Tablecloth Style

Tablecloths aren’t just for granny’s dining room anymore - kitchens, decks and patios are sporting new styles and colors of tablecloths and doing so with panache. Now that you know the tablecloth basics, you can get down to basics and focus on style, color and material.

Most tablecloths are fabric, vinyl or lace. Typically fabrics stayed in the kitchen, lace and linen in the dining room and vinyl for the great outdoors. But with a plethora of new, softer vinyls and more stylish patterns, the vinyls can slip indoors and lace can slip right outside for a fancy garden party.

Mix up the rules to your liking for the best match for your room and lifestyle. An attractive vinyl can go in to the kitchen just fine for kid messes and they don’t look as plastic as they used to, so no one will be the wiser.

Printed fabrics can slip right in to the dining room for every day dining and a bold, bright floral may be just what this room needed for more frequent use.

Lace is the look for more formal occasions and it doesn’t need to be old fashioned. Pick a hot, solid color to go under the lace for a more modern elegance. Choose print or solid napkins to pull the look together with style.

For an instant room makeover, tablecloths can change the look of a room an instant. It seems so basic to change a tablecloth, but when the winter season is over, try a lighter covering material and color, and you’ll be shocked by the change in your room. A quick change of accessories can complete the look for a real budget makeover without lifting a paintbrush.

For an extra elegant look, use a fabric tablecloth under a lace, use a runner down the center of the table – for the holidays a velvet is stunning – to hold candlesticks and a centerpiece.

Don’t wait for formal dining to use the tablecloth in the dining room, make it an everyday occasion, if you’re worried about stains, use a more heavily patterned covering.

Any tablecloth you find in a fabric you like, feel free to snap it up for another use – recover dining room chair seat cushions or use for window treatments.

Don’t hesitate to take tablecloths out of the dining room and into the living room, or even the bedroom, any table can be turned into an elegant furnishing with a tablecloth, including end tables and nightstands.