A table is not just a table, how you dress it up will give it a whole life of it’s own. The tablecloth, runner, placemats and centrepiece are vital elements.If you still have a crochet table cloth, resembling something your mum first picked up at in the 60′s – then you are in need of emergency decor therapy. More recent trends all tend to be heading towards a minimalistic style – as the saying goes, “less is more.”

The ultimate style and decor tip for any table would have to be to go totally bare and not employ a table cloth at all, but this is not always a very practical option, especially if you have little kids at home, or even clumsy adults who cannot get through the day without spilling something.  Also, if you have an old battered up, unsightly table – a table cloth may be essential to hide-away the damage. If however you have a sleek, well maintained, neat and tidy table and no kids to worry about, then going bare will definitely be the best option for you.

When going bare, we do not suggest stripping your dining room of general table etiquette. You will be eliminating the table cloth, but for day-to-day purposes an excellent idea would be to have a runner along the centre of your table from one end to the opposite, a single centre piece comprising a plain clean-cut vase filled with lush, bright fresh flowers of several varieties. We all know that weekly trip to the florist can be rather costly, and so a more cost-effective means of sourcing flowers would be to grow your own flowers at home. From orchids to sunflowers, you can grow whatever you desire in your own back yard.

As far as having meals at the table are concerned, you will still need to lay out the place mats and coasters, and if you have slimy, multi-colour, low budget plastic ones, throw them away. Take a drive to a local fabric shop, pick up some fabric, preferably plain colours, a colour which will blend in with the scheme of your dining room and go home and make your own placemats and a runner. It wouldn’t take you more than an hour. All you will need to do is cut as many identical rectangular pieces of fabric as you have seatings and cut a single rectangular piece for the runner, ensuring it runs from one end to the opposite, hanging over the sides a little. Then you will just need to hem the edges, this can be done by hand or machine. Aside form being a cost effective means of getting place mats, it also ensures uniqueness.

If  a table cloth is essential for you because of your table being somewhat unsightly and your table cloth has any ugly stains on it – you either need to get rid of it, or work around it. We all know how much it would hurt to throw away that expensive table cloth you love so dearly because it has a wine stain on it, at the same time we know how embarrassing it can be when guests notice the stain whilst having dinner, so why not get a little creative – add minor detailing to the stained area and a few other areas to make the detailing appear to be a pattern. You can do some embroidery over the stained area, or sew a piece of fabric over the stain and repeat this over some other random areas, and perhaps you could even attempt making a similar stain in other areas, making the stain appear to be patterns on the fabric.Also, your table cloth needs to be specific to the type of table you have, if you look carefully you will find that there are different table cloths for round, rectangular and square tables, also there are different dimensions – you need to find one suited to the shape of your table and not equal to the measurements of your table top but in fact the measurement of your table cloth should be one and a half times the measurements of your table top. If your table top is 2 metres wide and 4 metres long then your table cloth should be 3 metres wide and 6 metres long.

If you have a coffee table, please get rid of the doily you might have on it. And dump those plastic flowers you have into the recycling bin. You can either opt to have nothing on your coffee table, or if you find it too bare, opt for something more modern age – a zen garden, a bowl with some neutral objects etc.

Tables should serve a functional purpose, if you have any tables around your home which you have absolutely no purpose for – perhaps you should consider getting rid of it.

Author: Donaven Armugam

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Tags: decor, dinner, dinner table, flowers, home, meals, placemats, table, table cloth. runner

This entry was posted on Monday, May 17th, 2010 at 3:38 pm and is filed under Decor Tips, Dining Room. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.