SHOP TALK : Tabletop Linen Gets a Whole New Look : From lacy classics to festive holiday prints, tablecloths now come in styles to match every occasion.
Setting the table for holiday celebrations usually means placing your best China on your best table.
Or perhaps on great-grandmother’s Irish linens. If you haven’t inherited any fine linens, then it’s time to go out and hunt down your own heirlooms. We’ve seen a few you might like to acquire and eventually pass down to your children, along with the cash you save.
The last time we looked in the stores the tables were covered with polyester peach and mint green “wrinkle free” cloths perfect for bridal showers and bar mitzvahs. Well, the tables are still there and covered in fall shades of cranberry, navy, creme, blue, yellow or white. And Strouds has a huge selection. A polyester cloth for a 52-inch square table costs $12.99.
Another brand at Strouds called “Difference” is less expensive and contains 35% cotton. The colors range from a stylish and formal black to “hunter green,” Santa Claus red, pink, creme and white. This time $9.99 covers a 52-inch square and that’s marked down from $22.
Still at Strouds, we saw a brand called “Holiday Home Statements.” They have a tablecloth called “Cornucopia Thanksgiving” with matching napkins in a very festive print of, you guessed it, fruits, gourds, garlands and leaves. At $12.99 to $24.99 these cloths are an inexpensive and effective way to decorate.
Marshalls has a good selection of holiday-theme cloths in Thanksgiving and Christmas patterns. The prettiest were red and green woven plaids in 100% cotton.
If a dining room that resembles a holiday theme park isn’t your idea of elegance, pure and simple white Battenberg and cutwork lace cloths are to be found at Marshall’s and Strouds. These beautiful cloths would dress up any table. At Strouds they were marked down as much as two-thirds off their original price. One gorgeous 68-inch-by-104-inch Battenberg cloth was marked down to $29.99 from its original $100 price tag. That includes 12 napkins. (Beware, you will have to iron these.)
For the design rebels out there, Pier One has imported woven bedspreads that make great-looking tablecloths. We grabbed a black-and-white plaid that looks casually elegant with our white, scalloped dishes. There are solid 100% cotton spreads too, which are perfect for an oblong or a rectangle table.
A “full” (90-inch-by-108-inch) is $39.99. They are more expensive than the solid polyester cloths but they look great and won’t need ironing.
For something even more daring, Pier One has quilts that look warm and really beautiful as table covering.
Beautiful linens can also be hunted down in thrift and resale shops. Maybe you’ll come across one you’re positive belonged to your great-aunt Gertrude. Be careful with the bleach if you think it’s really old.
Hopefully you’ll find something to suit your taste, enhance your decor and thrill your guests. But don’t get carried away; save a bit of money for January when the department stores will be having their white sales!
Julie Sawyer, an experienced shopper, writes the Shop Talk column regularly in Ventura Life. Want to know where to find the best stuff at the best price? Write to her at 5200 Valentine Road, Suite 140, Ventura 93003, or send faxes to 658-5576.