Setting a Table Worth Sitting At

A table does not need to be elaborate to be good. It needs to look like someone thought about it for five minutes, which is roughly how long it takes.

Start with the surface

Bare wood, a linen runner, or a woven mat under each setting. Anything is better than a bare laminate, and a runner costs less than a single candle at most home shops. The surface sets the tone before a single plate lands on it.

Buy plates you can stack

Deep bowls, wide rims and odd shapes look wonderful in a photograph and live badly in a cupboard. Plain rounds in one colour stack, store and survive. They also let the food be the interesting thing on the table.

One material, repeated

Stoneware with stoneware, glass with glass. A table reads as considered when the same texture turns up three or four times, and reads as a jumble sale when every piece is from a different set.

Light low, not bright

Overhead light flattens a room and everyone in it. A pair of candles or a lamp in the corner does more for a dinner than any centrepiece, and costs almost nothing to repeat every night.

Leave room for the food

The most common mistake is decorating a table until there is nowhere to put a serving dish. Clear the middle. A table worth sitting at is one people can actually eat from.