Casual Dining with Serena & Lily

We’ll be spending our holiday with David’s family in Pittsburgh this year and although we’re not having our Thanksgiving dinner at home, I’ve still been decorating our apartment and our table for the season. I love seasonal decorating and just a tiny bit of decor or scented candle gets me all excited and in the holiday spirit.

My friends often comment that I never set the table the same way twice, and I love getting creative with our china and linens to create a new experience for each evening. I’ve waxed poetic in the past about how much I love Serena and Lily’s collection for infusing traditional spaces with a fresh twist, and that goes for setting the table too. For this table I wanted to achieve a fresh take on casual dining and picked up these gingham napkins, these woven chargers, and this wooden serving board to brighten up the tablescape. Last year, I bought Serena & Lily's tucker chairs for their small size which is ideal for apartment living and crowding more people around the table at the holidays. (I also really love these handsome portside chairs as well, which I used in a client's dining room this fall.)

This tablescape is especially accessible since you can pick up all the “florals” at your local grocery store. I typically think of my wild strawberry Wedgwood china as a summer pattern, but the browns and reds actually transition nicely into fall, especially when paired with a festive set of gold flatware. I brought along a butter plate to the store to select fruits and veggies for the centerpiece that echoed the colors and patterns on the plates. I ended up picking up artichokes, pomegranates, a few pears and strawberries for the centerpiece, which I arranged atop a bed of eucalyptus - festive and seasonally appropriate without going the expected route with The great thing about this centerpiece is you can break it up after the dinner party and cook all the ingredients the next day!

See below for my favorite items for creating a thanksgiving table, and a few other pieces that are favorites in our home!