Accessorizing Your Dining Room

I think making your dining room warm and welcoming is one of the most important things to do in your home. I much prefer eating in my dining room than in my kitchen. It's a great place to gather your family many evenings a week to dine, to converse, to visit and to laugh and enjoy each other's company.

Here are some suggestions on how to decorate beyond just putting a pair of candlesticks on the dining room table. (Which I do many times during the year.)

Place a silver tea service in the center of the dining table in a formal room. It will look best placed on a silver tray or a doily tablecloth centered on the table. If you have a server you might consider putting the tea service there instead. You can do the same with a big silver punch bowl-my mother has done this and it looks great.

Take a length of lovely fabric (about 2 - 3 yards for a 54- to 60-inch table), tuck the ends out of sight and, scrunch it up to create pockets of fabric on the center of the table. Next place beautiful votives, several candlesticks, china figurines or other lovely items on top of the fabric.

If you can afford it, have someone paint a mural on one wall of your dining room - I have the perfect blank wall just waiting for my friend Debi to come paint a European scene on it. She's moved cross-country so it might be awhile. Make sure the scene you select will go along with your decorating, china, and the look you will want all the time. You'll also want to do it on a smaller wall rather than a big one.

Try setting up a tabletop vignette in the middle of your table. Take a platter and a few pieces of fruit. Two green apples, one lying down and its mate, standing upright, look pleasing when placed a trifle off center on the platter. Experiment with a few pieces of different fruits or vegetable until you get something you like.

Put a flowering plant in the center of the table - a mum will give it a casual look whereas orchids will reflect a more formal look. I personally like the mini roses for this purpose. You might change the plant, using the plant to celebrate the season - an Easter lily or tulips in the spring, a poinsettia during the holidays, etc.

Hang a mirror on the wall to catch the light and beauty of your chandelier. Place a lamp on a table near a window, and pair it up with a vase of fresh flowers and other decorative items to create a pleasant vignette. If your chandelier doesn't give off adequate light use this lamp at mealtimes. Use the lamp as the only light in the room to create a soft, warming presence when the room is empty.

Decorate seasonally - see above about using a small plant. You can place colorful Easter eggs or Christmas ornaments in a crystal bowl placed in the center of the table, a pumpkin with an artificial vine of autumn leaves placed in the center, and the vine trailing along each "center sides" of the table at Halloween and Thanksgiving time.