Arranging holiday tables need not be stressful
As the leaves start to fall and we get the first cool breezes of autumn, my mailbox is flooded with questions regarding entertaining, etiquette and decoration. Many of us wait for these yearly holidays to start projects around the home or do a quick makeover to a room that will be used by family and friends, and sometimes we are puzzled as to how to handle visiting guests and relatives. Often, the answers are right under our noses, but because we tend to overthink things and want everything to be perfect, we overlook the simplest solutions. And by simple, I mean classic, straightforward and elegant.
Every day in restaurants, we are asked THE question: Would you prefer a booth or a table? Sometimes the decision is easy, but it depends on your fellow diners. For example, if the diners are a family with small children, the immediate answer is a booth - and the same may apply to lovers wanting to be seated side by side with some opportunity for privacy.
At home, your choices are set by the furniture you have. And every holiday when you have more guests than dining spaces, your conundrum begins. If your tables can be divided between adults and children, well, the answer is simple. But what happens when you have a mix of ages and groupings of friends and family who have never met before? Well, there are several answers.
Where space is available, follow the lead of a friend of mine. He opts for a slender but long table composed of foldable tables and dressed with two or three layered tablecloths. As an alternate treatment, you might keep an eye out for fabric at bolt-end sales where there are four or five yards left on a roll, which is perfect for a custom tablecloth. Your napkins can either be made of the same fabric or in a contrasting fabric for a pop of color.
Another solution to the dining table when guests overflow the main dining room is the following: Allow your dining table to serve as the buffet table, which allows for all of the cooked food and a nice stack of dishes. Then for the seating take note of the dining area created at the 2014 Traditional Home Napa Valley Showhouse at Caldwell Vineyards. Designed by San Francisco interior designer Jonathan Rachman, the dining room was laid out like a pub or communal tasting room. One wall was anchored by a long antique church pew and dotted with round bistro tables and vintage plastic ballroom chairs making for an egalitarian seating arrangement. Of course, you as the host can choose whether to place seating cards. This type of seating is an informal yet socially interactive approach.
Dress these smaller round tables according to the decor or to the style of your dinner or holiday party - or not at all. For a unified look, use same-color tablecloths topped with a consistent centerpiece. Make your silverware a part of the place setting, or set aside plates on the buffet. Be creative and add a conversation piece to each. Your guests will enjoy something unexpected at their table.
• Joseph Pubillones is the owner of Joseph Pubillones Interiors, an award-winning interior design firm based in Palm Beach, Fla.
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