bought them. They were my one splurge for the season. ?
The pear and acorn are not listed on the Home Goods website, or I would link to them. Rumor has it there’s an apple as well but my local store didn’t have any. Sad Steph.
Here’s another one of the velvet pumpkins I picked up from Home Goods. I really like these little guys. They came in four different fall colors, two different shades of green and two different shades of orange. And they’re super lightweight, making them easy to place wherever you want:
The two sprays of fall leaves and berries came from <store that shall not be named*> for like $3 each. I’d bought them a few years ago and they’d been sitting in a flower arrangement in the garage, so I pilfered them and used them for the table. Yes they’re geared towards the fall season, but they’re flexible in that they can be used for many different things: wreaths, tabletops, flower arrangements, etc. So they still fall into the “flexible while still Thanksgiving table decor” category.
There you have it, my pretty cheap, crazy flexible design for a small, stuck-in-the-corner serving table. There’s still plenty of room for food, which is the most important part of dinner. I hope this gave you plenty of ideas for your own table. Now go forth and conquer!
* Regarding the “store that shall not be named:” I so vehemently disagree with this store’s politics that I refuse to link to them here, because I’m loathe to send them any business. Sorry/not sorry.