Deck the Tables!
Three New Jersey designers–Suzette Donleavy, Laurie Finn and James Yarosh–served up beautiful table settings and shared their tips and tricks on decorating for the holidays. Still beautiful and timeless, each festive table setting sparks the imagination and celebrates the magic of the season. Whether you are planning a small, intimate occasion, a formal affair or casual get-together, the designers laid it all on the table on how to make the season even more memorable.
Winter Solace
Design: Suzette Donleavy Occasion: Intimate Gathering Location: Colts Neck
Suzette Donleavy, principal of Well-Designed Interiors in Rumson, believes you should take inspiration from something personal, whether it’s what you plan to serve, the guests themselves or the details found in the room. In the Colts Neck home of photographer Patricia Burke, a triptych of snow-capped trees that Burke shot inspired the design scheme: a calming wintry mix of dark grays and whites coupled with mercury glass and other shimmery silver accents.
Setting the Scene
Invite intimacy by using round dining tables — seen here adorned with a custom tablecloth to draw the high-contrast tones in the photographs.
Don’t be afraid to mix modern designs like fresh geometric patterns and lucite chairs alongside the more traditional.
Donleavy, who never sets the same table twice, and loves to mix things up by pairing new finds with antiques, says: “People decorate more casually today,” favoring an eclectic, mix-and-match attitude that is more personal.
Keep it calm and serene with elegant white-on-white place settings along with Burke’s vintage etched stemware, a combination of sterling silver flatware and glistening mercury glass votives. Linen napkins are another must-have at her table.
Leaving an Impression
Each place setting contains an individual vase filled with ranunculus and a thoughtful snowflake-themed gift card. “It’s the small finishing details that help set the mood or make guests feel special,” Donleavy says. Christmas crackers or a simple holiday ornament would do the trick also.
Table Talk with Suzette Donleavy
Mix it Up
“I’m a collector of dishware, so I have antique serving pieces [and other vintage finds] that don’t necessarily match that I love to mix in.” Anthropologie is another source of inspiration. “They have great plates, linens and vintage-look glassware that are a little out of the box.”
Plan Ahead
“I set my table about a week in advance so I can get it right. Then I get to enjoy it for a time and don’t feel rushed when guests arrive.”
Nature’s Bounty
“I always go outside and clip something” to accent the table, whether it’s holly, magnolia leaves or swags of evergreen. Incorporating seasonal fruits or produce is another way to bring in color and texture.
Rustic & Refined
Design: La Jolie Maison & Cording Landscape Design Occasion: Holiday Barn Party Location: Tewksbury Township
Party Plan
Situated off of one of the few remaining dirt roads in Tewksbury, this 1850s-era barn — restored by owners Marie and Tim Newell and now used primarily for social gatherings — proved to be the perfect venue for a festive holiday gathering for friends.
Designer Laurie Finn, now passed and former owner of La Jolie Maison in Morristown, collaborated with members of her then team, Mary Divino and Christine Imperato, along with landscape designer Dan Chomuk of Cording Landscape Design in Towaco to create a rustic but refined setting that honors the two-story barn’s faithfully restored features: pine floorboards and beams, cow milking stanchions, horse stalls and hay loft.
Festive decorations can be sourced from almost anywhere — from local farms, to stores such as HomeGoods and Pottery Barn. Inexpensive and versatile, burlap is the perfect neutral base for plaid accents in this barn-like venue, but it also comes in handy for a variety of design schemes.
Setting the Scene
Dishware featuring sprigs of berries and pine needles boosted the theme along with birch-like candles, a scattering of reindeer bells, and wise owls and fluffy birds that peak out from tall trees whose trunks are lined with burlap. “We tried to bring in as many natural materials as possible,” Finn said. Table accents include moss-covered goblets and deer made of bark.
The fragrance from fresh evergreens also permeated the air. “Dan Chomuk did a wonderful job helping us stage the barn with trees and garland,” she added. He also made the twig chandelier, which he suspended from the rafters to accentuate the dining table. “Don’t be afraid of your own creativity or bringing in the unexpected,” said the designer. She also suggested setting the table about two weeks in advance “to see where the holes are” and what you may still need.
Leaving an Impression
For long-lasting table arrangements, combine fresh garland with artificial. “The quality of the artificial is so important,” Finn said. “You could literally go up to these greens and not know what was real and what was fake.” The glow from twinkling white lights, softly lit lanterns and candles — all battery-operated — added to the magic of the season, as did floodlights that were used to backlight the trees.
Table Talk with Laurie Finn
Think Outside the Box
“People don’t always think of professional landscapers as a source for party planning. They are so talented.”
Rent vs. Own
“Rental chairs can get expensive,” especially if you entertain frequently or have large gatherings, Finn said. She invested in her own collection of bamboo folding chairs from Target. As her entertaining grew, so did her collection of chairs, which went from a collection of 10 to a total of 48.
High & Low
“Vary the height of the tabletop accents” for visual interest.
Let it Glow
Design: James Yarosh Occasion: New Year’s Eve Dinner Location: Jersey Shore Townhouse
Party Plan
When hosting his annual New Year’s Eve dinner for friends, interior designer and art dealer James Yarosh incorporates the design and colors of his home into the table setting. “By doing so, the excitement created becomes part of everything in the room and extends to everyone as well,” says Yarosh, owner of James Yarosh Associates Fine Art & Design Gallery in Holmdel.
Still, every year he tailors the design to where his aesthetic interests lie, what he may derive from fashion, or from a beautiful fabric. “I treat myself to having a new tablecloth made” or to an oversized silk scarf to be used as a table topper or draped around the base of the tree, he says.
Setting the Scene
To welcome 2014, Yarosh chose silk velvet fabric for the tablecloth. Its rich egg-yolk hue pairs well with the gold-leaf frames around his collection of paintings and the “complicated palettes of the many artists [represented] in the room,” he says. The occasion also called for his most formal crystal and china, the latter being Rosenthal’s Magic Flute, which is based on Mozart’s opera of that title. “Each piece represents a different scene, and the verse is written in German on the back in gold,” he says.
“I never needed much arm-twisting when it came to collecting,” says Yarosh, who owns about five sets of china and stemware appropriate for everything from everyday to formal use. “There is no easier way to make even a casual dinner at the kitchen table special than to quickly set the table with beautiful pieces,” he says.
Leaving an Impression
To take the edge off the formal settings and reinforce the textured monochromatic color story, Yarosh suspended shiny glass and vintage satin ornaments from the Murano glass chandelier above the table. “It feels magical on New Year’s Eve to have little ornaments dancing within your peripheral vision,” he says.
Ornaments spill over to the nearby tabletop tree. “I started out with big, lively trees and then smaller balled trees that could be planted outdoors,” Yarosh recalls. Over the years, his choice distilled almost unknowingly down to one vintage silver tree that has since become his tradition. “The tree is a portrait of what Christmas looks like — all glittery and unreserved,” with each ornament evoking a memory, he says. There is a quantity of orange cat ornaments to “rival any crazy cat lady,” an old Grease ornament that plays “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” fancy tokens from holiday shopping days and favorite ornaments from childhood. Topping the tree is a Farrah Fawcett figurine. “The most beautiful angel ever,” Yarosh says.
Table Talk with James Yarosh
Use of Place Cards
“As a host, I kind of like picking who sits next to me, but I also think the idea of guests switching places is fun. I’m always happy for silly party subplots.”
Paper vs. Cloth
“I’ve debated the use of paper vs. cloth napkins over the years, but I prefer paper napkins as a guest because they are more functional. Big cloth napkins can be dangerous on tightly packed, crystal-laden tables. I also find that paper napkins are more versatile to slip into a table design with less attention. I did start monogramming napkins and set the table half with my initials and half with my partner’s.”
Fragrant Blooms
“One of the nicest things about setting a table is the excuse to plan flowers. My own tastes for flower arranging have developed into full color compositions, removing all the leaves and using smaller flowers as filler to the larger ones. I also like flowers to have a rich fragrance.”
The full article can be found in our December 2014 / January 2015 issue.