10 Thanksgiving Table Ideas Hosts Are Trying This Year, Like Name Cards Slid Into Mini Pumpkins

Nobody is buying a matching 12-piece set this year. Designers say the warmest tables mix family china with whatever else is in the cupboard: a mother’s plates, antique flatware, new glasses. To try it at home, pick one thing to repeat, like a color or a gold rim, and let everything else be different. Mixed sets stop looking accidental once one detail ties them together.

The Thanksgiving table was set yesterday. So glad I did that, because it’s been one kitchen disaster after another all day long today. If you haven’t had a fire in your oven today, you’ve had an excellent day!

But back to the table. I love how all the little details came together! Napkins are new; tablecloth is old. Flatware is antique. Glassware is new. Dishes are my mom’s that she just gave me and I will treasure forever! And I’m loving the gentle autumn color palette!

Tall arrangements are on their way out because nobody can see across them. The easy swap is a cluster of candles at three or four heights, with fruit or a little greenery between them. Use what you already have: a pair of tapers, a few votives, one pillar from the bathroom shelf. Keep the tallest ones in the middle so they don’t block faces at the ends of the table.

“Cozy Thanksgiving Dinner Table”

Dried citrus, apples and walnuts in the shell may be the cheapest decor on this list, and most of it is already in your kitchen. Slice oranges thin, dry them in a low oven for a few hours, flipping now and then, and scatter them down the table or tie one to each napkin. Whole fruit takes much longer to dry, which is why most hosts stick to slices.

This past weekend I tried my hand at whole dried clementines & dried orange slices...with mixed results. Whole dried clementines 👎 Sliced oranges 👍🏻

In between flipping oranges, I played around with on our pre-Thanksgiving table setting and I’m kinda leaning towards more subdued, but also want a little pop too.

Place cards are back, but nobody is ordering calligraphy. The easiest version is a mini pumpkin with a name written right on it in marker, or a small card slid into a slit at the top, which a grown-up cuts. Then give the writing to the kids. They can do the names, draw a leaf on each card and decide who sits where, which may be the most powerful seat chart of their year.

A fun way to make placecards for your Thanksgiving dinner. My husband Ken used a mini hacksaw to make a small slit at the top of the pumpkin and just slid the name card in.

The ironed white tablecloth gives way to bare wood and a simple linen runner down the middle. Wrinkles are part of the look, so the runner can go straight from the dryer to the table. A checked or striped runner adds a farmhouse note on its own. If you only have a white cloth, a linen napkin at each plate does most of the work.

“Test-driving the Thanksgiving tablescape.”

At the kids’ end of the table, the trend is the opposite of precious: brown craft paper rolled straight over the table, with crayons at every seat. Kids draw through dinner, grown-ups stop worrying about cranberry sauce, and cleanup is one rolled-up sheet. Good Housekeeping’s styling director has suggested exactly this for a kid-friendly table, with washable crayons and markers.

More hosts are leaving the food in the kitchen and letting everyone serve themselves from the island or counter. The table stays clear for plates, candles and elbows, and nobody passes a hot casserole over a toddler. Ina Garten has said she prefers buffet style for holiday crowds because guests can go back for seconds without any fuss.

Dinner at my mom’s condo. We do a more laid-back buffet these days, but she always sets a nice table.

For ease, we carve what we want off of the bird. The electric knife is plugged in right next to it.

Instead of orange, brown and gold all at once, many hosts now pick one color family and repeat it: all cream, all brown, deep burgundy, or blue and white. It looks calm and pulls together plates that don’t match. Start with a tablecloth or napkins you already own, then choose flowers and candles in the same shades.

Our Thanksgiving table last year. No orange! Thinking about how to set the table each year is one of my favorite prep activities when hosting. Last year I used a pretty tablecloth I found in Sag Harbor and this year I’ll use napkins I bought in Paris — it’s fun to bring out travel souvenirs when decorating for a special occasion.

A small card under each plate, with a line about why that guest is at the table, turns dinner into a toast without anyone standing up. Some families write the notes ahead of time; others leave blank cards and a pen so guests can write one for the person on their left. Read them over dessert, when everyone is too full to be shy.

The biggest trend of the year isn’t new at all: using the good dishes. Hosts are taking a family set out of the cabinet for the one day it was made for, and trend guides keep naming heirloom china, candlesticks and embroidered linens as the fastest way to make a table feel warm. Worried about breakage? Let the kids set the table.

I didn’t take any pictures of the food, but I thought the table looked nice!

It’s my sister’s set. It’s been in the family for years.

The kids set the table!