My idea of Thanksgiving tabletop styling heaven would be to swing open the porch door, clippers in hand, and head outdoors to snip branches and brambles for a woodland-inspired design.
But in reality? I live in Brooklyn, and for garden greenery I head to New York City's finest bodega flower shops. The good news is it's still possible to put together a Thanksgiving tabletop that looks as if it's straight from the garden:
Photography by Erin Boyle.
Above: For Thanksgiving, I want to eschew all of the rusts and golds and oranges in favor of subtler hues of green and white and blue. To keep fussiness to a minimum, I'll bundle sets of vintage flatware with linen napkins, do away with place mats, choose tiny cloth coasters to offset wine glasses, and make miniature bouquets from grocery store greens.
Above: I found light indigo colored napkins for $10 apiece in the newly redone basement shop at ABC Carpet & Home in Manhattan. Similar Indigo Blue Linen Napkins are available from Maalikaa Creations on Etsy; $19.20 each.
Above: Instead of using place mats or a tablecloth, I decided on cloth coasters from the Fog Linen Shop. A similar set of six Navy Seersucker Coasters is $30 from Shop Fog Linen.
Above: Simple white dishes are my go-to for tabletops in any season. Here, I used Muji's Beige Porcelain Plates;; $10.50 each.
Above: For the greens, I chose seeded eucalyptus, rosemary, hypericum, all purchased from a local grocery store. In short, squat vessels, the tiny arrangements add spots of greenery to each setting, without crowding the table. For similar glasses, see 10 Easy Pieces: Basic Drinking Glasses.
Above: I used a set of vintage silverware, tied in jute bundles around my napkin.
Interested in a step-by-step details for the napkin rings? See DIY: Botanical Napkin Rings.
For more tabletop inspiration, see A Foraged Botanical Tabletop.
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