Table toppers Table toppers (October 17, 2003)

Make the occasion special with flowers and fruit

By Lia Steakley

The days are growing shorter, the temperature is dropping and soon the holidays will arrive, bringing everything from trick-or-treaters to sparklers and glasses of champagne to your doorstep.

Whether they're decking the tables with ghoulish jack-o-lanterns or decking the halls with boughs of holly, local designers make the occasion special with unique accents, fresh flowers and fruit.

Interior and floral designers from around the area will display elaborate seasonal tabletops and decorating schemes on Oct. 20 at the Menlo Circus Club during the Foothill Auxiliary's fall charity benefit, Holidays on a High Note.

Many of the experts' creations and techniques can be easily incorporated to construct memorable home celebrations. Halloween usually conjures up ideas of goblins, bats and witches, but Oct. 31 doesn't have to mean the palette is limited to orange and black.

"We wanted to do something of the moment, but more unique than pumpkins and spiders," said Rise Krag of Menlo Park design firm Rise Krag, Inc.

After researching historical Halloween traditions, Krag drew inspiration from Europe and the seance ceremonies held at the turn of the century.

"We elected to create a table that pays homage to the historic origins of Halloween when the veil was lifted between the living and those on the other side," said Charlene Margot, a design associate at RKI.

Titled "The Spirits of All Hallows Eve," Krag dressed a round table in a cream-colored tablecloth, layered a decorative black shawl over it and used tarot cards to line the edges of the table. A small silver serving plate shines from under an array of vintage after-dinner cordial glassware in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. Candles burn in a French gilded candelabra and enhance the light of the crystal ball, which is lit with fiber optics. A wilting red rose and flower petals paired with colorful blown-glass goblets keep the atmosphere vibrant.

For the holiday season, shawls are an effective and inexpensive way to dress up furniture or set a certain mood, as Krag did with a rich black wrap covered with a raised floral pattern and decorated with beads and tassels.

Rummage through the closet or children's room to find personal items to make the setting unique. Krag added French theater dolls, from her personal collection, and a faux raven on the top of the table.

After you've frightened them on Halloween, you can comfort them at Thanksgiving by constructing a cozy and inviting atmosphere using warm autumn tones throughout the house, said Ann Huneke, owner of Home and Garden in Menlo Park.

Red hues including cherry, persimmon and cranberry are the new design neutrals spicing up almost any color scheme. In addition, soft candy colors such as mango, kiwi, strawberry, seashell pink and chocolate brown have replaced bold citrus hues.

Home and Garden's event tabletop will incorporate pumpkins, a large gold, round table cloth, striped placemats and oversized gold napkins bound by turkey-accented napkin holders.

"Using details such as the turkey napkin rings makes it fun and more of a family affair," says Huneke.

To give the table a touch of elegance, Huneke added towering wine glasses measuring 14 inches to 16 inches in height and placed flowers in a giant wooden urn from the 1800s. Place cards in a variety of fall tones with the names written in calligraphy give the table a more formal look.

Huneke recommends using a mixture of preserved and dried flowers as the centerpiece as a substitute for fresh flowers and mixing in fruits and vegetables, either real or faux.

For the Holidays on a High Note tabletop, Huneke will use clay pumpkins in a deep, rust-orange color with a brushed-matte finish with ceramic white stems and leaves sprayed with a copper mist. Featuring detachable tops, the pumpkins can be filled with everything from foliage to candles. Continuing with the harvest theme, she will brighten up the setting with cream-colored pumpkins with orange speckles.

To bring the outdoors in and keep the children busy, use large dried maple leaves or small rocks found on nature walks to decorate tables. Fallen leaves can be placed around the table or under the corners of plates and glasses, while small rocks can be used as paper weights to hold down place cards or arranged in a fanciful pattern around dishes or glassware.

As the pumpkin patches are transformed into Christmas tree lots, it will be time to transform your home too.

Once again avoid the conventional two-tone scheme of Christmas and use family antiques, creatively folded napkins and special ornaments to add something special, said Angela Pryor and Carol Shaw, owners of The Parlor in Palo Alto.

"Most people choose a very traditional theme for Christmas using lots of red and green. A vintage look with white, silver and gold is a little more unique and makes it a little more sophisticated, giving it a European influence," Pryor said.

Adding glamour to the holiday gathering, Pryor and Shaw combined vintage jeweled napkin holders and pots, Faberge eggs and delicately designed rice paper napkins to create their "Bedazzled and Bejeweled" tabletop.

Pryor and Shaw chose to use a plain colored tablecloth and napkins to avoid conflicting with ornate accents.

For the Holidays on a High Note event, The Parlor designers combine white dishes in geometric shapes featuring stenciled patterns as borders. The square dishes will be decorated with a pattern of interlocking circles, while the octagon plates feature simple leaf pattern. The glassware is decorated with a metallic print around the rim that matches the aged-gold hue of the napkin holders. The napkin holders continue the bejeweled theme by featuring a large dragonfly with crystals lining its tail, thorax and wings.

For the centerpiece, Shaw will use bejeweled trees in decorative pots. To create a softer look, she suggests adding flowers and putting them in a variety of containers.

"I tend to use containers you wouldn't normally consider using. Even taking small colored glasses and filling them with flowers and then grouping them together can create a beautiful look. In my opinion anything that will hold water can be used," said Shaw.

Whether it's a mixed match set of small colored water glasses or a floral printed pitcher passed down through the family, easily insert a bundle of fresh roses or your flower of choice and voila.

Creatively folding napkins is a low-cost method to spruce up the table. Rice paper napkins, available in a variety of designs and colors, can be wrapped around the bottom of cloth napkins before attaching the napkin holder.

Another effective use of rice-paper napkins is to drop them into empty wine glasses on the table allowing the sides to fan out.

"Styling it in a glass gives it a more organized look but you still have a strong napkin because it's rice paper," Shaw said.

Cloth napkins can also be easily folded in half diagonally and rolled before placing them in champagne or tall glass to create a cloth candle arrangement.

From formal sit-down dinners to simple family gatherings, local designers say the important thing this season is creating an experience that everyone will remember.

Info

What: Holidays on a High Note

When: Monday, Oct. 20, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., lecture presentation "Blooming Holidays" at 10:30 a.m. and luncheon at 12:30 p.m.

Where: Menlo Circus Club, 190 Park Lane, Atherton

Tickets: $75 per person for lunch and lecture; call Ellen Moore (650) 851-3994 to purchase; benefits Foothill Auxiliary to the Family Service Agency of San Mateo County.