Thanksgiving is looking a little different this year… But that doesn’t mean that we cannot celebrate our favorite holiday! My family and I love Thanksgiving and while we may not be spending it with our extended families this year, we will still be making the most of the celebrations we can do from home!
A linen, jute, or hessian table runner is the perfect place to start when decorating the dining table for Thanksgiving!
For many of us, this is what Thanksgiving looks like this year – smaller and more intimate gatherings locally rather than traveling outside of our normal radius. There are some extremely fun and beautiful ways we can decorate our homes despite only having a few guests or none at all depending on your plans.
Today we’re looking at how you can make the most of Thanksgiving this year, how to create the perfect tablescape, and ways you can incorporate the festivities around the house despite this odd year!
Let’s get started…
Making the Most of Thanksgiving
While this year has thrown many of our lives upside down, it’s vital for us to remember the most important things we do have in our lives. Such as family, friends, good health, and food on our tables each evening. Even if we cannot physically spend Thanksgiving with our friends and family this year, it doesn’t mean that we don’t have a lot to be grateful for or can’t get them all up on Zoom!
Decorating the dining table with a centerpiece such as this one is a beautiful way to add color and festive decor.
If you are planning to stay at home this year, it’s important to schedule some time with your other family members on FaceTime or Zoom so you all have something fun to look forward to. Whether it’s a Quiz or a general catch up after eating separately, having that time together via video call is incredibly heartwarming. Particularly for the older generations where not much has been happening it’s a really good idea to give them something like this to look forward to as it boosts mental health.
Even though Thanksgiving will be different this year, there is still a huge amount that we can be thankful for! Let’s focus on what we do have and what we can do to celebrate.
Decorating for Thanksgiving
I love decorating our tables and fireplace with fall-inspired garlands! This one is absolutely gorgeous.
Keeping up with family traditions of decorating should still be a priority if that’s possible. But aside from this, the red, brown, orange and yellow tones should be featured somewhere in the mix! You may wish to choose just one of these key colors to decorate your home with to create a cohesive look, or you can mix a few in with neutrals to keep a light feel.
Start with the entrance to your home – both externally and internally – and then move into the foyer/entrance are and the main living spaces. Of course, the dining room table set up should be a priority above these which we look at in the next section.
Decorate your front door with a festive wreath and bring the decorative elements of this through into your foyer or entrance hall. Faux foliage with dried fruit is a great place to start for console tables and staircases. Add in extra decorative pieces and seasonal candles as you see appropriate.
Candles are a great way of adding festive scents and decoration throughout the home.
In your main living spaces think about how you can add some of the festive colors and textures into your accessories. Pillows and thick throws are great to switch in for the festive season. Consider handmade decorations for fireplaces and bookshelves.
Creating the Perfect Tablescape
Next up – how to create the perfect tablescape for Thanksgiving.
Look at creating tablescapes as layering up the dining table, in a similar way you would look at layering lighting within a room.
The base layer is of course the table itself but you can choose to decorate this with a tablecloth or runner. If your table is dated or doesn’t match in with your other decorations at this time of year it can be a good idea to experiment with different colors and textures available to create the perfect base. A classic and timeless look is using a white tablecloth with a beige natural linen runner on top.
Natural weave placemats are fantastic to have year-round but especially for Thanksgiving as they look beautiful with any other decor color used!
Next are the placemats. And this is where you can really start to be creative! You could either go all out with brightly colored ones or keep it subtle and in tune with some of the other decorations at home with hand-woven or linen styled placemats.
Then, aside from the obvious plates, glasses, and cutlery, you should focus on the centerpiece. Your dining table size and shape will guide what you should select.
For circular tables: look at creating a central point with either a round low vase decorated with acorns, fern, etc on the perimeter or a selection of exposed candles.
For rectangular tables: consider long and linear faux foliage and you could have small battery-powered LED lights running through this or candles along the center.
The finishing touches to any tablescape include a table setting, napkins, and decorations on the plate itself. I love using dried faux stems for this as it ties the whole tablescape design together!
Whatever your plans are this year, we hope you have an amazing Thanksgiving!
I hope you have found this post to be helpful and given you some ideas on how you can make the most of decorating your home for Thanksgiving this year! If you’re looking for even more ideas, check out other designer tips and tricks (also our guest blurb!!!) over on Redfin’s blog post, Thanksgiving Decoration Ideas for Your Home.
How are you planning to decorate your home for Thanksgiving this year? I’d love to hear your ideas and plans in the comments below!
Happy Thanksgiving!