Hello friends! I’ve planned a simple holiday tabletop in collaboration with Lothar John in Hannover (and online!) and Royal Copenhagen that is very laid back and will take you about 10 minutes to set. I’m also going to give you 7 tips on the perfect entertaining scenario at home…

THE LIST - my top 7 - for creating a great dining experience at home is…

1/ The food and wine - fresh, great taste and simple but lovely presentation.

2/ Dishware and flatware - must look great but also be something I can reuse because I’m not buying a new set each time I plan a dinner party.

3/ Lighting - Over the table, lighting around the corners of the room and of course, candlelight.

4/ Great playlist

5/ Simplicity - not fussy or fake - I don’t want my dining room to look like a catalog.

6/ Fresh flowers - easy and ones that complement the meal and the colors of the food. Also, not heavily scented, floral scent competes with food and like candles, you want to keep flowers with a strong scent out of the dining room while entertaining. Keep the lily in the entry room instead.

7/ Fast to prepare the overall dining room decor.

For my tabletop below, all of these things are taken care of and that makes me so happy! Because I can focus on the food better when the tabletop looks beautiful but was also simple to plan.

This year, I wanted to finally start a proper grown up collection of tabletop dishes and cups. I felt like it was time, especially now that our little boy is nearly 5 and we have family traditions now together - like special meals. In Germany, it’s common to have a hot meal during the day and at night, a cold meal (or soup) and so during the week, I am no longer cooking at night as I did when I was single. My son eats a warm meal at his kindergarten daily so at night, it’s “Abendbrot” for all of us - usually little sandwiches, raw veggies cut up, soup, salad, light and easy things.

This means that during the week, we eat in the kitchen at our small cafe table. I don’t pull out gorgeous plates and amazing flatware for that. It’s normal and uncomplicated as it should be.

On the weekends, I cook. And on special occasions. That is why I wanted to start a collection of china that I can use for years and years, until I’m old and also, later when my son brings his friends or even a date home to eat with us. I want these plates to also be part of our life together. I kept thinking though, WHAT WILL I GET? You know, because once you decide on a patterned collection, you are stuck with it, so you’d better like it!

After years of looking at everything out there, last year I was a big fair in Frankfurt and spent a full day only looking at proper tabletop settings. It was then that it dawned on me. I wanted something MODERN but also NOSTALGIC and a little old-fashioned. I wanted something versatile. And most of all, I wanted something that also felt fresh and clean.

I also wanted WHITE plates. I didn’t want the dinner plates to have pattern, only the bread plates, bowls, etc.

That’s why the FLUTED collection from Royal Copenhagen became THE collection on my wish list. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It was in one of the first Danish homes I’d ever visited in 2010 when we were shooting my first book, DECORATE, do you remember that book? I have been thinking of Royal Copenhagen as my potential collection ever since 2010… But back then I was much younger and ate out constantly and also, I wasn’t a mama yet, so I wasn’t sitting around debating whether or not I’d get this plate or that one. It wasn’t on my radar.

I recently purchased the WHITE FLUTED plates at Lothar John, my favorite tabletop store in Hannover at the Galerie Luise. Then, they gifted me with 6 bread plates with the BLUE FLUTED MEGA pattern and Royal Copenhagen then gifted me with 6 mugs (no handles, thermo mugs, my favorites) in the BLUE FLUTED MEGA pattern, too. If you don’t put coffee or tea inside, you can use them for flowers and place them down the center of your table.

But yes, I finally have started my collection. And I’m so happy about it. A box ticked before the new year!

One thing that I love, is that with the WHITE dinner plates, I can skip the bread plate and the mug and just serve a meal without a salad or bread, and set the table with any colors or patterns that I choose. Or I can mix in bread plates and bowls from another brand altogether. White is so versatile like this. OR I can go all out with Royal Copenhagen everything. It’s really my choice, but at least it’s a choice I can make and I’m not stuck with all patterned everything.

I am so happy with my tabletop and I hope that you also are inspired by the simplicity and beauty of it.

If you like the BLUE FLUTED series that you see from this collection, you can buy it online at Lothar John using this link for a 10% discount for a limited time.

Have a happy Monday!

Love,

Holly

(Photographs + Styling from Holly Becker for decor8)