Minimalist Christmas table styling with festive foliage

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With 10 days to go, I’m putting the finishing touches in place for Christmas. I’ve planned the menu, started baking, added a few final decorations and practiced how I’m going to style the table – always one of my favourite things to do. You Know What meant that no-one got to see 2020’s tablescaping efforts in person in the end, but I’m hoping we’ll be able to gather with family and friends this time around – and if we can, I want to make our festive meals feel as special as possible.

This year’s Christmas table is probably my simplest yet, but I think it’s my favourite. It’s was fun to create, and it adds a bit of magic without overwhelming the minimalist decor of our dining room. What’s more, there’s plenty of space left for food, glasses, elbows and hands, reducing the risk of spillages and making for a much more relaxed experience all round!

For the centrepiece, I’ve created a display of festive greenery using various types of fir, pine and mimosa. I’ve purposefully kept it fairly low so that guests on opposite sides of the table can see over it to talk to each other, but I’ve added some twiggy bits left over from my Halloween mantlepiece to give a sculptural, slightly wild effect. I’ve also chosen one of my most understated vases, ensuring the focus is on the textures and colours of the foliage rather than the vessel itself. I’m really pleased with the way it looks, and it adds a lovely Christmassy scent.

The napkins and tablecloth are both from Goscandi and made from a beautiful natural-coloured linen that suits the wider room. In previous years I’ve tied them in knots or decorated them with pine cones and sprigs of foliage. The time around, I’ve opted for simple folded rectangles laid over the plates, with cutlery placed on top. It makes each place setting look a little more styled, but it’s super quick and easy to do. The black tableware, by the way, came from Arket and I’ve had it for several years now. It doesn’t seem to be on sale any longer, but you can find similar designs at Nordic House.

Of course, no Christmas table would be complete without lots of cosy candlelight, so I’ve created two clusters of tapered white candles using the ‘Curve’ modular candleholder collection from LIND DNA. I’ve placed them at either end, giving a nice spread of light and ensuring they don’t burn the pendant light hanging over the centre of the table. Varying the height has added further impact, and everything is positioned carefully so that there’s no chance of the centrepiece foliage catching in the flames. The best candles in my view are made by Ester + Erik (available in the UK via Cloudberry Living and Nordic Nest), but IKEA’s ‘VINTER’ ones are a good alternative if your budget won’t stretch that far.

So, there you have it: my simple but effective Christmas table. Now I just need the guests to sit around it, so fingers crossed we can go ahead with the festivities as planned this year…

All images by Abi Dare