Christmas is a month away. Sure, we have plenty of time to talk about Christmas decor and party essentials. But trust me, nothing hinders getting things done more than “there’s time”. This hope and procrastination combines to give you a deadly laze that adds up as us feeling like headless chickens when we should be chilling in our Pj. And I have had this feeling way too many times- believe me you! I’m all for starting early, or at least have an idea in my head as to what’s to be done so when the time is nigh, so I can quickly execute. We are beginning this Christmas talk a little early in here so there’s enough time for us to brood with a book, polar express and hot chocolate on Christmas day!
To be honest, even if you start a day before Christmas day, with this easy look & idea, you’ll still not feel like a headless chicken but we are not taking any chances here. The key is to make the most of what you have at hand and that also means the mismatched, the set-less and the singles hanging around in the crockery section! Hop on in.
Also, Christmas trees alone don’t have the sole right to dress up during the holidays. Our houseplants have done no crime and can use a bit of festive flair too! So good to dress these vines up with teeny tiny candy canes.
Anywho, coming back to Christmas Tablescapes,
I am winging it with mismatched this year, and there are three very valid reasons for my choice
1. Conglomeration of similar colours and patterns all around somehow reminds me of a nauseous 90. Matchy matchy is no more the trend and you don’t want to be caught in overwhelming, busy holiday colours that makes you borderline dizzy.
2. I am a huge fan of laid back luxe and mismatched elements helps you to bring in that informal grandeur. It’s a very wise way of saying, ‘hey, we take decor seriously but we value our heirlooms and our memories more”
3. It gives you a chance to showcase your vintage crockery, china, utensils and decor elements. What’s Christmas if not for things that are personally related to you? That reminds you of a day, a person or a time? Let this Christmas tablescape be one that stirs conversations.
But then mismatched has it’s own risks and you just cannot throw in anything. Follow on and I’ll tell you how to work mismatched like Pro! There are a few rules in here though:
Christmas Tablescape & How To Pull off Mismatched Look
1. Start with your most memorable items. Now while I mostly tell you to decide the colour palette first, in this case I’d ask you to bring out the pieces you’d like to highlight first. Do you have a plate that your grandma passed on to you? A pretty little set of cups that your husband gifted you for Christmas many years ago? Bring them on! Arrange them on a table and note down the colours. Now look for colours that will complement these to build your mismatched Christmas table decor. Out of all the colours you have chosen, decide on a colour that you’ll use to bind the rest of the elements..
2. A common thread. Now this is where deciding that one prime colour will justify itself. For every decor you need a binder- which is an element or a colour that binds the other colour in complete harmony. This is what makes your decor look pulled in and not a jumble of things. So decide on the binder and your binder will depend on your home colour scheme.
For example,
> If you have yellow walls and brown furniture {let’s take the most obvious} and say you have white plates with black etchings, you could add in some red, pink and yellow to the tablescape. As for metal highlights you could use copper or gold.
> If you want to do red heavy- add in maroon, dark green, dark browns, black and gold.
> If you want to take cues from a colourful Christmas tree and add in all possible colours, you can do that too but make sure one colour is prime, which will act as a binder to the other colours and patterns. For my house it’s white.
3. Work on the colour palette. If you want to do red green and white like me, you could add in a bit of brown, orange and blue. You could go 3 shades up and down in respective colours as well. You could also add in some pink, celadon and turquoise. Mismatched does not mean lousy. Its a well thought of carefully careless look that overall achieves a result that is pleasing to the eye and looks perfectly colour coordinated. So decide on the palette first.
My husband had given me a set of beautiful hand painted, brown plates on Christmas many moons ago, and that alone inspired me to get in some mismatched, informal, easy tablescape this Christmas. I wanted it and a set of plates to stand out so I worked my palette around them- a palette that highlights these and justifies the colours. I started with the runner and then placed the plate. Next, I built the look around it with a mishmash of things that are not too obvious with regards to “matching” but beautifully falls under a modern, cheerful, holiday colour palette. Just incase, here’s the palette:
I paired that with a few plates I grabbed from Cyahi this year, a few cut glass wine glasses and blue glass tumblers. To add in some luxe I added a pillar candle and a votive- both from Goodearth, from the shambala line and “husn-e-tairaat” range respectively. The runner is a gift by Vineetha who curates and creates great stuff at ‘the eclectic room’.
Tada! Simple and easy! So get out your less loved ones for it’s time to make them the star of the table.
Signing off and catching a little nap.
P.S: If you need help with colour palette or any decorating idea, leave a message at the comments section and I’ll be happy to help you with a customized palette!