Linen & Tabletop Resources

Education

May 27

Many of these vendors have terrific post-holiday sales in late December/early January. Mark your calendars; there are great deals to be had.

For most tabletop pieces (napkins, plates, glasses, flatware), you want a minimum set of eight. 10-12 is ideal. Trust me, you’ll kick yourself when something eventually breaks or gets stained, and the item is no longer available.
Want to shake up your tabletop repertoire? Get some new napkins and salad/dessert plates. They’re easy to store, tend to be more budget-friendly, and offer great visual bang for buck when layered with your neutral, everyday pieces.
Unless you have unlimited storage, you want to build a mix-and-match tabletop collection. A few tricks:
- Stick to a few color palettes that complement each other and your home. For example, blues, greens, blushes, and mauves always “play well” together.
- Cranberry is a sneakily-versatile color – it works for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Fourth of July, and Valentine’s Day. Mossy green is another shade that looks great throughout the year depending on styling.
- Pattern play is key to making your tabletop pieces work harder. Florals and stripes, block prints and gingham…it all works if you center your table around one main color and break up the patterns with more neutral elements. This table is a great example.
Rattan, bamboo, and tortoiseshell are seasonless. They go with everything and provide an elevated take on a neutral.
Be sure you’re choosing the right size tablecloth for your table. I have a full post about this here.