Thanksgiving hasn’t been a big holiday in the past for me.  We always do family dinners with Scott’s side and usually cook dinner for my family.   I actually love making a big turkey with all the trimmings for everyone.  Although, this year we did potluck style and it was way better for having time to visit and relax since I only had to worry about making the turkey and not everything else that goes with it.  Of course I usually do a small amount of decorating for the dinner table but that usually means a table cloth and some flowers.  But this year was different.  First off I found all these amazing little ghost white pumpkins and from there I got so carried away I put them all over the house and actually put together TWO thanksgiving tables.  I just couldn’t decide which one I liked better.

Thanksgiving has come and gone for us in Canada but if you’re in the US and still looking for inspiration I hope you get an idea or two.  Or pin and start planning for your table next year.  Or use some of these ideas for Christmas.  YIKES!!!  It’s actually only 2 months until Christmas today.

The first “look” I did was the one I originally had planned on doing.  A nice, simple, neutral table with grey, gold, white and green.  Thanks to Whole Foods (which has an amazing flower department if you don’t have a budget for a florist) I bought some beautiful white hydrangeas and kale to make a simple arrangement.  I love fluffy white hydrangeas; they go with everything.  Whole Foods is also where I found all these gorgeous mini white pumpkins and the slightly larger ones were found at a local grocery store (which ironically I didn’t expect to find them at all).  I loved the idea of just piling a whole bunch of them together and creating a really abundant look.  You could even skip the flowers and just do a pile of white pumpkins.  This year I fell in love with the white ghost pumpkins so much that I also used them as a little detail on each plate.The grey linen table cloth, gold rosette place mats (that I ADORE) and even the simple pinecone napkins were all from Simons Maison (which has a gorgeous store at Park Royal).  I’ve really loved Simons since it opened and find that it’s my go to when I want something stylish for a decent budget.  Their HOME department is very very dangerous for me.  I always find things I want to add to our house there.

I hadn’t planned on the second look AT ALL.  But when I went to Simons to get a “few” things I absolutely fell in love with these pretty pastel linens from Samantha Pynn at Simons Maison.  I’m not usually drawn to soft and pretty decor.  I’m waaaaay more of a modern aesthetic but something about these grabbed me.  I immediately saw them sitting pretty on top of crisp white plates.  Of course I quickly realized that they were way too big to be napkins and were in fact tea towels but who cares.  They were going to be napkins today.  I also fell in love with these wood and glass candle lanterns while I was at Simons.  These are way more my style and thought they were a nice addition to the light beige in the napkins/tea towels.  I kept the same placemats and tablecloth.  And still liked the mini ghost pumpkins on each plate.  But this was all about the wood, the candles and the pumpkins with the pastel/watercolour blue pops from the napkins.  And even though I have a softer colour palette, I think this look is actually more modern than the first more neutral one.  I think the flower arrangement gives the first look a more traditional vibe.  Of course you could mix and match pieces from both and create a whole other look.

So what do you think?  Do you have a clear favourite look?  Or a favourite element?

Oh, and if you’re wondering, the plates, silverware and glassware are all my own everyday dinner ware.  I am a huge fan of simple white dinner plates because all the food looks amazing on it and when you decorate they go with everything.  The plates are discontinued I think and were a wedding gift.  They’re Mikasa and think these are the closest style they have.  The silverware was also a wedding gift.  And the glassware is I think from EQ3 but I don’t see them on their site.  But I found those after I fell in love with the ones from Crate and Barrel.