Last week TT product designer Astrid invited some of the team to a festive dinner around a bright and beautiful tablescape. Using a mix of collections, including some favourites from our new Christmas ranges, the end result looked beautiful. Astrid said: "One of my favourite parts of the festive season is hosting, or being hosted, for a Christmas meal with close friends. Everyone is in good spirits and it’s the perfect time to get together before we go home for family celebrations."

Here's a look at how Astrid put it together. Give these tips ago for your own Christmas table:

Start with a key colour scheme that is the basis of the table, and work other, complementary colours around this using other items. For this table Astrid chose the dark purple tones of the Midnight Forest range as the base theme: "For me, more is more when it comes to colour and print. The sophisticated design and colour palette of our Midnight Forest napkin was the perfect starting point. I built on the dark, moody colour palette by adding pastel colours and touches of gold. I layered the table with quirky shaped candles, disco ball lights and seasonal flowers in colourful bud vases."

 

Astrid: "I was keen to try something a bit different and make my own fabric crackers. Our Everyone’s Welcome embroidered organic cotton fabric napkins were perfect for this. I think it’s a particularly nice idea for a dinner with friends as you can personalise the contents and gifts. 

I love personal touches, so I baked traditional Swedish pepparkakor (ginger biscuits) and iced my guests’ names on. They functioned both as a place card and a tree decoration favour (although they were demolished within a few minutes!)."

Lighting your tablescape is one of the most important parts that brings the whole look together, and at Christmas time you want it be as twinkly and atmospheric as possible. We love a festive tablescape to include different types of lighting and not look too uniform and formal. Try incorporating different candles of varying colours and heights. Astrid used a mix of candle holders from different collections as well as our new mushroom candles scattered down the table. She also included our sold out disco ball string lights (don't worry you can still find them in our independent stores like Oliver Bonas or Vinegar Hill). The result is a bright medley of warm light illuminating the flowers and crackers.