The end of the year is filled with the time of gathering and celebration. If you are someone who hosts family get-togethers or parties with friends, you know how much work not only goes into the food but the decorations as well. One of the focal points of these festivities is the table– after all, every party needs food! As with any host, you want your table to be just as festive as the food and activities. One issue: you’re on a budget and there are multiple holidays within this one month time period. So here are some tips to have the ultimate tablescape this holiday season while keeping money in your wallet.

One item you’ll want to consider first is color. For this, choose a theme that can be used for the entire season, not just Christmas, Hanukkah or New Years alone so you can make multiple tablescapes from one. This is where having a winter-themed tablescape will come in handy. Choose cool or dull colors, such as matching a light sea foam blue, royal blue and silver together. Not only will they provide a rich gradient for guests to look at, but they are inviting and winter-esque as well.

If you prefer to have a more colorful, eclectic get-together, then pull in a variety of colors from the color wheel. Perhaps the mixture of a medium red, purple and gold will suit well with your needs. Just remember, to make it last this season, it shouldn’t be colors linked to only one holiday (ie. red and green = Christmas).

Once the color theme has been chosen, you can actually design the tablescape for your festivities! For this, you can go in several directions. Use one of the colors as the table runner and the other two for the accent pieces, or if you find a fabric that has multiple colors in it (possibly in a unique design), then focus on one color for the accent pieces. Remember, you want it to be a sleek, intriguing focal point, not something that is overrun with too many things (or colors) that confuse the eye.

To make the most of your money, I’d suggest saving the table runner for all events, and possibly changing the objects or just switching them around with the addition of something new. Or you can utilize the same objects (if they are one central color, like silver) and change the runner to provide a new color theme.

In order to make this focal point pop, you’ll want to make use of lines and variety. This often involves having accents of escalating heights to create discontinuity for the eye, or having several pieces that have a common factor. For example, you could have a candle placed within some extra garland from Christmas or wrapped in a bow with two small bowls of ornaments on its sides with garland underneath them. As for varying heights, you could have a large vase with some seasonal flowers with two candles on the sides, going down in size.

If your event involves a sit-down meal, then you’ll want to add some flair with your plates and silverware. If one of your accent pieces involves a geometric design, such as a cube, then celebrate with square plates to bring in the design. If you want to have fun with your plates, then mix and match colors or shapes. For this sit down event, you may want to dress up the chairs as well. A simple way to do this is tying a bow, or wrapping the entire chair, with extra ribbon you have.

These are just a few ways in which you can celebrate with a wonderful table focal point. Remember to keep it simple and utilize a central color theme with small changes in accents or table runners in order to truly celebrate with a budget.

Click on the photos below for a gallery to give you some inspiration for your next tablescape:

Photo source: HGTV