by Paul Chambers, Davidson Chambers Entertaining & Home | photos by Tanya Murchie –
As we shift from the bright days of summer into the first days of fall, decorating changes more at this time of the year than any other. With a few decorating holidays upon us, we tend to put additional thought into seasonal décor, entertain more and have celebrations around the dining table.
What are some of the best ways to do this – with less effort and stress – but still pull off that perfect Instagram-worthy picture? Here are a few of my favourites that I’ve made on my own dining table. They’re perfect to transition you from everyday to fall harvest for Thanksgiving, and festive for the holiday season.
It all starts with a table centrepiece that you can leave on the table year round; what I have at home is hurricanes. I have seven (yes seven!) assorted clear glass hurricanes with flameless candles. These hurricanes vary in size (both height and width, along with different bases and shapes). This creates a perfect backdrop year round and nothing is nicer than coming home to the candles all going by using the timer function. This can also be achieved with an assortment of candlesticks in various heights and styles that work together. The key is a theme of one item holding your candles, and always using an odd number of them.
Once your foundation is laid out, the transformation to each season can be as simple or over the top as you want. Here are my ideas for the upcoming seasons:
Thanksgiving – Arrange a garland of fall botanicals/leaves around and between the hurricanes. Faux is usually the best as it will last all season and usually has wire so manipulating it is much easier. In place of garland, fall stems of leaves, flowers or fruit branches work well. Another thing that I often do is fill a few of the hurricanes with vase filler – this is things like faux cranberries, acorns, etc. Place them around the candle in the hurricane to add more texture to the table.
Christmas – Once again, very much the same mindset: start with faux greenery that you like. There are lots of options out there; cypress and cedar are common and usually easy to find. Dress the greenery like you would your Christmas tree. I like to add branches of red berries and pinecones, and have a more natural look on the table, adding in some white flowers to have the festive colours. I will fill some of the hurricanes with faux snow, cranberries and small pinecones.
As we start to get our heads around decorating for the fall and onwards, keep the feel in line with the decorating style of your home, adding or subtracting to have the right balance that makes you enjoy what you see when you use the dining table for entertaining.
The key is to enjoy doing it, have fun and let the compliments flow as your guests love what you have done to the centre of your table.
For more information, visit www.davidsonchambers.com.
