Photos by Becca Opp
It seems like Christmas comes earlier and earlier every year. However, there are some who strongly believe that Thanksgiving should have its own moment. Here at Design & Living Magazine, we say, “Why not both?” This month, Bobbi Jo Cody of The Red Silo staged a table setting that could easily transition from fall to winter-themed.
Now, you might be wondering why anyone would ever want to celebrate two seasons at the same time in their home decor. Well, there are several situations in which this mixture of fall and winter would come in very handy. Maybe you have distant relatives flying into town for a visit around holiday time, but not actually on Thanksgiving or Christmas. If you have ever been caught under similar circumstances and felt torn about which season to decorate for, Cody has some helpful advice to share.
Transitional Table Settings: Tips
To create a table setting that would transition easily from fall to winter, simply use leaf-shaped placemats with your choice of plates and a poinsettia napkin ring. In this case, Cody did not use a charger plate because the ones that she had were larger in size and featured an intricate border. “The pattern around the plate is a little busier. If I had just a white dinner plate, I would use a charger,” Cody explained.
She also likes to incorporate greens when she can. For this table setting, her greens are the poinsettias, but they can be switched out for spruce clippings and a different set of napkin rings. Another hint from Cody is to leave your formal dining table set, no matter what the time of day. “I absolutely love setting my table and I leave it set all the time. We do a lot of eating at our island, so I love to have our table set for all of the different seasons,” she said.
Transitional Table Settings: Pros
There are many pros to transitional table settings. For one thing, it takes care of the dilemma of what season to decorate for during the last week of November. This means less work for you because you can slowly start to add winter decor. Eventually, you can just swap out the leaf placemats, and voila, it’ll begin to look a lot like Christmas in your home.
Transitional Table Settings: Cons
Obvious cons to decorating for two seasons at the same time is that it might feel a bit strange at first. The natural instincts that remind you what time of year it is may be a little confused. (Although, doesn’t the weather have this effect too?) If you prefer to keep your seasonal decor separate, we completely understand. However, you can’t deny that there is a time and a place for transitional decor and you never know when you are going to need some inspiration!