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Escaping Through Tabletop Styling

I usually have trouble undressing the house after Christmas, but I was almost paralyzed by the thought this year. With the pandemic still raging and the prospect of spending the remainder of winter grounded at home, the walls started to close in on me.

And then I had an idea: What if I kept on celebrating? I could repurpose some of the Christmas décor and convert the existing tabletop displays around the house into different expressions of a winter wonderland. And maybe even sprinkle in some hearts, because why not embrace Valentine’s Day, too?

My mood lifted immediately, not just because I had new project to focus on, but also because the change of scenery was going to give me a place to escape to whenever the days felt like they were blending together again. I’ve found during this pandemic that little gestures matter a lot. And make no mistake; tabletop styling is a small undertaking, even if you’ve already packed away the reindeer and tossed the poinsettias.

As a bonus, the tips below, while intended for decorating, are completely applicable to straightforward interior design, too. Have you ever noticed how a fully-furnished room doesn’t look finished until the tabletops have been styled? Yeah, that’s not a coincidence.

Contrast materials and heights.

When you’re styling your tabletop, regardless of the size of the table, try to use objects that are different heights, shapes, and materials. The contrast will add depth to the design and the room.

Place the small items toward the front of the table and the tall items in the back. If the table’s in the middle of the room, loosely cluster the taller objects around the center of the table. It’ll help draw the eye into the design. Though avoid a uniform pitch. That’ll make it look a little too choreographed. You’ll notice in the picture that the tallest object is just off-center, but there are a bunch of shorter peaks throughout the tabletop.

I also mixed in a slew of different materials, including metal, wooden, ceramic, and fresh flowers. The organic against the inorganic draws out the best qualities of both.

Use keepsakes.

Our parents treated family heirlooms one of two ways. They either arranged them in an overly-precious, museum-like display or they buried them deep in storage, where no one could appreciate them.

They’re much easier to fold into the mix around the house when you have a more casual attitude about them, like, um, using them in a decorative tabletop design. And the stories behind them will help to personalize the room.

This beautiful turquoise French glassware from the 1920s was given to my parents as a wedding gift. The color’s so unusual that it catches your eye from everywhere in the room. It means a lot to me because it belonged to my parents and it’s kind of a one-of-a-kind collection (to me, at least). And yet, I’m not above throwing a sparkly reindeer into the mix.

Follow basic composition rules.

Remember what I said earlier about making sure your tabletop doesn’t look too measured? Well, there’s a continuation to that thought, and it starts with but. Your tabletop shouldn’t look measured, but it should be well-balanced, just like any attractive piece of art.

There can be a tendency to think that more is better in these instances. But there are lots more opportunities where a handful of objects can make all the difference. After all, how many huge tables do you have in your home?

In this design, which sits atop a table that resides inside our front door, I made do with only a few items, and some of them were carried over from Christmas. But it also turned out to be my most imaginative one, evoking an enchanted forest that’s straight out of an age-old bedtime story.

No, you don’t need to spend big.


Finally, and maybe most importantly, the things on your tabletops don’t need to be pricey or precious.

I indulged my inner-florist with some of these designs, but only because fresh flowers make me really happy, especially in the dead of winter. But everything else is stuff I either collected through the years or bought very inexpensively, like these little novelty hearts I added to an existing berry arrangement on our bar.

If something’s beautiful to you and it helps you tell a story, ultimately, that’s the only criteria that matters when you’re searching for objects to style your tabletops.