Often located at the center of life in the home, the kitchen table often sees coffee cooling during the mornings. Later in the day, after school or after work, the kitchen table sees children or friends alike settles in to complete homework or simply to chat. Yet, when it comes to the kitchen and its decor, most homeowner usually considers the kitchen table an afterthought.
Whether it is due to mail on its surface or a plastic fruit bowl instead of a dining arrangement, the kitchen table is often overlooked. Yet, there are a few ideas that can enhance the kitchen table without having to redesign the kitchen or purchasing new furnitures for the area altogether. These ideas will ensure that the kitchen table not only appears correct in the kitchen, but that the decor options for that table will also remain functional and low maintenance.
Simple Ways to Decorate Your Kitchen Table
1. Place a Table Runner
One of the first suggestion for enhancing the decor at the kitchen table is to place a table runner on the table. Such a table runner will anchor the decor at the table without swallowing the space that is allotted for that particular table. The linen can be a neutral color for those that would like to incorporate some calm into the home and its kitchens, but another option would be to use a subtle pattern to the table runner to provide some personality to the space.
Additionally, the fabric will protect the table from any damage, as well as add some softness to the space. There is still room for dinner plate or even laptops at the table. The table runner can also be changed with the changing of the seasons.
Deep olive green color may be selected during the winter, whereas pale blue chambray colors may be selected in the summer. Additionally, the table runner should be one that allows for wrinkles to set in, as such a table runner will convey to those who enter the kitchen that the kitchen table is meant to be used. Additionally, the centerpiece may deserve more thought than a vase of the grocery store flowers that often wilt by Wednesday.
2. Use a Low Wooden Tray for Centerpieces
Instead, one can use a low wooden tray to place objects in the kitchen that change from day to day. For example, one day the centerpiece could include three pillar candles of varying heights, a bowl of lemon, and a sprig of rosemary. The following week, the individuals that use the kitchen can replace those items with pinecones and cookbooks that are beloved.
These items should be under ten inches in height to allow for everyone to have an opportunity to see each other while seated at the table. These items do not necessarily need to match one another, but they should all reflect some story about the season or the items that is loved by those who decorate the kitchen. Such an arrangement will cost almost nothing to establish, as many of these items can be grown in the yard or retrieved from the kitchen drawers.
3. Incorporate Ambient Lighting
An additional way to enhance the decor at the kitchen table is to incorporate some lighting into the area after the sun set over the horizon. One can hang a single pendant light over the table to provide an intimate glow to the dinner table. An alternative to hanging a pendant light is to use battery-operated fairy lights that can be placed within a glass cloche.
Additionally, a pair of small table lamp may be purchased to be placed on a sideboard in the kitchen to avoid the harsh lighting that may come from the kitchen’s overhead lights. Using warm light bulbs between the range of 2700 Kelvin will help those who dine at the kitchen table to appear better looking and to have their food more appetizingly. Additionally, the lighting will highlight the table runner or the wood of the table.
4. Mix and Match Tableware
The tableware for the kitchen table does not need to be expensive. Instead, one can mix patterns for those dinners to feel more like a celebration. For example, plain white plates could be used along with vintage floral salad plate that were purchased from a flea market.
Using a variety of plates will create some interest in the dinner table without making the table look chaotic. Additionally, using a set of glasses of the same color will allow the eye to rest upon the tableware. Placing a shallow basket of linen napkins will allow each individual who enters the kitchen to be able to grab a napkin prior to beginning to dine.
5. Add Greenery and Herbs
These linen napkins can be tied with a twist of raffia if there are guest that visit the home. Greenery can also be incorporated into the decor that is established at the kitchen table. A shallow bowl of succulents or a pothos plant that is placed in a bottle will survive on the table for many months at a time.
Additionally, herbs can be placed in small terracotta pot at the table. These herbs will provide a green color to the table, as well as provide an option for those at the table to prepare a salad with the basil herbs. Terracotta pots may be rotated every few days to allow the herbs to remain equally grown at the table.
Additionally, a faux olive branch placed in a pitcher will fool the majority of those who pass by the kitchen. Yet, care should be taken to ensure that the greenery is not too perfect or plastic in its appearance. Any flaw in the appearance of the greenery will make it appear to be real, even if it isnt.
6. Seasonal Decor Changes
Another suggestion would be to change the decor at the kitchen table with the changing of the seasons. During the autumn months, one can scatter a few miniature pumpkins and corn husks across the kitchen table’s center. These items will last for the entire fall season and will feature the scent of the earth.
During the winter months, the pumpkins may be replaced with fragrant clementines that contain cloves within the fruit, as well as a few cinnamon stick. During the spring, one can purchase forced branches of cherry blossoms or daffodils that are placed in mismatched jars. These changes take only ten minutes to prepare the kitchen table.
7. Incorporate Texture
Furthermore, these items can be found in cheap or even free cost if effort is invested in locating them. Another suggestion for enhancing the decor at the kitchen table is to incorporate texture into the dinner table’s items. For example, a rough woven placemat can be purchased for the table along with smooth plates.
Other options may include placing a wooden pepper mill, a brass salt cellar, and a few cloth coasters on the table. Those who visit the kitchen may use these items to enhance the dinner experience. For example, individuals may use the pepper mill, examine the grain of the wood, and potentially discuss matter that are important to those individuals.
8. Utilize Negative Space
Thus, incorporating these items into the table will enhance the decor for the kitchen table without effort from the individuals that decorate it. An overlooked suggestion may be to incorporate negative space into the kitchen table. For example, rather than having a decorative bowl placed in the center of the table, one may simply leave that portion of the table bare.
Such an idea will provide a place for the elbows of those who are dining at the table, as well as a place for the eye of the diners to rest. One dramatic bowl of fruit may be all that is needed at the table during the week’s busiest nights. The negative space within the table will provide a place for the eye to land between bites of the dinner that is being consumed at the table.
Thus, this idea will provide some balance to the decor at the kitchen table. Finally, ensuring that the kitchen table works for the way in which the home is actualy lived can enhance the decor of the kitchen table. For example, if the family eats breakfast standing up, then the dinner table may be the focus of decorating efforts.
9. Organize with a Wooden Box
Additionally, if the table is used as a desk in the house during the week, the individuals who use the table should easily sweep up table decor. One shallow wooden box may be purchased that can hold the table runner, the candles, and the centerpiece decoration for the kitchen table. Using this wooden box will make it easier for the individuals to transition from work to supper.
These suggestions will work best for those who actually live and use the kitchen table. The most beautiful kitchen tables are not the tables that appear to be perfect for photographs. Yet, the most beautiful kitchen tables are those that adapt to spelling tests, eating spills, and late night talks.
Each of these suggestions will create a kitchen table that feels like the extension of the individuals who live in the home, rather than one that reflects the trends that may have been seen in the online world. The table runner will catch the light of the morning sun, the little tray will hold item that make individuals smile when they see them, and the entire kitchen table will reflect to others that the table is where meals and memories are shared. This is the real goal in dressing up the kitchen table.
A kitchen table that is enhanced with any of these suggestion will not only look good, but will also pull individuals towards the table and keep them there after supper. Therefore, each individual should start with one of these ideas, try it for a week, and then make any necessary adjustments. Given time, individuals will find themselves wondering how they ever ate meals at a bare kitchen table.
