You’re ready.
You’ve planned out every detail of your holiday meal, prepared all that can be made ahead, and queued up Gran’s recipes for everything else. You packed the fridge with brews, beverages, and the cheese plate. You’ve carefully taken the fine china out of the display cabinet for table-setting, and oh, no—you forgot to count how many chairs you have, didn’t ask anyone to bring extras, and yep, you knew it, you’re short two dining room chairs. As it turns out, your dining room table needs room for two more seats, too.
Unfortunately, Gran didn’t leave a recipe for how to make a table bigger or how to make a lawn chair look like and feel like an armchair.
However your holidays look this year, and whichever number of guests you get to entertain, you don’t want to find yourself in a pickle on the day of the holiday celebration! Not having enough pumpkin pie for everyone to have seconds is forgivable (and almost forgettable!) but squeezing too many family members around a too-small table, or finding yourself without enough chairs for each guest is uncomfortable and entirely avoidable.
This year, don’t get caught off guard when your slimmed-down guest list or socially distanced holiday rolls around! Run through this checklist before you consider yourself done with holiday planning, and ensure your dining room is ready for guests before they show up.
1. Do You Have Enough Chairs for the Dining Room Table?
Count your number of expected guests, then count the number of seats at your table.
Did you count yourself? If not, add one body to that count, then recount. Did you count everyone in your household? If not, you know what to do.
If you don’t have enough chairs for everyone you’ve invited (including you), then you’ll need to ask your guests to bring a chair, or you’ll need to obtain some more armchairs or side chairs.
Dining room benches are a fun alternative to chairs, and if you don’t entertain too often, you can easily tuck it away beneath the table when you’re not hosting holiday feasts. Dining room benches with flip-top storage give you even more bang for your buck and can fit your holiday table runners, tablecloths, napkins, and even fancy silverware if it’s packed up tidily.
2. Does Your Dining Room Table Fit the Number of Expected Guests?
It seems easy enough to drag the bistro table off the porch and the counter-height kitchen table into the dining room to toss a tablecloth over, but guess what: It’s easy to drag, but not so easy to eat off a split-level, makeshift dining room table.
If your dining room table fits five adults comfortably, and you’re expecting seven or more, elbow room will be hard to come by at your holiday table this year. If your dining room table does not have a leaf to extend the usable surface area, it’s a good time to consider a new dining room table. End-of-year furniture sales probably have exactly what you’re looking for.
If the real estate on your table is scant, but you have enough place settings, think about adding a sideboard, buffet, or server to your dining room. A sideboard (or buffet, or server – depends on what your family goes with!) is a big, beautiful piece of dining room furniture intended to blend in with the room, hold your serving dishes on top, and store your tableware and cookware within.
Once you’ve freed up space on your table and added the subtle statement piece of a sideboard, you might find you don’t need a new dining room table after all.
3. Do Your Table Runner and Tablecloth Fit Your Table?
Maybe your tablecloth works when it’s just you and the normal gang at home. But what about when you pop in the table’s extension leaf as you get ready for guests? If your tablecloth is going to come up short, you want to know this before the hosting extravaganza.
Make sure you test out your table runner and tablecloth before the day of. If you’re purchasing a new dining room table to celebrate holidays this year, you very well may need a new tablecloth and runner.
Note: A runner on your sideboard is an often-overlooked yet pro move.
4. What About the Centerpiece?
If centerpieces are your calling (or if you have a relative who loves to supply the visual holiday cheer), make sure you try out your place settings with room for the centerpiece!
Can’t fit the casserole dish, turkey platter, crystal goblets, and place settings when you have a centerpiece on the table? You need to figure out where else you can place the centerpiece, then. If you have a server, sideboard, or buffet, that’s the perfect spot for cooked dishes and stunning holiday visuals alike.
5. Final Details
As you’re taking your dining room table for a holiday test run, count everything you plan to use that day, and if necessary, wash them before the morning of the celebration.
If you use placemats, they might not be machine washable, but you can wipe them down with warm water and soap. If you’re busting out your fanciest cloth napkins, wash them so your guests don't smell the antique cedar chest they’ve been stored in.
If you’re using fine china or crystal goblets, use as many matching items as you can, and if you need to fill any gaps with your existing tableware, kindly give your clumsiest (and so loved!) guest the less-good stuff.
The key to a holiday without hitches is to make sure there are none! If you need new dining room furniture, like tables, chairs, or a sideboard, browse our online catalog, and if you have questions, give us a call! Shop our reliable, classy designs to find furniture you’ll love all year round, for years to come.