Using tablecloths to create festive settings

Christmas is fast approaching and hotel and bed and breakfast owners may be considering ways of injecting their property with a spot of festive spirit.

However, ensuring premises reflect the feel of the season does not have to involve investing in all new restaurant supplies, as simply purchasing some new, themed tablecloths could be all that is required to create a festive dining room.

Lisa McTernan, who owns Lifestyles & Interiors by Lisa in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, told LoHud.com that there are a number of simple ways to create a different table setting for each occasion, using the same core elements of plates, cutlery and glasses.

For Christmas meals, she advised laying out a fluffy red tablecloth and dotting the table with pine cones, pears and apples to create a simple but elegant display.

Meanwhile, on New Year's Eve the designer suggests a sophisticated scheme of white candles, silver candlesticks and a centrepiece of white, green and frosted blooms, which could help to create a classy atmosphere for guests welcoming in 2011 at a hotel.

Elsewhere, Mary Carol Garrity, founder of home furnishings store Nell Hill's, recently told the Evansville Courier Press that large vases filled with evergreen leaves and branches can make an eye-catching alternative to a Christmas tree.