Wow, I can’t believe we’re only a few days from Christmas. I’m sure you’re just as busy as I am, making sure every stocking is hung, every present is wrapped, and every ingredient for your festive feast is in the pantry. It’s crunch time, and getting all those last minute details together before the family arrives seems almost impossible. But you’re super decorator, remember! So it would be a holiday travesty if your Christmas table wasn’t as perfect as the rest of your home. Don’t stress, we’ve got your inspiration in the latest colors and styles that will make your table the star of the season.
What I love about this time of year is that some of your dishes can do double duty. You can use them for multiple holiday events through the entire season, starting with Thanksgiving and ending with New Years. In my Trend Tuesday: Fall Tabletop Decor to be Thankful for I showcased ideas that followed a particular formula for the trendiest tabletop (B+B+R = Birds + Blue + Red). As Christmas approached I continued to spot this specific combination with a slightly more festive flair.
I love this combination because it breaks the color harmony rule of direct complements. Directly across the color wheel from red is green (traditional Christmas combo), and blue or blue-green sits across from orange or red-orange. Taking the complement a step or two off to create this fun yet festive scheme adds a bit of unexpected to your holiday mix. Contrast is key in this setting, the complement colors are already giving off a color contrast, but even within the individual colors another level of contrast is being created, value contrast from light to dark. The light blues with the intense Santa suit red is like Christmas candy to the eye.
So you like red, and you like blue, but not necessarily together especially for this season. The common Christmas color combinations of candy cane red and white and the influence of Hannakah with blue and white (or silver) break apart from the “formula” above. These traditional looks can still feel fresh and updated. One of the tricks is to use trendy finishes in accents and dinnerware pieces. This year finishes are glossy and shiny rather than glittery and sparkly, so look for those enameled and high-gross accents in white to pair with your red or blue.
Don’t have room on the table for a centerpiece try a cluster of ornaments hanging from the light fixture as in this image above. This was a hot look at Holiday Market and adds a unique new atmosphere to a Christmas dinner. What a great conversation starter!
These monochromatic schemes using only red or only blue are simple yet elegant. And instead of pairing multiple values of the one color together like you would in a traditional monochromatic combination, find just one stunning holiday hue for punch and pair it with a clean, pure, cozy white. Also remember that during the holidays floral centerpieces with green in small doses (as in stems and leafs) acts as a neutral and brown from twigs and branches brings a natural element to the table.
Anyone who knows me or follows my trend tuesday posts knows, I love bright colors (actually I love all colors, but the brights are at the top of my list). They are my current color obsession. I’m always trying to bring happy colors into people’s lives and into their homes. This fall I wrote about how you can bring the bright hues of summer into fall in the post Trend Tuesday: Bring Bright Hues into Fall with a Bang, then I showcased these colors for Christmas in Trend Tuesday: Brighten Up Christmas. If you’ve embraced these happy Holiday hues then you’ll need a table to match.
The analogous bright scheme of blue, blue-green, green, and yellow-green shown in the image above is influenced by the peacock feather, an element I particularly like decorating with during the Holidays. It also pairs well with bright purples, pinks, and oranges for your own take on this festive bird.
These multi-colored Christmas combinations offer freedom in your interpretation. Find a bunch of different colors with the same cheerful, bright value and mix them together. For a little inspiration, here’s my bright trend color palette.
However you bring color to your holiday table we hope you enjoy this time you have with family and friends. We wish you all a Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas.
