Small-Table Solutions for Holiday Entertaining: My Top Three Tips
This time of year, magazines and social media are packed with dreamy images of holiday tables large enough to seat armies and piled high with picture-perfect holiday decor.
But in the real world, dining room tables and family celebrations come in all sizes – even small.
We have a tiny dining room that can only house a small table. But because my husband loves to cook the turkey, we happily host Thanksgiving. I always need to get creative in order to seat everyone around that little table comfortably without sacrificing style.
And today I’m sharing my top three tips for doing just that.
- Tip 1: Use Scaled-Down Centerpieces
For small holiday tables, it’s best to keep the look festive yet clutter-free. So I keep my centerpieces compact. They don’t sprawl across the table, and they are not too tall.
- Tip 2: Place Silverware on the Plate
A good way to add the appearance of more space between place settings is to use this restaurant-inspired trick.
Rolling the silverware in the dinner napkin and placing it in the middle of the plate (as opposed to beside the plate) saves space.
- Tip 3: Rethink the Place Mats
When I’m trying to seat eight people on my small dining room table, place mats wind up too closely spaced to look good. Scaled-down chargers can be a nice alternative.
Bending the rules a little is fun too. Simply using smaller, attractive dinner napkins as place mats can work.
One year, I placed narrow homemade runners across the width of my table to give the place settings definition without taking up space.
This is how the small-table centerpiece turned out.
But I have other tips for small-table entertaining. To see them all, check out the link at the end of this post.
And to learn all about that unsung (but sometimes collectible) hero of the holiday centerpiece, the flower frog, check out my post Flower Frogs 101.
And remember the most important tip of all: Have fun with your table decor!
Note: Defining the cost of this project is difficult, so I went with $20 which would be the cost of nice cut flowers for the centerpiece. Cost will vary depending on what you already have on hand.
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?