Ideas for Styling a Winter Dinner Party

December 5, 2016

Winter dining christmas styling ideas and inspiration, simple nordic scandinavian design, d.i.y candle wreath with wood beads

Image: Design Soda

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So everyone (well I say everyone, I mean interiors bloggers) seems to be doing these posts on winter dining this year, they have all been a real feast for the eyes and showcased each particular bloggers personal style, I particularly liked this lush example from San Francisco based blogger Apartment 34 and  Will from Bright Bazaar‘s Holiday decorating on a budget, plus I can see blogger buddies Patricia from No Glitter, No Glory & Jenny from Seasons in Colour have some real magic planned from their Instagram feeds soon. Well, the Design Soda house likes a party as much as the rest of the world, and as we had friends coming over for lunch this weekend (who haven’t been here together since we moved) I thought I’d push the boat out a little and practice my Christmas table styling.

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Winter dining christmas styling ideas and inspiration, simple nordic scandinavian design (2)

Image: Design Soda

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This year I’m going for a more pared back feel than usual, I’m all about a hint of naff at Christmas but I feel I’ve done this for so long it’s starting to feel boring to me, so this year our grown up cocktail room (read the room the toddler is only allowed in under maximum supervision!) is getting a grown up Scandi vibe. And as we are still all about things hygge around here this season I wanted a table that reflects laid back Danish rustic conviviality.

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Winter dining christmas styling ideas and inspiration, simple nordic scandinavian design, table setting gold cutlery

Image: Design Soda

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My natural taste lies somewhere between natural & stylised to a desire to somewhat overgild the lily so I had to reign myself in a little on the look for the table but I’m so pleased that I did. I stuck to a simple palate of blues and whites with pops of interest in gold cutlery and tealight holders and green with dashes of red berries for the foliage. I hate matchy-matchy but too many colours on a table definitely upsets the broth so simplicity of shades is key here.

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Winter dining christmas styling ideas and inspiration, simple nordic scandinavian design, d.i.y candle wreath with wood beads

Image: Design Soda

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Winter dining christmas styling ideas and inspiration, simple nordic scandinavian design

Image: Design Soda

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For me, a table is most inviting when it’s sprayed with bits of nature, I’m not one for fussy napkin rings or prim place settings but I definitely love a good centre piece and lots of greenery, especially when I can pick bits from my own garden for it. For the centre piece I made a ring out of floristry wire which I attached some plain wooden beads to the centre of (very Scandinavian, see IKEA & Ferm Living for reference) and then attached some Mimosa foliage from the garden (which I love, and thanks to its abundance keep picking for indoor use) and pops of yellow baby’s breath with floristry tape (which btw is an amazing new discovery for me which I found whilst making a floral crown at the Sainsburys Home press day (as you do!), it stretches and shrinks – how genius). The candle holder is £3.95 from IKEA and the candle is one from a beautiful set of pinks made by Broste, Copenhagen, so pretty.

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Winter dining christmas styling ideas and inspiration, simple nordic scandinavian design simple floral table arrangement

Image: Design Soda

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Whilst I wanted lots of foliage on the table (and love pretty well every example I’ve seen of fir and eucalyptus sprays right down the centre), we have a very narrow table, ok I confess it’s actually a trestle table since I can’t see the point of investing in a proper dining table until I have room for one, so too much foliage would dwarf everything and totally undermine any feeling of simplicity or cosiness (you may even be having to butt the eucalyptus out of your desert plate repeatedly – never a good portent to welcoming guests!). So instead I put some small sprays of what I think is pretty in cups, which luckily for me I have left over from the bathroom where just like my tiles, these beauties from Pols Potten, match the new Habitat plates wonderfully (see below). 

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Winter dining christmas styling ideas and inspiration, simple nordic scandinavian design table arrangement

Image: Design Soda

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I bought a few new pieces for the table, both plates are new in at Habitat this season (and one matches my bathroom tiles so how could I resist!), you can get them here & here. The napkins are an old favourite from Anthropologie, ditto the glassware, the cutlery is a bargain from Argos (thanks to a tip off from Sarah Akwisombe’s post here) and the tea lights were bought during the summer from H&M home, they are still available here. The placemats were found on eBay and the black and white spot table cloth was a super easy d.i.y I posted a while back here.

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Winter dining christmas styling ideas and inspiration, simple nordic scandinavian design gold cutlery

Image: Design Soda

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For a final flourish I took some wooden tree shaped decorations I picked up cheap at the local garden centre, painted them black with artists marker and attached more wooden beads with jute twine to pull the Scandinavian elements in the room together.

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Winter dining christmas styling ideas and inspiration, simple nordic scandinavian design table setting

 

Image: Design Soda

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That’s it, my modern simple table setting. I’ve seen a bit about all this aspirational living stuff depressing people at Christmas at the moment, so in the favour of balance I feel i need to also note that on the day my table was perfect but not only did I make my cake batter with only half the flour (and had to remake it from scratch) but I also served the meal nearly 2 hours late, whilst my friends helped me with both cooking and cleaning. But actually this is what true hygge is, casual and convivial pulling together, no fuss or ostentation, just friends (or family) enjoying food and each other’s company, go forth and be merry whether you are house proud about your table setting or not.

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Winter dining christmas styling ideas and inspiration, simple nordic scandinavian design, table setting gold cutlery

Image: Design Soda

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2 thoughts on “Ideas for Styling a Winter Dinner Party

  1. Will

    Thank you so much for the kind words bout my Christmas table! I love the inspiration you shared here, the level of detail is so lovely. Those tree motif matchboxes are very charming!

    Reply
    1. Design_Soda_Ruthie Post author

      Oh my goodness, I’m slightly star struck to have a comment from such a mega babe in the blogging world! Thank you so much for your kind words, I love your blog and style so I’m doing a secret happy dance right now ? you’re table was beautiful, and your bedroom reveal I read before sleep last night is positively envy inducing…

      Reply

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