While Thanksgiving is all about family, friends, and food, if you are hosting, setting a stylish tablescape is a great way to create a festive mood. On a Studio512 segment that aired earlier this week, Heather shared with host Amanda Tatom some easy styling tips on how you can blend together a tablescape with your existing everyday pieces as well as some new festive items.

You can read Heather’s tips below or watch the full segment here.

To give examples on how to set a Thanksgiving table setting, I decided to use one plate to serve as the jumping off point for two tablescapes which can be tailored to suit your lifestyle.

The vintage turkey plates used are perfect for Thanksgiving, but that does not mean you are limited to a traditional orange and brown color scheme. The vintage turkey plate has all your traditional Thanksgiving elements, but surprisingly also has fun pinks and blue/greens. You can use ‘non-traditional’ colors to layer and create a festive, personalized table. Just as with interior design, setting a fabulous table follows the same ‘color’ rules. The ideal mix of colors is three choices in a ratio of 60:30:10.

Concept One

For the first concept I was thinking of a house with young kids, a fun, vibrant family and a lunch time setting.

In this instance you could use your everyday plates, here in a blue/green color, and layer the turkey plate over them.  An additional casual layer is achieved with the rattan charger which is an everyday item but in this setting it makes the place setting more special.

Concept Two

For this second concept I was envisioning a Thanksgiving meal held at dinner with cozy candlelight.  Perhaps an outdoor or more rustic setting.

Using the same turkey plate, I selected my three colors: Brown (the dominant), Ivory (secondary), and Copper (accent).  In this case I have the ivory runner and background of the turkey plate as well as the browns from the turkey plate which I’ve pulled out in the wood charger and the napkins.  The finishing elements of copper add some sparkle and festivity to better fit with those traditional browns and oranges of Thanksgiving.

Anyone can pull together a fabulous, festive tablescape by simply starting with what you have and layering in the colors and texture.  As you plan your meal, don’t forget to take some time to plan the table setting as an additional way to bring a festive spirit to the holiday!