Candlelight, favorite love music, and flowers are all mood-setting basics of a romantic atmosphere. If you are preparing a romantic dinner for two – have a look at the interior designer’s ideas on how to set the dining table. Colors, shapes, materials, textures, and decorative details are design elements that form amorous table decor. 🙂
Dining table styling for various events and seasons is among my favorite decorating activities. Being an interior designer, I often have the pleasure of creating tablescapes for many kinds of festive occasions and themes. Recently, I created a romantic table setting for Valentine’s Day – for a TV segment on Dom na kvadrat, a Croatian TV show about design and architecture. You are welcome to watch the mentioned segment on the show’s YouTube channel.
Trendy Dinner Party Décor
Nowadays, design trends give us a lot more creative freedom in the mixing of materials and combinations of decorative styles. A trendy dinner party decor can be the meeting of contemporary and classic elements, in a rustic theme, with a glamorous sparkle, an eclectic combination of two or more decorative styles – the creative options are numerous. Every tablescape tells a stylish story of creativity.
Copper Tones for a Romantic Table
Roses, candles, and red color are traditional choices for Valentine’s Day. However, we decided to set a stylish table for a romantic dinner in a color close to red – copper. First, we chose dishes of a contemporary design in copper tones and that guided our choices of all the other details.
Dishes in copper tones are the focal point of this romantic tablescape. Placemats of a floral shape add a touch of gold. Cutlery is of a contemporary design and in silver tones. The warmth of copper and golden tones are juxtaposed with the coolness of silver tones.
Perhaps ten or twenty years ago, different metals were not mixed as much in the same design scheme. However, nowadays, just as we mix classic and modern elements in the design, we also mix various metals and metallic tones. Eclecticism is very present and trending in the design, including table setting.
Related Article – How to Enrich the Tablescape with Golden Tones – Interior Designer’s Ideas
How to Choose the Color Palette for a Dynamic Tablescape
To create a dynamic tablescape, choose a few different colors. For instance, to highlight the base color – copper in this case, choose copper and something that contrasts, which will make the copper itself stand out more, but also this contrasting part. In this color scheme, in the addition to dishes in copper, the cutlery is in silver tones, placemats in golden tones, and coffee saucers, wine, and champagne glasses bring contrasting black to the color mix. By placing black details, the copper color came to the fore.
The traditional colors of romance are red and green. In this color palette – copper represents the red color, and green is present in a couple of decorative details.
Complementary Colors and Flowers for a Romantic Décor
Speaking of the combination of colors for romantic table decor, let’s mention the symbolism of complementary colors. In color theory, complementary colors act as a pair – they are strong enough on their own, but together they are stronger since these color pairs complement and emphasize one another.
These are red and green, which are both colors of love. Also, blue and orange and yellow and purple. These colors are all very strong and very expressive on their own and even stronger and more expressive when paired with their complementary color. For instance, red is the fieriest in the company of green.
Flowers represent love and all its beauty – the beauty of love, the joy of love. Placemats are floral-shaped, as well as napkin rings. The candle holders for the tealight candles are in the form of a lotus flower, which symbolizes light, love, and beauty. Candlelight and romance go hand in hand together. Candles light up the scene and create a romantic mood.
Related Article – Complementary Colors in Home Décor
How to Set the Table – the Etiquette of Table Setting
On the placemats come the plates. When it comes to glassware, for festive occasions there is always a glass for either white wine or red wine, depending on the choice, and a champagne glass. There are several variants of champagne glasses (for instance, coupe-shaped, flute-shaped, and tulip-shaped). For this romantic table setting, the champagne glasses are tulip-shaped, known as champagne tulips.
For festive dinners, cloth napkins are recommended by table-setting etiquette. Cotton or linen napkins are a great choice. On this romantic tablescape, the napkins are decorated with floral napkin rings.
Here are a few more table-setting tips for setting up cutlery and glassware. The fork is on the left, and the knife and spoon are on the right of the plate. The spoon or fork for the dessert is placed above the plate. Wine and champagne glasses, as well as water glasses, are on the right side. The main wine glass is usually placed right above the knife. The coffee cup and saucer are usually set on the right side. However, for decorative purposes, this time we placed the coffee cup and saucer on the left.
Related Article – Creative Workshop – Holiday Table Decorations
Romantic symbolism of flowers and complementary color pairs meets the sparkle of metallic colors in the candlelight. Enjoy creating a beautiful table setting for a passionate evening. 🙂
Location of Filming – Lesnina XXXL
TV Segment & Photos – Darko Palmovic, Jasmina Franjic, Danica Maricic
For more romantic decorating ideas, you are welcome to follow Danica Maricic, Interior Designer, on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn and discover these related articles.
