Setting a Cozy Winter Tablescape and Decorating the Mantle

Setting a cozy winter tablescape and decorating a mantle that brims with rustic charm and elegance is easy using a cozy plaid, a fir swag, and a variety of different sized candlesticks, silver pieces, and crystal.

I love this quieter, slower, colder time of year in our Texas home and our kitchen nook glowed invitingly, with winter weather just a windowpane away and I couldn’t wait to “cozy” it up.

The Scotch in me loves anything tartan and I chose a tartan tablecloth in shades of navy blue and emerald green to cover the table. As I spread the tablecloth over the table and evened up the corners, a transformation had already begun to take place.

The snow had already covered the ground and surrounded me suddenly with the scenery of winter.  I withdrew yet farther into my shell and endeavored to keep a bright fire within my house and within my breast."  

~  Henry David Thoreau

Then the fun began as I began to hunt around the house, “gathering” items I thought would complement the warm colors of the tartan and add sparkle to the tablescape. I stretched a fir swag with prickly pinecones across the top of the table…tucked some silver and crystal pieces within the fir branches and gathered up an assortment of golden candlesticks. The rustic bear lamp with beaded lampshade added a golden glow that settled over and warmed the tablescape in our cottage on the lake.

"...a perfect house, whether you like food or sleep or story-telling or singing, of just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all.  Merely to be there was a cure for weariness, fear, and sadness."

~  J.R. R. Tolkien

A candelabra, with glistening votive cups and a metal antique sherbert cup with a cobalt blue liner fit right in on the navy and green tartan table cover, while a salt and pepper cellar look charming tucked under the fir branches.

This ornate silver goblet with gold interior adds to the glimmer of the table and helps tie in the silver and gold “jewelry” on the table.

After the table “was dressed” it was time to add the dishes! White Wedgewood plates, trimmed in navy and gold, and crystal stemware add elegance to the casual tartan spread and rugged fir branches…while goldware accents the brass candlesticks and candelabra and adds another gleam to the table.

"Wintere blues are cured every time with a potato gratin paired with a roast chicken."

~  Alexandra Guarnaschelli

Simple DIY place cards with golden tassels (click here to see DIY instructions) add the finishing touch.

"Only the pure in heart can make a good soup."

~  Ludwig van Beethoven

I loved how my tartan tablescape turned out and the rustic elegance of the fir branches and the mixture of silver and gold and decided to decorate the mantle in the same rustic/elegant way. For the focal point on the mantle, I chose a silver loving cup that Richard found and bought for me in one of our antiquing excursions.

To protect the silver plating of the loving cup, I placed a plastic container inside and filled the container with water. Then I began tucking in as many evergreen boughs and eucalyptus branches as I could possibly fit inside the loving cup until it was lush and full.

After I’d finished the arrangement, I looked for other silver items around the house to add to my vignette. I gathered up an embossed jewelry box…two mix-matched silver bowls with little handles…a lidded trinket box, and an ornate goblet. The different colors of silver, designs, and textures added interest and looked perfect nestled under the greenery in the loving cup. On a whim, I tucked a little nest into one of the bowls and added a little enchantment to my vignette, as if a little bird had made a home beneath the boughs.

All done! An easy, rustic/elegant tablescape and mantle arrangement that complement each other and from start to finish, took less than an hour to complete!

Enjoy these last days of winter and do what you can to make your home as cozy and visually warm as we all look forward to Spring! Just this week, there were a whole “blush” of Robins hopping about our yard (isn’t that the most charming name for a group of Robins? The tawny red breasts of the Robins collectively form a blush!)…and my hyacinths have already popped up out of the ground and are almost 6 inches tall!

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“It was You who set all the boundaries of the earth; You made both summer and winter.”

Psalm 74:17

From my cottage to yours ~ Trenda