So it begins. The deluge of holiday celebrations has begun! The past couple of days have been busier than ever with work and evening holiday events taking up most of our time.

Knowing that we’ll be hosting a couple of holiday get-togethers at home as well, I thought I’d do a bit of a run through with the table set-up for this season. Since I will be doing a lot of cooking, I want the set-up bit to be quick and easy. My husband and I agreed that we’ll be doing casual get-togethers this year to keep the ambiance relaxed, easy, and fun. However, I still want a touch of elegance.

It’s doable, I tell you.

Coffee Table

You’ve seen on my previous post how I decorated our flat for the holidays on a budget.  I used a lot of bits and bobs from IKEA for a budget-friendly yet classy look. This time, we’re doing the same, focusing on my favourite part of the holidays – the eating bit.

Before talking about our dining table, I want to show you my current tea time set-up. I had a guest over a couple of days back and I thought it was time to bring out the Christmas tea cups and saucers.

IKEA-Christmas-Vinter-2016-Table Set-Up-Setting-Casual-Holiday

I used the Dragon Coffee Spoons to stir in some honey with our tea and I brought out some slices of cake too – although they were all gone before I could take this photo. I did, however, bring out some of my favourite Swedish cookies as well, which I got from IKEA. They come in chocolate and strawberry – both flavours go well with tea!

I use a Korken Glass Jar to store them and keep them fresh. They also look good in it, so I always bring the jar out when there are guests who may want some sweets.

Dining Table

IKEA-Christmas-Vinter-2016-Table Set-Up-Setting-Casual-Holiday

As you can see, we have quite a long and narrow dining table. I prefer this shape and size so that it won’t take up too much floor space. The downside of it, however, is that it can easily look too crowded since the surface area is not that big as well.

To make the it appear bigger, I placed a red, Marit runner across the table. I decided to go against going for the usual runner placement that goes through the whole length of the table, knowing that it would make the surface look even more narrow.

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On top of the runner, I place this centrepiece that I made using IKEA products. It adds a lot of fun to the table without taking up too much space. For how I made it, click on this link.

IKEA-Christmas-Vinter-2016-Table Set-Up-Setting-Casual-Holiday

While I do love white, elegant, cloth napkins, they can make a dinner setting a little formal. So, every time we’re having a casual event at home, we often go for printed paper napkins. These two are from the Vinter 2016 collection. Which one do you like more? The red napkin or the white one? I couldn’t decide so I got both!

For cutlery, I’m keeping it uniform by using the rest of the Dragon Cutlery Collection, a straightforward set that’s perfect for casual meals.

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One thing that I really love from the Vinter 2016 collection is their square, grey placemats. I know what you’re thinking – grey is a colour we don’t usually see during this season with all the reds, greens, and golds. However, it makes a pretty good addition to my red-themed table, balancing out the loud colours.

Also, the way the wreath frames the plates? I’m in love!

Once again, I used dishes that were already in my cupboard, mixing and matching different sets to add a little bit of character. Regular, white dinner and salad plates topped with small, scalloped bowls for the soup.

My humongous wine glasses (Because why should you temper yourself? It’s the Holidays!), along with our rounded water glasses are also making a comeback for this set up.

I always go for plain whites when it comes to choosing plates for our collection at home. Why? They make for easy mixing and matching! 😉

Holiday(Hangover) Food

IKEA is definitely famous for their meatballs but there’s just so much more available in their food section.

Whenever we’re there to buy stuff for the home, I often make sure to get some of my favourites that make cooking easier. I often call some of them as my hangover meals and we all know that ’tis is the season for celebrations and thus – hangovers too.

Our fridge is never without the Vafflor Frozen Waffles which I can eat in four ways – with cream cheese and salmon (also from IKEA), with bananas and Nutella, with butter and maple syrup, and of course – my favourite – with a dollop of lingonberry preserves that I also get from IKEA. I just love lingonberries!

IKEA’s frozen meatballs are also a mainstay in our freezer so I can easily whip up some spaghetti whenever I need to make a quick meal.

And before I end this post, let me leave you with one last tip to make your Christmas even more festive: Pick up some of the Dryck Julmust or the Swedish Christmas drink. Scandinavians do Christmas really well and this is one of Sweden’s best yet underrated imports!

Hope this was helpful! Happy holidays, everyone!