This blog post is called “multitasking,” Gentle Readers. Except that I don’t believe in multitasking. So let’s call it “killing two birds with one stone.” Except that I like birds. Sigh. You get the picture.
I don’t know why I thought I’d be able to squeeze in a photo shoot amongst all the client deadlines* we have right now, but I did. The photo shoot is of my very own dining room, among other spaces. It’s next week.
According to my 2023 blog post about the subject, it’s the one-year anniversary of our dining room’s transformation. A Milo Baughman burlwood Parsons table from the ’70s and Queen Fruit wallpaper by Schumacher work magic. I LOVE it.
When it comes to styling dining tables — particular rectangular ones, the focus of this post — we have 2 challenges. First, styling the table for real life (we use our dining table for every meal, every day); and second, styling it for a photo shoot. Which, if I haven’t mentioned it before, is NOT real life. Not even close.
To the everyday styling question: whatever you do must accommodate people actually eating at the table. This means that confining objects to the center and leaving the ends open works well. You simply haul out the placemats (we keep ours in a chainsaw-carved wooden bowl under the sideboard; a basket also would work), slide the objects down a bit, and have dinner.
As for what to put in the center, a single large object is pretty and easy (think vase, plant, or bowl — it must be big) or a grouped collection of like objects works well. The mass of the collection forms its own central item, if that makes sense. (If the objects are small or skinny, such as candlesticks, consider putting them on a tray. You know how I feel about trays.)
The effervescent, approachable, always wise Emily Henderson understands the “corraling on tray” concept.
As for photoshoots, this is how we styled the table last time:
I like spare styling in general, but it works best when there’s a lot of other stuff going on in the room — a dramatic light fixture, non-white trim color, or wallpaper, for example. (It doesn’t hurt if the table itself is pretty.)
To wit, Katie Ridder’s work, which I love. This is a rather minimalist tablescape:
The reflections in the table provide visual interest and render the need for additional objects unnecessary. The picture might have looked cluttered with more stuff anyway.
Of course, there’s usually a lot going on in Corey Damen Jenkins’ rooms, and he gets away with a fully set table :) . He’s amazing — a favorite. Notice that there’s very little color on the table. White dishes, clear glass…the image is full but not too busy.
Even though the surface of our burlwood table is pretty AND we have interesting wallpaper in the room, I think we need more than a single object in the center.
Actually setting the table may be too formal for this room. Right?
Marching identical items down the center of a rectangular dining table can look good. I think that trick really worked for these projects:
The collection of objects below looks fantastic, but Jamie Drake is kind of a legend, and I don’t know that I could pull it off. This is classic “styling for photography,” as the red objects on the table fill in holes that would have been created by this camera angle. I don’t know that you’d even see the round gray objects (vases? Sculptures? Stones?) unless those red items were setting them off.
Here are some more pictures for me to think about:
The dining room table as library concept:
I like how Katie Ridder grouped the dishes below. Like Jamie and Corey — don’t you love how I’m on a first-name basis ;) — she’s kind of a genius, too:
Which look will win out? Right now, it’s anyone’s guess. Wish me luck ;)
Annie Elliott Design, where classic and modern hang out and drink gin, is based in Washington, D.C.
*And a talk at Design ADAC, which is like a mini High Point Market at the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center. I spoke about social media, of all things…blogs being, of course, one of the OG forms of social media ;)
