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I know, I know: The food you serve at any upcoming seasonal gathering is far more important that the way your holiday table looks — and really, quality time with your nearest and dearest matters the most. If you’re not the world’s greatest home chef though (*raises hand sheepishly*), creating a memorable holiday tablescape can be a meditative activity and a conversation starter for your party guests once they sit down for your meal. The latter of these two scenarios is exactly what happened at Apartment Therapy’s own Dine by Design event at the House of Showfields in Brooklyn, New York, where, in collaboration with Pinterest, we hosted a series of meals at designer-decorated tables that got everyone who came through the doors talking.
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Apartment Therapy tapped ten creatives to riff on 2022’s hottest holiday trends at Dine by Design, with each design expert setting a unique table for two (and I even got in on the decorating fun furnishing the lounge area with Kaiyo, which you can see above). The results were so striking that we wanted to share those trends and some tablescaping ideas with you here. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be inspired by these looks and splurge-worthy home decor products for your own holiday table (and even well beyond the holidays). And if you want to know more about all of the items in these exact looks, visit our Dine by Design board on Pinterest for all the details.
Disco balls also reigned supreme in our lounge area (pictured at the top of this page), which showcased furniture and a cozy rug sourced from Kaiyo, a full-service marketplace for secondhand furniture. Anchored by a trendy green tufted sofa, purple zig zag chairs, and side tables that feature a neoclassical column-inspired silhouette, the lounge stands as its own version of a post-modern, New Wave ’80s-inspired space that’s as comfortable for hosting as it is easy on the eyes.
Buy: Disco Ball Ornaments, $42.00 $33.60 for a Set of 3 from West Elm
Designer Miles Willis McDermott’s drippy, trippy black-and-white tabletop proves that you shouldn’t be wary of leaning into this classic color scheme for your holiday gatherings. McDermott calls his signature aesthetic Supergraphic Regency, and the trick to making it feel right for the season lies in the festive brass accents. I also love the no fuss approach to a centerpiece — fresh and dried herbs and spices — which is easy to copy. All you have to do is place a few bundles in clear glass vases and decant things like salt and peppercorns into brass vessels. Bonus points if your spices and herbs are grindable tableside as was the case here, thanks to small mortars and pestles sitting at each place setting.
Buy: Manufacture Rock Rice Bowl, $36.00 $27.99 from Villeroy & Boch
Have you ever looked at a painting by Rembrandt, Vermeer, of any of the other Dutch Masters and been in awe of its atmospheric colors and skilled representation of highlights and shadows? Content creator and blogger Tommy Lei translated that interplay of light and dark into tabletop form with the Moody Masterpiece trend, and it’s about as simple but impactful as it gets, thanks to the organic shaped JARS dinnerware that juxtaposes high gloss finishes with matte details, which, in turn, contrasts beautifully with the warm wood table and the Graf Lantz Noir Merino Wool Felt Tabletop Set. I especially loved the Misette Line Drawing Hand-Painted Twist Candles, which also speak to the unique taper trend you’ve probably been seeing everywhere. They’re almost too pretty to burn!
Buy: Line Drawing Hand-Painted Twist Candles, $65.00 from Misette
You can get a unique, retro-inspired look with all new items and just a few key pieces. Just take this earthy meets technicolor tablescape created by secondhand shopping extraordinaire Virginia Chamlee, author of “Big Thrift Energy,” as your proof. Using East Fork’s The Coupes and Cake Plates in their Amaro colorway and Annie Selke’s Palm Evergreen Placemats, Chamlee put her own spin on a classic red and green holiday color scheme. Matisse-like blobby clay polymer napkin rings and cut paper place cards, both DIYed by Chamlee, bring an extra touch of quirk to the table. And about those #vintagevibes? Annie Selke’s set of Sita Marble Bowls full of retro ball ornaments, citrus fruits, and pomegranates, make for the easiest-ever centerpieces.
Buy: Cake Plate, $18.00 from East Fork
Speaking of nature-inspired trends, you can double down on greenery, straw, and seasonal gourds used as table decor by following in the footsteps of plant expert Kamili Bell Hill of Plant Blerd, who took on the Boho Flair trend. Think warm mixed metals, matte black dinnerware, and simple linens that let the rest of the tabletop elements shine. Grab a can or two of spray paint and give those gourds some extra shimmer with a coat of metallic copper. A final finishing touch? Little potted herb plants used like place cards, which become take-home favors post-meal.
Buy: Straw Loop Placemat in Natural, $28.00 from Juliska
If you feeling less than confident about your mixing and matching tablescaping skills, why not try a Monochrome Mix? Here entertaining expert Amber Mayfield of To Be Hosted and While Entertaining chose an unconventional fall color — blue — and leaned into that hue with everything from linens and dishes to Estelle Colored Glass goblets and decorative accessories, including spray painted pumpkins, all in various shades of blue. You could recreate a look like this with any color of your choosing though. Pink would be another fun, unexpected shade for the holidays.
Buy: Glass Goblets, $100.00 for a Set of Two from Estelle Colored Glass