All our pre-New Year’s chores come down mainly to the purchase of products and the preparation of them “Olivier” and aspic. But the house also wants to take part in the holiday. Decorator Victoria Kruchinina offers several interesting options for decorating an apartment and setting a table.
Festive table setting
– By the New Year, you need to walk a festive road, so let’s start from the front door: the first impression of your home is the most important. The door handle can be decorated with the same elements that decorate the table. It is also good to weave them into a wreath of fluffy twigs collected at the Christmas tree market, and then hang it on the door.
The table setting should match the overall style of the home. Of course, a beautiful tablecloth is a must. Moreover, the options can be very different. Now, for example, the “marakesh” style is fashionable: many bright colors, beads and tassels. You probably have old beads – they can be disassembled and sewn to the tablecloth or strung on a wire and decorated with it anything you want – from the chandelier above the table to the stem of the glass. In our country, the classic version is more common: a service, a white tablecloth, identical glasses, ceremonial napkin rings and, very rarely, a bouquet of flowers brought by guests. And this is called “festive table setting”! Today it is completely irrelevant.
I myself love white porcelain. Try decorating it with red ribbons and beads paired with sheer rhinestones. Place plates of the same size and type, but different colors, on the table. Take different glasses, but the devices should be the same. For a neutral service, you can offer another option: multi-colored soup bowls or colored plates for plates – wicker, fabric, beaded … Another fashionable trend is monochrome. The table is decorated with various objects and decorations – but only of the same color, say, red, symbolizing stability.
Today, the “retro” style is in vogue – our, domestic, crystal from the Gus-Khrustalny plant is returning. And not only ordinary, transparent, but also colored – red, blue, green … If you have it, no decorations, except candles, are no longer needed on the table.
Do not forget about the dishes themselves – their “appearance” must match the serving. Let’s take the same Olivier. For a marakech-style setting, place the salad on a flat, colored dish and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds on top. And if you have a monochrome, white table with rhinestones, put the Olivier on a long crystal dish and top with a layer of chopped eggs on top of the salad. Garnish the meat with red berries, and the rice with the same flowers that are on the table. I often put meat or fish on a dish lined with pebbles that we collected at sea … The main thing is not to be afraid of eclecticism. For fear of looking unattractive, people become boring. As you know, there are no comrades for taste and color – so collect on the table everything that you personally like and create
Gold
Gold is the most popular and stylish New Year’s color. By bringing together several gold vases of different shapes and sizes, you can put flowers in them and arrange candies and nuts nearby. Such a composition will become the center of the table or “sofa area” – this is exactly the type of decoration that turns into a family tradition.
Garland of light bulbs
Another example of the unconventional use of traditional items. Take a large vase and place a lit garland in it. If the vase is not too large, place it directly on the table instead of a candlestick, and if there is no room on the table, you can place it next to it, on the corner. Complement the table setting with glass balls and small toys – you don’t have to hang everything in the box on the tree, leave some for the table too!
Flowers
Now there are many different vases, they are tired and I want minimalism (bow to Japanese design). Therefore, a small flower arrangement will look good not in a vase, but in transparent wrapping paper filled with water and a tied ribbon. Flowers of cold tones evoke associations with ice and the Snow Queen. Small compositions can be placed next to each plate.
Children’s table
The table for the little ones will be decorated with a composition of toys and various funny candles. There are now an incredible amount of them: in the form of fruits, cake and Santa Claus – light everything! Don’t forget to add a bowl of pot-purri, the classic New Year’s aromas of cinnamon and oranges. Next to the plate of each child, you can put his “business card” – an orange, on which his name is “written” in carnations.
Glass under the napkin
Create your own Christmas style using everything in the house. Cover the glass with a light beaded napkin (marakech style) and serve on a Chinese black lacquered tray. Regular buds are sprayed with a silvery spray. And all this is on the green tablecloth. Isn’t it a New Year’s mood? After all, green symbolizes the birth of everything new. If you want the New Year to change something in your life, decorate the table with green: green apples in a vase, green candles …
Photo: Anatoly Goryainov