Table Decor

As to the table itself, a top that is heat-and stain-resistant lends itself to the greatest ease of service and upkeep. You can expose as much or as little or its surface as you like. If you have a tabletop of natural hardwood, you must protect it against heat at all times with pads.

For versatility and effective contrast, keep your basic flatware and dishes simple in form and not too pronounced in pattern or color. Then you can combine them, without fear of clashing, with varied linens, fruits and flowers and-most importantly- varied foods. You will find that changes in decor and accessories stimulate the appetite, as much as do changes in seasoning.

Serve soups sometimes in covered soup bowls, and other times from a tureen or in cups. Serve salads on plates, in bowls or on crescent-shaped "bone plates" which are made to fit at the side of dinner plates - giving a less crowded feeling to the table.

For variety, replace vegetable dishes with an outsize platter holding several vegetables attractively garnished. Also, small raw vegetables and fruits may substitute for garnishes of parsley and cress to give a meat platter a festive air.

Instead of using pairs of matching dessert dishes, try contrasting bowls of glass or bright pottery. For a rustic effect, serve a hearty menu on your everyday dishes and use bright linens and wooden salad bowls with a centerpiece of wooden scoops filled with pears and hazelnuts in the husk 

For a more elegant effect, serve a dainty meal on the same dishes, against a polished board decorated with fragile glasses and flowers. See sketch.
Whatever your decorative scheme, flower arrangements should be low or lacy.

Tall arrangements that obstruct the view discourage across-the-table conversation. There is nothing more distracting than dodging a floral centerpiece while trying to establish an intimate relationship among your guests.

For the same reason, candles should be placed strategically. On a formal buffet or tea table, which is viewed from above, the decorations may be as tall as you wish. In fact, food or flower accents that are elevated on epergnes or stemmed dishes add a note of drama.

Table decorations need not be costly, and they can always express your own personality. Ingenious hostesses can confect stunning arrangements of vegetables, fruits, flowers-alone or in combination - or can use handsome man-made objects and leaves.

Several harmonious small containers of flowers or fruit-similar or varied - can be effectively grouped around a central element or placed along the length of a table to replace a single focal point. Use one of these small units of long-needled pine tufts and snowdrops, or clematis, illustrated in the semiformal luncheon service, above.

A piece of sculpture of a suitable size for your table makes a charming base for a centerpiece. Surround it with an ivy ring and vary the decor from time to time with other greenery or any elements that suggest borders or garlands.

If the sculpture is slightly raised on a base, it can be enjoyed to great advantage. Whatever you use, don't overcrowd the table. One of the most important things to remember is that t no matter what the decoration, it should be suitable in color and scale with the foods served to enhance it.

Don't make your effects so stagey that your guests' reactions will be, "She went to a Jot of trouble." Make them say, rather, "She had a lot of fun doing it!"