The Suspens(ion) is Mounting…!

I couldn’t go without sharing this year’s Christmas tablescape with you, could I?! It has after all, been a yearly tradition all in itself!!

I absolutely love a sense of occasion and Christmas provides me with the perfect excuse to make my home look and feel beautiful. The ‘Christmas Day table’ is something I enjoy creating as it provides the foundations for this occasion. With all of us gathered around it on the 25th December to enjoy our home-cooked family Christmas dinner, it really sets the scene and makes the event that bit more special. Granted, this is not for everyone as this does involve a lot of effort. But for me personally, I like the challenge of creating something that I am proud of.

This year I wanted to create a traditional banquet-style set up where we could place food in the centre of the table for everyone to help themselves. Keep it relaxed and social. That, however, has meant that my usual display of foliage and fairy lights along the middle of the table is not going to be possible.

To loose all foliage from the Christmas table was something I really didn’t want to happen so my thoughts turned to the possibilities of how I could still achieve my usual centrepiece but whilst keeping a relaxed dining experience.

So… I looked up! Why not lift my centrepiece above our heads? That way we could still experience the flickering candle lights, the sparkling glitter branches and all of the green foliage whilst still able to enjoy our traditional Christmas dinner with the food all around us.

That was it, I was hooked (quite literally!) and got straight to work on how I could actually pull this off..!

One of the most important aspects of this design was creating a centrepiece that looked as if it was floating in mid air. I didn’t want any visible wires on show or any bulking supports to hold it in place. It had to look like a piece of art within the room.

To do this, I sourced some really thick fishing line (the one I purchased can hold a weight of up to 55lbs!), deep thread ‘screw in eyes’, curtain hooks and a strong bamboo cane from the garden.

Before any hanging could begin I wanted to create my centrepiece so I could 1) ensure that I liked the look of it and 2) it would hold together and not be too heavy. I did this by placing two dining chairs on the table and celeotaped each end of my bamboo cane to either chair seat. I could then started to attach my faux foliage to the bamboo using the garden wire and see exactly how it would look when suspended. Click HERE to see my time-lapse video of us creating it!

Next, with Matt’s assistance, we tied two lengths of the thick fishing line using the Improved Clinch Knot technique (N.B. Matt only used 3 turns not 5 as per the linked video as the line we are using is so thick), to the bamboo cane approximately 15cm in from either end. At the other end of each fishing line length we attached an Ikea curtain hook. I had some of the RIKTIG hooks left over from the children’s art hanging display in the play room which did just the job! See blogpost on this room HERE. All the while, we ensured that the length of both lines were exactly the same so the centrepiece would hang level.

We then worked out where to position the screw in eye hooks into the ceiling. To do this we found the centre point of the table (which took a fair bit of faffing but we got there in the end!). With the screw in eye hooks nicely secure in the plasterboard ceiling we could then link on the curtain hooks which would in turn hang our table centrepiece. Ta da! The centrepiece is now floating above the table!

The next bit of fun was to hang some glass baubles and pretty tree decorations using the thinner, clear fishing line, crimp tubes and crimp pincers (crimps tube are great as they are easy to secure and takes away the fiddly knot tying!).

What I used to create my suspended centrepiece:

For the table itself, I opted for a simple yet elegant design, adopting a monochrome colour palette. A white table cloth, white plates and smokey wine glasses all contributed to a seamless look. The introduction of my music sheet wrapping paper for the table gifts has been a great addition to the scheme. I am using these as an alternative to crackers this year. They are handmade and all have a unique gift inside. I will be sharing a blog post on some of the table gift ideas so stay tuned for that!

A lot of the tableware comes from a brand very close to my heart, Layered Lounge. The pearl detail plates, the vintage green metal lanterns and the glass tea light holders are all from their online store. I absolutely love the glass tea light holders as they bounce light all around the table and have a small vessel within them to put natural foliage.

To recreate my table design:

What I love the most of about this table concept is its sense of theatre and magical feel, as it floats above your head and shimmers in the candle light.

Thanks for reading, I hope this inspires you with your own Christmas table design!

SJ x