I recently wrote about the Death of the Dining Room over at 1010 Park Place. In my opinion, long live the dining room! I not only love to entertain but more importantly, love surrounding my table with friends and family.
With that being said, I also enjoy setting an inviting table and am always looking for tablescape inspiration on new ways to change it up! I have found a great collection of new trends to incorporate into my tablescapes to get my game on. I think you will love them too.
Layered Placemats
I love this look of layering placemats that I found at Celebrating Everyday Life. I love mixing the colors and textures of the dark leather placemat against the beige burlap. The lighter burlap frames the darker placement. Well done!
Elegant Black & Gold
What’s not to like about this gorgeous tablescape found at Sarah Sherman Samuel? Black and gold are so elegant together. This table is black but you can accomplish the same look with a black tablecloth. I also love the centerpiece with gourds, pears and artichokes. Absolutely lovely!
Wood Table Runners
I love this first concept of a wood table runner that I found at Delta Breezes. It’s a bit rustic but elegant once you add your votives and flowers.
Instead of using a rough piece of wood as a table runner as shown above, I am in love with using an oversized finished piece of wood that is food safe as shown below. The clever minds at Apartment 34 called it their Charcuterie Board of Champions. Yes. It. Is.
Natural Tablescape
This Martha Stewart place setting is full of natural elements and warm earth tones. So modern and chic but still casual. Martha’s article said the birch squares were found on Etsy so I found a link for you.
It got me thinking, what else could we use and I thought of cork. At Amcorck they have a great selection of cork tiles. They come in 12″x24″ tiles so they would need to be cut. I love the selection of textures and colors and think they would make fabulous placemats, coasters and hot pads! 
Log Chargers
These log chargers found at Intimate Weddings add rustic charm to this tablescape. Mixing china with something so casual is a welcoming tradition to make our tables more inviting.
Making Room at the Table for Extra Guests
This may not be news to you but until I saw this at a Parade of Homes a few years ago, I never thought of flipping my placemats vertically instead of horizontally. This was one of my OMG moments!
Often times around the holidays you need to squeeze in a couple more people at your dining table. If you don’t want to iron a tablecloth and prefer to use your placemats to protect your table, this tip is for you.
By flipping the direction of your placemat, you can easily add two or more place settings to your table when you need extra room. It may be a little cozier but the more the merrier, right?
Need to squeeze in two more? If your table is wide enough, flip the two placemats at the ends to make room for two on each end.
I actually like the placement of the placemats this way. It gives you so much more room for glassware. This way the glasses stay on the placemat instead of the table!
Use Inexpensive Pashminas as Table Runners
This is just a reminder that you can also use inexpensive pashminas as table runners as shown in my previous post Casual Yet Elegant Holiday Table Setting. Simply fold the pashmina in half lengthwise and you have great protection for your table.
Mine wash up beautifully and only need minor touch up with an iron. They are so much smaller than a large tablecloth, I don’t mind ironing them.
How do you like to set your table? Please share your tablescape inspiration below. I am always looking for new ideas!
Very inviting! Love the idea of setting placemats vertically…great idea!!