Create a Dazzling Table Setting for Chinese New Year
Are you ready to dazzle your family and friends this Chinese New Year? Transform your dinner table with our expert tips on crafting an eye-catching table setting. The Lunar New Year is an occasion that naturally lends itself to theatre, with its dramatic traditional colour palette of red and gold - symbols of good fortune and happiness. By day or in the warm glow of candle-light by night, it's a celebration to treasure.
Read on for our best ideas so you can experiment, mix and match, and create a fabulous table setting with confidence.
Set the Stage with a Tablecloth: The first step for staging a table is to dress it with a tablecloth. Reds and yellows are obvious choices, but don't feel that you have to stick with them. Most colours, other than black or white, have auspicious connotations. Green or even blue are fantastic background colours, and provide a great contrast for red accessories.
We have vibrant block printed tablecloths in many colours, including reds and yellows, as well as some in plain linen and coloured woven cotton for you to choose from. View our Table Linen here.
Napkins are a must: Complement your tablecloth with matching napkins for a cohesive look, or go the other way and create a deliberate contrast or clash of colours. Its an easy way to add some red - or orange or pink - and you can position them on top of your dinner plates, especially if your dinner plates are boring. Napkin rings complete the look, but brightly coloured grosgrain or velvet ribbon is an easy and inexpensive alternative. Black is to be avoided at Chinese New Year, but red napkins look stunning with our Faux Shagreen Napkin Rings in Caviar Black (or use Nile Blue if black is a step too far).
Featured products: Tablecloth: Festive Red, a 'go to' for any celebration. Tablecloth: Rainforest Yellow. Napkins: Festive Red, a floral red block print with a white background, tied with a turquoise ribbon; Plain red cotton with a hemstitch edge, in a Faux Shagreen Napkin Ring in Caviar Black; Hand-Embroidered Linen Napkin. Tablecloth: 'Pomegranate', a very auspicious fruit, symbolising fertility, prosperity and familiar harmony.
Place Mats aren't strictly necessary with a tablecloth, and if your table is on the small side, you can give them a miss. But they add another layer to your table decor and help to anchor a place setting. Without a tablecloth, they are essential to protect the surface of your table and are a good way to add texture and colour. Choose from our rectangular bamboo placemats in several shades of red, orange and fuschia. Heavier rattan mats or a table runner are good for dishes in the middle of the table. View placemats here.
Flowers: For a more pared down traditional look, opt for peach blossom or pussy willow (which lasts for ages and can be dried), but if you are a fan of extravagant big bouquets, look for peonies, chrysanthemums, lilies, or even small pots of mandarins, kumquats or small oranges. As well as signalling good fortune and prosperity, they bring a dramatic splash of colour. A bowl of oranges on the table or the side is an alternative touch - we have put ours in our pineapple serving dish from Sthal, which is the closest we get to gold in our dinnerware.
Featured products: Bamboo Table Mats in various reds, orange, and natural; a selection of artificial peonies and red Flowers; Oranges in a serving bowl in pineapple: small paper and fabric lanterns; Vintage Red Lacquer Box, Vintage Red Lacquer Bowl
Large floral displays look wonderful and if you have a long table, a pair of matching vases would look amazing. We have a pair depicting Pomegranates (see image below), which signify fertility, abundance and renewal. Large displays have one disadvantage: unless they are extremely tall, they block the view across the table. However, they can be positioned at both ends, or moved when everyone is sitting down and the food - which anyway will be the main attraction from that point on - is ready to go on the table. Large blooms also look fabulous in small vases or containers, and can stay on the table throughout the meal.
It goes without saying that this an occasion for your finest dinner and serving dishes, and we wouldn't dream of suggesting a new set is you get a new set of plates just for one evening. However, a stylish serving dish is always a good investment, (we have many to choose from) and if you want to add some Chinese themed accents, Faux’s artist-designed Hong Kong Willow and Hong Kong Toile series in red & white (or blue & white or green & white) are great additions to the table. If you are serving tea, we particularly like their tea pot and tea cups.
Make Salt, Pepper and Sauce bowls part of your decorative scheme. Small dip bowls in a wide choice of colours are beautiful containers for salt, pepper, chili flakes or soy sauce. The distinctive shape of the Twister Salt and Pepper grinders (which can be used for either, both an ‘S’ and a ‘P’ knob is included) has a Chinese feel to it.
Extend your Chinese New Year theme to your drinks tray. We have a faux shagreen (a guilt-free alternative to real stingray skin) ice bucket, ice tongs, a cocktail shaker and a tray in a beautiful coral red, with polished brass fittings.
Featured products: A stunning vintage vase in Pomegranate (available as a pair) from a selection from Old Hong Kong Lights; Vintage Brass Lassi Cup; Gold Sabra Scented Candle; Small Dip Bowls with Appetizer Plate in Pineapple from Sthal with Horn Sauce Spoon; Ice Bucket and Cocktail Shaker in Coral; Side Plate in HK Toile from Faux; Horn Napkin Ring; Bamboo place mat fuchsia;
Candles: Some of the scented candles from Old Hong Kong Lights are in large, lidded containers, which would make spectacular centrepieces. You might not want to light the scented candles, since scent can interfere with the taste of the food, but candles are essential. We have some newly-arrived candlesticks in Cherry Red, and the Seed tealight holder in Gold is very on theme. View Candles here.
Decorative objects: Ceramic pagodas, lacquer boxes and bowls, bird cages, lanterns, bowls or baskets of auspicious fruits are all easily available in Hong Kong, and of course we have some suitable products in store at Inside. Sometimes, just one item is all you need to finish off your look.
Featured products: A hand-embroidered suzani table runner 'Niksaar'; Seed Tea Light Holder in Gold; Bobbin Candle Stick in Cherry; Pizza Plate (so-called, but a fabulous serving platter) in Pineapple.
Other tips:
Repetition is visually appealing, especially if your table is large.
Vary the height of the objects on your table to add interest.
Wind small fairy lights around your candles, decorative objects and flowers.
Put a few colourful flowers into a bamboo bird cage. Artificial flowers are very appropriate for this, since they don’t need watering.
The table will look completely different in the evening by candlelight, so test it beforehand if you can. Colours will look considerably less bright.
Leave space for the food and drinks!
We are always here to advise and help!