Reading · days in design · RSS Amplifier

Setting the table for special dinners, holidays, and birthdays has always been a fun pass time of mine. As a child, I found immense joy in transforming our dining space with my mother’s beautiful dinnerware and the decor tucked away in our storage closet. I loved cutting flowers from our garden or gathering branches from the trees to create unique centerpieces. I would even hunt for leaves to embellish the linen napkins.

While it may sound cliché written out this way, these moments were my first steps into the world of design and decorating.

Fast forward to a week ago, we had friends visiting from Austin and decided to invite a few more over for dinner, which naturally turned into a larger gathering. Although I’m not the chef of the house (that’s my partner’s role when it comes to hosting and eating), I saw this as the perfect opportunity to reignite my childhood passion for setting the table. I aimed to create a beautiful table scape and a warm, welcoming atmosphere for our guests.

The guest list started out with six of us, which quickly turned into eight, ten, twelve, with a final count of fifteen guests. Yikes. I had my work cut out if I was going to do this and have it still be fun.

(Check out the resources listed at the bottom!)

The first thing I did was phone a friend. My mother. She was on board right away. If you ever need a producer, she is your person to make s%#t happen.

I didn’t want to go out an buy a ton of new things. To make it easy on us, we used what we already had. One of my favorite quotes by artist and creator, Jeanne Oliver, “Start where you are, with what you have”. We tend to overthink the small stuff and feel we need to buy or get one more thing just so it’s perfect. Trust me, from my personal experience with perfectionism, that only leads to disscontempt and feelings of never good enough. I kept it simple but I knew we would need a few essential items and I didn’t want to spend an arm and leg.

Essential items we did need from the store:

Long ass tablecloth. I went to a local hardware store and purchased a paint drop cloth. I recommend washing it so it softens. We had to cut ours so that it wasn’t so long on the sides.
Flowers. Grocery stores are the quickest.

The theme and inspiration was, well— you guessed it, use what you have.

We went into our basements and pulled out old vases, pitchers, platters - anything we thought worked well for the center pieces. Our color scheme developed organically, which was blue, brown, and green. This kept the story consistent and the table design cohesive.

We kept everything neutral because it’s not only what we had on hand, but also because the flowers and food bring in the color. I wanted a blank canvas to show off the center pieces and for the food to be the lead character.

I love to use paint canvas drop cloths as tablecloths because, 1. they are large and 2. they add a warm and natural texture to the table.
We had white dinner plates, white napkins, vintage silverware, and glassware purchased from awhile ago (Ikea).
Candlesticks. candlesticks. candlesticks. These will set the mood and are a must for cozy and soft dinner parties. I like to buy mine in bulk so that I always have them on hand.
We added table lamps in the room for additional light, which added warmth with different layers of lighting.
When I say we used what we had… well, we do get creative. I didn’t have a long enough table for fifteen people. Thinking on the spot, we took our dining table and added our outdoor table as well. This is where my dad comes into the production. The tables were inevitably different heights. This would normally be fine, but we are the CALNINS and we just can’t help ourselves. My dad made blocks so that the outdoor table would line up with the dining table and clamped them together so it felt secure. Viola! No one knew.
Something that I have seen other party hosts incorporate are, menus. I thought this was a clever idea and it adds an elevated touch to the dinner table. I created the ones pictured using Canva.

my partner (center) | talented chefs | friends

I personally get tired easily with that many people over. But we kept it chill.

We put on some chill jazz music to keep the vibe relaxed.
Everyone likes to bring something, so we delegated certain things to guests - wine, beer, cheese plates, etc. It also helps guests feel like they have something to do when they arrive.
I had a designated hook rack so that I had a place to put everyone’s coats.
Since it’s around Thanksgiving, we had everyone write down what they were thankful for and tape it to our family cardboard tree. This was a nice ice breaker before we sat down for dinner.
We had a small toast and thanked everyone for coming. It was short and sweet — the best!

Even though we created other places in the house for guests to sit beforehand, they still gathered in the kitchen. At one point, it was so crowded that you could barely move around to cook. We had to literally guide guests to leave (politely) and find other seating so that the kitchen could be kept for the chefs.
It’s exhausting as an introvert. I love creating and setting up. I love eating and talking with close friends. But mingling with new friends and new introductions takes a toll on me (we had a mix group of oldies and newbies). Just know yourself going into it. Maybe you feel a high from all of the new connections, or maybe only invite close friends. Know your threshold on how many guests to invite.
Go with the flow. Things will not go perfectly. And that is A-OKAY. No one cares. We miscounted the tableware and forgot one seat. No big deal. We made it work and it was a jolly time!

Keep the table neutral. Use neutral dinnerware and napkins. Let the food and flowers make up for color and interest.
Leave open wine bottles on the table - it makes for a relaxed evening when things are easy to grab and you can serve yourself.
Make small seating arrangements through out your house — this invites guests to have intimate or low key conversations before/after dinner.
We moved all of our furniture (sofas, lounge chairs, coffee table) in order to fit the long tables and made small seating gatherings in other rooms of the house. Our dining room became a lounge area with two chairs and our sofa transitioned into another lounge spot.