CREATE A DRAMATIC FRENCH COUNTRY HOLIDAY TABLE

One of the greatest gifts you can give your family and friends is to invite them to gather around your table during the holidays. If you’re entertaining this holiday season, make your dining table display as memorable as the delicious meal you are going to serve. It's the perfect time to create a dramatic French Country holiday table. This is the time of the year that you simply can't over do it on your table. Creating a memorable holiday table setting shouldn't take a huge amount of time, nor do you have to go out and buy all new things each year. The key to adding that wow-factor is to use something you have, and think outside the box in a beautiful and creative way. I know that technically, your home should flow from one room to another in the same colors. But I can't help it, I love both the elegant soothing neutrals in our living area, and the punched up French Country color scheme of neutrals with brilliant reds and dramatic black in our family room and kitchen. {I'm a bit of a rebel!} Today I'm collaborating with Amara to bring you this holiday table setting in our French Country kitchen. My inspiration for this fun and colorful French Country holiday table at FrenchGardenHouse with a touch of drama were the beautiful MacKenzie-Childs Courtly Check chargers and plates, and the Tea Kettle. Here are four ideas to jump-start your holiday table ideas and inspire you. 1. START WITH STATEMENT MAKING LINENS. What you choose for your table linen can set the tone for your holiday table. Don't forget that you can use anything - anything at all - as the base for your table. Because the McKenzie-Childs Courtly Check pieces have a French Country cottage feel, I chose an old all-white matelasse quilt as the beginning of this cheerful holiday tablescape. 2. DESIGN A DRAMATIC CENTERPIECE. This centerpiece is off the charts on the drama scale, and isn't it so much fun? Here is where the "thinking outside the box" comes in....use something utilitarian like a tea kettle to create holiday magic! The MacKenzie-Childs Courtly Check Tea Kettle is at the center of the table. It makes such a statement all by itself, that adding red roses, red alstroemeria, holiday greens, hydrangeas and a few snowy pinecones is all it needed to be breathtaking. I displayed the sweet lid with the bird finial next to the kettle on the table. 3. MIX IN BITS OF THE PAST. I almost always use antique pieces in my table settings, and my decorating. Antiques add history, style and warmth to your tabletops, and are especially beautiful to use for the holidays. There is something about antique tableware that makes them a conversation starter....it never fails to be so at our table here at FrenchGardenHouse. Even though all the plates and glasses on this table are all new, I love adding the antique Mother of Pearl Silver Fish flatware, and for dessert, each place setting has an antique silver spoon with holly. {! HOLLY!!}

Holly Silverplate Spoons | Amour Champagne Glass | Antique MOP Fish Service | Linen Napkins

You all also know that I love the look of place cards, a rich dinner tradition from the past. Place cards make each one of your guests feel special and recognized. It doesn't really matter where everyone sits, although it is fun to mix your company up! 4. ADD A LITTLE HOLIDAY MAGIC. To add to a sense of wonder to your holiday table this year, the addition of individual black & white favor boxes on each plate makes the table that much more enchanting. Inside, a Christmas cookie in the shape of an ornament is the perfect little surprise your guests can take home and enjoy later with a coffee or a cup of tea. Small, beautifully wrapped, you can make the cookies yourself, but no guilt at all if you buy them, like I did! Bring that sense of wonder of the holidays to your table setting for your special luncheons and dinners. I hope I inspired you to create a beautiful table for your holidays, but not to stress about it. This is the season of JOY! Everything sparkles and shines, and has a sprinkle of holiday magic. Your tables at home can reflect that, too, so that you will have a beautiful time of fellowship and enjoy your guest's company during the holiday season. Be sure to see the gorgeous Holiday Table my good friend Shirley at Housepitality Designs has created with the same plates and teapot. She has such a talent for creating elegant, beautiful tablescapes and everything else in her home!

Housepitalty Designs

Thank you to Amara for providing the McKenzie-Childs Courtly Check pieces for this table setting. The "I adore the bold, dramatic table pieces from McKenzie-Childs via Amara" opinion is all mine.