Thanksgiving Table Setting - Theme and Elements

Christina Haire: Hi! I am Christina Haire, an interior designer and today we are going to show you how to set a Thanksgiving table. The first thing we are going to do is decide on our theme which is Holiday, Thanksgiving and the components that make up this thing. We will decide on the number of guests we are having, the time of day whether it's afternoon or evening, whether it's a buffet or a sit down. Today, ours is going to be a sit down dinner for eight people in the early evening.

The first thing we will do for our table is to choose the linens. I have collected antique linens over the years, napkins and table clothes and particularly like over-sized napkins which are called buffet napkins for the dinner party. They are at least 22 inches square. I love the size and the feelable linens which get better with wear if they have original monograms, that makes them even better. But you, of course, can use your own linens whatever you prefer and the kinds of things that you have collected and enjoyed.

After the linens, we will choose our China. I use an antique on wall to hold to China in my dining room and I have lots of different sets, but nothing matches. So I will use a set of plates that are cobalt blue and they are called Chargers which are typically the under plate in a setting and I use them as the actual dinner plate because of its nice, large size. We will have a set of soup bowls and salad plates. Each of those are a set of eight but nothing matches each other. I like to mix different elements to make it interesting and have different textures on the table.

On the cobalt blue dinner plates, I have a set of shallow soup bowls which are white with the gold rim sitting atop the plate and when the guests come, sit down to dinner, the soup will be already on the table. They will be complimented by crystal salad plates that just reflect a nice mix on the table.

Next we will choose our flatware. Today, we are going to use antique silver knives and old silver plate forks. These again, don't match. They are each a set of eight, but they don't come from the same set and I like the old silver handle knives because they have a big heft to them and feel very good in the hand and the silver plate forks are also old, but are an extra large size so it feels good at the table. We will need dessert forks which will be part of the setting. Instead of a traditional soup spoon, we will use ceramic soup spoons from China that are you can buy for just pennies in a souvenir or Asian grocery store, but you can buy them in white or colors and they just add a little bit of interest to the table.

Then we will choose our glassware. We are going to use two glasses for our table, one for water and one for wine. Flea markets are great places to find good deals. Items don't have to be expensive, they just have to look good and if you think they look good, they do look good.

Well, that's a little bit about the theme and the elements of our tablescape and next we will talk about doing the sideboard.