New Ways to Use Your Good China this Thanksgiving

When you set the table for the Thanksgiving feast this year, try one of these ideas for dressing up (or down) your fine china.

view all thumbnails

A Formal Affair

Set the Table

Serving Dishes

Stay Organized

A Casual Supper

Colorful Tabletop

Casual Centerpieces

Relaxed Decor

Related Links

Simple Christmas Centerpieces

Gorgeous Christmas centerpieces don't need to take...

Pretty Christmas Living Rooms

Add some Christmas touches to your living room wit...

Christmas Decorating with Kitchen Items

Spatulas, muffin tins, dishtowels, and more -- inc...

How to Plan a Garden

Design a beautiful garden or landscape with our ga...

Your Comment:

A Formal Affair

Give your dining furniture a whole new look in minutes by borrowing seating from other rooms. We pulled in a pair of wing chairs and added plump pillows to the back of a low-slung settee to make it the right depth for dining.

Set the Table

Our pull-out-all-the-stops formal table starts with a classic ivory damask tablecloth layered with scalloped linen place mats (it's fine to use both). Next come filigree-pattern chargers, each topped with a dinner plate and salad plate. Though the chargers are gold, they blend well with the touches of silver that come from the salt-and-pepper shakers, napkin rings, flatware, and place card holders for an opulent look.

Serving Dishes

Serving dishes make beautiful cachepots for flowers. We cut water-soaked floral foam to fit the bowl, then poked in orange calla lilies, Leonidas roses, hypericum berries, and fiery dahlias. For maximum freshness, store the flowers in the refrigerator until the guests arrive.

Stay Organized

Here's a hostess tip from the pros: Set out serving dishes and utensils in advance and label them so it's easy to remember what goes where when the food is ready to be served. A small flower arrangement that complements the table centerpiece is a nice touch for the sideboard, and an entertaining journal is a handy place to record the details of your dinner parties. Include a picture or two of the table, the menu, a list of guests, and notes on their food preferences or allergies.

A Casual Supper

The same dining room and the same china take on a very different look thanks to the table and chair backs being draped in fabric, a high-impact technique that's quick and easy to do, even on a weeknight. (We used paisley shawls, but you could use any yardage you have on hand.) The long dining table feels cozy enough for four when the chairs are gathered at one end and the food for a family-style meal is set out at the other.

Colorful Tabletop

The same china pattern reappears, this time with a deep bowl and a large orange plate used as a charger. (You can get colorful, oversize dishes like these by the box at discount stores.) Whereas the formal table set the china against a sea of elegant cream, the fun of this tabletop is the way it mixes several shades of orange -- in the dishes, the amber goblets and tumblers, and the napkins with their whimsical holders -- for a warm and intimate feel.

Casual Centerpieces

A row of rustic barley-twist wood candlesticks holding beeswax candles visually separates the seating area from the food area. An old-fashioned wooden ice bucket holds white Alstroemeria for a no-fuss centerpiece. These inexpensive blooms are almost always available at the supermarket, so there's no excuse for not having fresh flowers at home every day! Just pick up a bunch on the way home from work.

Relaxed Decor

A fringed wool car blanket placed on an angle at one end of the dining table not only protects it from hot serving dishes and scratches but suggests the casual feel of a tailgate for this simple soup supper.

New Ways to Use Your Good China this Thanksgiving

Top Brands

Top Searches