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Thanksgiving marks the start of the holiday season in my home. We enjoy a day of family fun together and a wonderful meal, knowing it’s the start of a month-plus of gatherings with family and friends.

The kitchen is the hub for all the day’s activities and the dining table provides the anchor point or gathering spot for all of us to come together. Whether hosting a few (as I will this year) or a multitude (as I’ve done in the past), I want my Thanksgiving table to be beautiful, bountiful and welcoming. Persnickety, one of my favorite shops in Chelan, offered great tablescape inspiration – as always – that I’m excited to share. One table uses traditional fall colors and symbols in a casual way while the other is a bit more formal and works for Thanksgiving and can easily do a repeat performance for Christmas with just a few quick changes.

Casual with Traditional Color

Marcie Hayes, Persnickety owner, designs wonderful tablescapes year-round and her traditional Thanksgiving table is both colorful and fun. For this casual table she started with fall’s color inspiration in the center of the table.

Fall colors and textures in the center of the table anchor the design.

Each place setting incorporates the colors and symbols of the day. It’s easy to mimic if you follow these steps:

Cover the table in a swath of inexpensive burlap and then add a placemat for each setting.

Mix and match your plates and cups, using fall colors.

Layer dishes, mixing and matching colors and shapes.

In addition to mixing the colors and shapes of the dishes, you can mix the colors of the napkins and the shape of the napkin rings. Marcie used linen and orange napkins with pumpkin and turkey napkin rings.

Each place setting is slightly different from the next but they all tie together and each reflects the fall colors that inspired the tablescape.

Transitioning Tablescape

Save planning time by using the same basic tablescape for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you use a neutral base instead of specific seasonal colors your tablescape can easily do double duty. Use little splashes of seasonal color or materials for Thanksgiving and simply swap those items out for a Christmas tablescape. Plan it once, use it twice!

Green is an unexpected Thanksgiving color – but it works if you just stay away from the traditional Christmas greens of kelly or evergreen. Marcie chose a sagey green table cloth and paired it with neutral glass dishware - but white place settings would work also.

Clear glass dishes show off the green table cloth and darker green napkins add another layer of color.

All of the greens do not have to match, in fact, the table is visually more interesting because of the variety of greens. Notice the color difference between the two glasses and the pottery bowl.

A few touches of white like the mug, turkey and serving pieces lighten up the table and spark the green.

To change up the Thanksgiving look and transition the table to Christmas, simply remove the white turkey server and replace the orange glass ornaments (maybe use silver, gold or red?) and the grasses in the pottery bowl centerpiece (maybe pine stems and/or pine cones?).