Christmas Tablescapes: Styled By Vivienne Cutler

One of our favourite trends that has come to the forefront this year is the art of tablescaping. A trend that has evolved from the pleasure that comes from creating a gorgeous setting to enjoy dinner or lunch with friends and family. What began as simply laying the table ready for an evening of food and drinks has now become quite an art, and what better way to up the festive cheer than to create your very on Christmas Tablescape, ready for the big day?

Traditional Christmas centrepieces and simple candelabras are a thing of the past, with the dining table now being seen as a blank canvas ready to be transformed into a scene of festivity! But how do you go from an everyday dining table to a Christmas table full of festive cheer and joy?

We enlisted the help of interiors obsessed Vivienne Cutler, who has an incredible eye for style and detail, and a gorgeous Instagram feed to demonstrate. We fell in love with her Spring table, so asked her to help create the most incredible Christmas themed tablescape step-by-step tutorial, which sits perfectly with our stylish Darcy dining chairs.

The first and most important thing to do when creating a tablescape is choose a theme you want to create your look around. Vivienne has opted for a classic and contemporary green and white theme here, but put her own twist on it – by using olive green rather than traditional emerald green.

Other stunning colour palettes for festive themes include red and green with gold for a traditional touch, as well as a pure white winter wonderland scheme – perfect for bringing a snowy Scandinavian feel into your home. Take a look at our 3 favourite festive looks for some inspiration!

A Christmas wreath is the perfect focal point for any Christmas decorating scheme, and the dining table is no exception! Whether you hang the wreath from the ceiling, as Vivienne has done here, or choose to set it as the centrepiece for your table, creating a Christmas wreath is a great way to begin.

To create the wreath, you can either buy a ready-made one, or enjoy getting creative and craft one yourself. Vivienne has cleverly used a hanging wreath frame, and then intertwined a variety of faux foliage and real foliage to create a stunning focal point for the table. Eucalyptus, holly, fir and mistletoe make the perfect Christmas wreath, but fresh flowers such as roses also make for a stunning and surprising addition.

Once the wreath is in place, add touches of Christmas sparkle to bring it to life! Vivienne has used a range of hanging baubles in her chosen colour scheme to create an extra dimension, as well as some simple tealights to add warmth. It’s important to note that the tealights were battery powered – be very careful using flames near foliage, and also beware of dripping wax.

Now the focal point has been created, it’s time to begin layering the tablescape. The first step is to choose your tablecloth – Vivienne has opted for a classic white linen tablecloth, which not only fits perfectly with her colour scheme, but also provides a stunning contrasting backdrop for the table decorations.

If you’ve opted for a hanging wreath instead of one that sits upon the table, adding a central garland is a great way to introduce more colour and decoration, as well as creating a natural split to the table. Either buy a ready-made one, or put one together using a similar process to the wreath. To introduce extra sparkle, Vivienne has also added some fairy lights into her garland.

Now it’s time to begin adding your tableware. Whether you’ve opted for stand-out glitz and glamour for your crockery this year, or like Vivienne, you have gone for more traditional, off-white crockery with subtle detailing, it’s a key part of the tablescape. Try to ensure that your crockery fits nicely within your colour scheme, so nothing clashes!

Next, turn your attention to your cutlery. Traditional silver tones look beautiful at any occasion, but if you’re feeling fancy why not use some colourful cutlery? The most important thing is to make sure it’s absolutely sparkling when you lay it down – there’s nothing worse than dull cutlery with fingerprints on!

The same goes for your wine glasses, water glasses, champagne flutes or whatever type of glass you want to add to your table – just make sure they are absolutely sparkling with no marks on. This will not only make them look inviting, but also add that extra shine to your table, reflecting light across the room.

Although relatively simple and understated, napkins can completely make or break a festive tablescape. Napkins can be used to add colour, texture and height to a table. Vivienne has opted for simple white napkins, but folded them into a triangle, and then tied a knot. This is the perfect shape to add an accessory, such as a sprig of foliage, into them for that extra festive detail.

The next step is to introduce some candlesticks or hurricane lamps to the table to set the perfect ambience. If you have neutral coloured candlesticks, you can always introduce colour through the candles themselves – Vivienne has used olive toned candles to tie her Christmas scheme together.

Lighting is the perfect way to completely transform the look and feel of a room, and there’s no better time than Christmas to create an emotive ambience with a range of different lighting options. From twinkling fairy lights around the room, to the soft flickering flames of candles reflecting off wine glasses, baubles and sparkling clean cutlery, it’s the perfect way to bring the magic of Christmas to life.

For the perfect finishing touch, Vivienne has introduced a number of smaller glass vases to the table, and added some fresh foliage and buds into them. By using an array of small vases in different shapes and sizes, it enables you to build up layer upon layer of decoration and texture, but still ensures you can see across to the other side of the table to engage in conversation! Just watch that glass sparkle as it reflects the glow from your candlelight and fairy lights for a stunning magical setting.

There’s also nothing better than a little name tag to add that personalised touch to your festive table. Vivienne has gone that one step further by adding a small gift box that not only acts as a place setting, but also includes a little gift for each person – a beautiful and sentimental touch that really brings home the feeling of Christmas.

Time to light the candles, put on the festive tunes and pull those crackers! Take a look at Vivienne’s incredible finished tablescape in her video below.