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Post by justcindy on Jun 9, 2017 3:28:50 GMT
what's everyone have on their dining table? I want to jazz it up, it's boring as crap right now! I've looked on pinterest but I don't want an over the top tablescape for a party on my table for just day to day. Do yall leave your table set? Or partially? Our dining table is right by the door leading from the garage, so if I don't at least have placemats on the table, it ends up being the catch-all place for car clean-outs, project tools that don't quite make it to their original spot, backpacks, etc etc.
So, what decor do you have on your dining table for every day?
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Peal
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,524
Jun 25, 2014 22:45:40 GMT
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Post by Peal on Jun 9, 2017 3:36:11 GMT
Nothing would stop my family from dumping all their crap on the table, so I don't keep anything on it. Unfortunately I was never able to break my dh of his habit that any horizontal surface is a good horizontal surface to store things. And he passed it on to the children. On any given day I can find: pens and pencils, playing cards, computer parts, blankets, tools, trash, etc... it's a never ending battle. I don't think it has been cleared off for longer than 5 straight hours in years.
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Dani-Mani
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,706 
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Post by Dani-Mani on Jun 9, 2017 3:43:43 GMT
I keep it "set" like it's always ready to use with a nice center piece that we remove when we use it.
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grammanisi
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,741
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Post by grammanisi on Jun 9, 2017 3:53:07 GMT
I have a tray with some spring-ish décor on it and a tablecloth. We have never really used ours as a catch-all. Thank goodness!
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kate
Drama Llama
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Location: The city that doesn't sleep
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Jun 26, 2014 3:30:05 GMT
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Post by kate on Jun 9, 2017 4:00:45 GMT
Ours is multi-purpose (one of the side effects of apartment living with multiple kids!), so I would never dream of leaving it set with actual dishes. If we have fresh flowers in the house, they might live on the dining table - but just as often, they end up on the kitchen table. I leave the table pads on it at all times, since it's used as a homework station, an extension of DH's desk (which is also in the dining room), and a temporary holding spot for whatever musical instrument is being practiced at the moment. The tablecloth is always on it when we eat, but not always at other times.  When I have fresh flowers on it, it always has a tablecloth, and it looks really nice. |
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Post by ~summer~ on Jun 9, 2017 4:02:43 GMT
Vase of flowers or a platter with apples.
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Sue
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,234
Location: SE of Portland, Oregon
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Post by Sue on Jun 9, 2017 4:12:30 GMT
My dining room isn't formal at all but is a small room which is open right off the kitchen. I keep placemats and a centerpiece on my dining table all the time. Right now I need to change from my spring themed vase of pussy willows with light gray patterned placemats to something brighter and summery. The table isn't in a traffic-pattern area so I've never had a problem with it being a dumping ground for anything.
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Post by gizzy on Jun 9, 2017 4:21:14 GMT
I'm the one who uses it as a catch-all. When I finally do clean it off, it has a table runner with candles, napkin holder and light blue owl. |
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DEX
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,355
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Post by DEX on Jun 9, 2017 4:27:58 GMT
Right now I do have a tablescape with silver and Mercury glass. I made a table runner out of burlap but I haven't decided what to machine embroider it with yet. I live alone so no kids or husband to spoil my decor.  |
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Post by justcindy on Jun 9, 2017 4:39:37 GMT
Right now I do have a tablescape with silver and Mercury glass. I made a table runner out of burlap but I haven't decided what to machine embroider it with yet. I live alone so no kids or husband to spoil my decor. This sounds beautiful! I love both burlap and mercury glass. I don't have my home decorated in any specific theme, it's pretty casual and eclectic. If Pottery Barn, a family photo album, an antique store and an old beach house had a baby, I'd be livin' in it! Our main dining table is in the kitchen - it's a big room with an island, but the dining table is big (60x60) and our actual "dining room" is stupid tiny...at one time we had a small antique sideboard, and a round table with four chairs in there....and it was....cozy. So we ended up selling that table and it's currently only got a bookshelf and the sideboard in there. We used it as a sitting room for awhile. May go back to that, but whatever, nothing to do with the main topic! I'd love to keep the table set with dishes, but A) they would probably be dusty before we actually used them, and B) one of my sons or DH wouldn't notice and toss the transmission onto them! The table is situated between the garage door and the door to the patio/yard. It's always dusty and the chair legs get freaking cobwebs all the time. GUUUHHHH |
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Nanner
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,969
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Post by Nanner on Jun 9, 2017 4:47:38 GMT
I have a tall blue glass vase with 2 white and 1 navy blue very large spiky fake flowers, centered on a cotton navy and white patterned cloth napkin.
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ddly
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,947
Jul 10, 2014 19:36:28 GMT
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Post by ddly on Jun 9, 2017 10:56:46 GMT
I always have a table cloth and vase of flowers. We do eat at it daily and keep these things on it. I am constantly looking for new table clothes. Maybe I should consider a runner instead.
Lisa D.
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Post by myboysnme on Jun 9, 2017 11:31:45 GMT
My dining room table has been completely taken over by scrapbook stuff, and that is overflow scrapbook stuff.
But back in the day I used to have a nice seasonal table runner and or table cloth, placemats and usually candles and maybe a seasonal centerpiece. I grew up like that and I always think it looks lovely.
But right now my dining room is just one more dumping place, and since I moved my sewing machines to my formal living room, there is no place in my house that resembles its true purpose. My son and husband have a war game set up on the kitchen table. |
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Post by LisaDV on Jun 9, 2017 11:36:44 GMT
Nothing would stop my family from dumping all their crap on the table, so I don't keep anything on it. Unfortunately I was never able to break my dh of his habit that any horizontal surface is a good horizontal surface to store things. And he passed it on to the children. On any given day I can find: pens and pencils, playing cards, computer parts, blankets, tools, trash, etc... it's a never ending battle. I don't think it has been cleared off for longer than 5 straight hours in years. This. When I get it clean to the point where we can actually eat at it, I get maybe three days before things start piling up again. Are usually just put the planter with some plants or a vase with flowers or a decorative candle as the centerpiece. |
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Post by mom on Jun 9, 2017 11:50:06 GMT
My dining room table is not a catch all - its just off the kitchen separate room, but still wide open if that makes sense).
On the table right now I have a wooden planter box down the center (think very rustic) with hydrangeas in short clear vases inside. Super simple, but non fussy.
I almost always leave my table 'dressed' with either wooden or metal chargers, plates, and napkins with napkin rings. I don't usually leave out glasses or silverware though.
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janeinbama
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,174
Location: Alabama
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Post by janeinbama on Jun 9, 2017 12:27:19 GMT
Go to Stone Gable American Farmhouse Living blog. Yvonne has great tablescapes. I don't put dishes out, but have enjoyed ideas on using trays, plants, etc through the seasons.
www.stonegableblog.com/ |
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Post by kckckc on Jun 9, 2017 12:41:32 GMT
I have a wide table runner and a large basket currently filled with wicker and moss covered balls.
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Post by peasapie on Jun 9, 2017 12:44:27 GMT
The cat's wet food dish with a placemat underneath. It's the only place the dog can't reach to eat kitty's food. Very glamorous, I know...
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Post by peasapie on Jun 9, 2017 12:48:38 GMT
Go to Stone Gable American Farmhouse Living blog. Yvonne has great tablescapes. I don't put dishes out, but have enjoyed ideas on using trays, plants, etc through the seasons.
www.stonegableblog.com/ Love that website; thanks for the link, janeinbama |
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Deleted
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May 18, 2024 5:14:40 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2017 12:54:28 GMT
I have not done this myself but it was taught at a local home decor place near me... I like the idea for people that do not feel especially creative and want something pretty and easy to change seasonally or more often. This is also inexpensive.
You start with a glass covered cake plate on a pedestal. The designer's thought was that most people have one of these in the back of their cupboard out of use. You put various themed items inside the covered cake plate (which makes for easy dusting). You can use a wreath around the base if you want and put it on a runner or place mat. You can also tie a ribbon to the handle on the lid if you like. This can be customized to your likes... pine cones, pumpkins, twigs, bird figurine, seashells, etc etc for a natural look or glitzy Christmas ornaments, collectible eggs etc for a dressy look. It is also a nice way to display special little items like your wedding cake topper for your anniversary or great grandma's love letters on Valentine's day.
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Post by GamGam on Jun 9, 2017 13:01:39 GMT
I know artificial flowers are passe for decorating for a lot of people, but I like the look of flowers on my dining table as the table can be seen from any location in our living area. ![]()  |
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Post by littlemama on Jun 9, 2017 13:07:20 GMT
I don't really put decorations on the table because they would have to be moved every time we wanted to serve a meal at the table. I have a succulent right now, that can just be moved to the unused spot at the table when we need to. Since DS left for college, we don't often eat at the table, so there is some other assorted weird stuff on it right now.
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Post by peano on Jun 9, 2017 13:19:43 GMT
Typically our small round dining table off the kitchen is piled with DH's and DS's assorted crap: right now there's a necktie, a computer cord, assorted papers, a cat toy. When I get around to cleaning it off, there will typically be just a candle in a style that corresponds to the season, because anything else would just become a cat plaything.
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tuesdaysgone
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,832
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Post by tuesdaysgone on Jun 9, 2017 14:02:57 GMT
OK, I'm really impressed by some of you; your tables sound so beautiful. In my reality, the table is covered with craft stuff, bills to be paid, books, and much more. At least all this stuff is in neat piles! My saving grace is that the dining room is off the beaten track in our house and not even really seen by guests. We don't entertain much, so there's not a lot of incentive to clean it up.
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Post by jesq on Jun 9, 2017 16:03:39 GMT
Nothing would stop my family from dumping all their crap on the table, so I don't keep anything on it. Unfortunately I was never able to break my dh of his habit that any horizontal surface is a good horizontal surface to store things. And he passed it on to the children. On any given day I can find: pens and pencils, playing cards, computer parts, blankets, tools, trash, etc... it's a never ending battle. I don't think it has been cleared off for longer than 5 straight hours in years. Ditto. Not to mention the table is also our cats' safe haven from the dog, so . . . |
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Post by myshelly on Jun 9, 2017 16:36:07 GMT
We use our dining table constantly.
The kids do school work there and we eat at least lunch and dinner there most days.
Decor would just be in the way.
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Post by padresfan619 on Jun 9, 2017 16:40:22 GMT
When we aren't eating I keep it cleaned off and clear except for a vase with fresh flowers. When we eat I put down a table cloth and place mats.
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Post by ilikepink on Jun 9, 2017 17:24:32 GMT
I love having a formal dining room and keeping the table "sacred". Typically I have a lace tablecloth, some candles and silk flowers. When the boys were young and I was married, it was a continual effort to keep the table cleared.
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used2scrap
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,036
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Post by used2scrap on Jun 9, 2017 17:35:53 GMT
Kitchen table is a dumping ground of kids' school stuff and dishes drying on a towel, plus a collection of little buckets in a lazy Susan with pencils, pens, highlighters, scissors etc.
Dining room table is behind glass doors and no one goes in there unless we're eating, and it stays a blank slate unless close to a holiday/event. Then I leave a tablecloth or placemats, and a centerpiece, maybe candles. Had pastels for my birthday and Mother's Day, then bright colors for Father's Day. I'll go with something patriotic around flag day through July 4th, then something for dd's birthday etc.
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Post by Lexica on Jun 9, 2017 18:41:41 GMT
Right now I do have a tablescape with silver and Mercury glass. I made a table runner out of burlap but I haven't decided what to machine embroider it with yet. I live alone so no kids or husband to spoil my decor. I love mercury glass! I recently tried my hand at making some faux mercury glass cupcake stands and they came out pretty good. I actually made a couple of kinds of testers first to make sure I could get the look that I had in my head. That's always the hard part, right? Between glass jars that I had been saving up just for this purpose, and a few clear glass plates from the 99 cent store, I could test out a lot of ideas without breaking the bank or ruining anything valuable. I used a few kinds of paint from mirror to an iron-like silver to play around with. I finally developed a technique that created some really interesting glass work and I made a couple of cupcake stands. Using clear stemmed candle holders, round glass candle plates from the 99 cent store, and a couple of different things as the domed lid, I made up a few different kinds of things. I am going to make some mercury glass Christmas ornaments for decorating this year. I stocked up on a bunch of clear glass at the after Christmas sales at craft stores in preparation for this. As for the original question in this post, I usually have a runner and some candle holders along with some sort of centerpiece. Like DEX, I live alone (SO HAPPY TO HAVE THAT DARNED RENTER OUT OF HERE) and have no one to use it as a dumping ground. This might be a possible solution for that for those of you with kids and husbands who are dumpers. Give them each a specific dumping spot. After we all moved out of my parents home and they bought a new one, Dad created a space in their laundry room as a collection area to prevent having piles of stuff all over the place and also to keep Mom from tossing things that he wasn't done with. Anything in his cubby wasn't to be messed with. He made a cubby box type thing that had a cubby for each of the kids, one for Mom, one for himself, and another one for the grandkids that was a bit bigger than ours because they shared space. It was like a little station where they put things that were to go to one of us, things they wanted to save temporarily for themselves, etc. Mine had things like a clipped out recipe that Dad wanted me to try, articles from magazines or the net (he printed them and made notations on them rather than just sending me the url.) some food item that Mom found on sale and knew I liked, coupons, birthday cards, etc. It then became our responsibility to check our cubby when we visited to collect anything that was in it. I put things in for them too. Sometimes I would make something for them and sneak it into their box and not say anything. I'd get a phone call a few days later asking when I did that. It was fun. A family post office. SaveSave |
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