If you can’t buy elegance, try renting it instead

For anyone looking to set a special holiday table without spending hundreds on high-end tablecloths and napkins, another option has arrived: La Tavola, a Napa-based linen rental company, is scheduled to open a showroom Wednesday in Beverly Hills across the street from the Peninsula Hotel. Though the showroom’s core business will be weddings and other large events, dinner party hosts can place small orders. The 116-inch-long tablecloth in the Ottoman Spice pattern shown here rents for $35, less than half the suggested retail of, say, a Calvin Klein jacquard. Napkins run 50 cents to $3 each, depending on the style. For a preview of the inventory, check out latavolalinen.com. 9859 Santa Monica Blvd., (310) 286-1333.

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This shade won’t burst your bubble

Need another quick fix? How about a new shade for an old lamp. One of the latest to land on the market is Modernica’s riff on the bubble lamps George Nelson designed 50 years ago. The shades come in three sizes: 11 1/2 inches tall ($225), 12 3/4 inches tall ($245) and 16 inches tall ($265). The design also can be turned into a hanging lamp with a $75 conversion kit. 7366 Beverly Blvd., L.A.; (323) 933-0383; www.modernica.net.