Chic on the Cheap - buying holiday supplies for the table and home

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, Nov, 1999 by Jane Bennett Clark

'Tis the season to be splashy without flashing too much cash.

You see them in food magazines this time of year, people gathered round holiday tables looking happy as heck, contemplating feasts only Julia Child--or a food magazine--would attempt, and you wonder why everything seems so glittery, so glam, so impossibly festive.

I've figured it out: It's the place mats. They match. That's my theory anyway, one which I ponder every November as I rummage through my holiday supplies and discover anew that five crystal goblets, three red napkins and seven plum place mats, several of which are stained, do not a party make. True, for atmosphere I can always count on my Aunt Dimple's silver candelabra--but chic, shimmery, color-coordinated? That was my house 20 years ago, when our hearts were young and our wedding gifts still in complete sets.

Clearly, an upgrade is in order. Equally clearly, I don't have a food magazine's budget. This, it strikes me, is the ideal time to test the assertions of certain discounters that claim to carry discerning designs at reasonable prices and see how they stack up against an upscale department store.

For advice, I call on Kelly Jenkins, an events planner whose Baltimore-based business, Foxglove Design, has gussied up whole houses for the holidays. Jenkins agrees to hit the aisles with me to provide tips on acquiring seasonal chic on the cheap. Our budget at each destination will be $500--more than I spend on my kids' presents, but, hey, this is important.

Making the most out of more

I'm feeling like Thumbelina as I scurry through the vast expanse that is Target, a Minnesota-based chain store that boasts low-cost cool along with household goods, clothes, toys and hardware. Jenkins strides along pointing out great looks--mesh-covered candle holders here, square pottery platters there. I admire a 10-inch blackmatte bowl for its Asian simplicity and $10 price; he's taken with lamps topped by faux-fur shades ("For $24, that's a whole lot of funky"). So far, Target is living up to its affectionate nickname, Tar-jhay.

Eventually, it's time to focus. We decide to compose a dinner-table tableau with settings for eight, plus a mantel arrangement and something special for the coffee table.

Jenkins piles the cart high while providing a tutorial on instant pizzazz: Bigger is better, more is more, out-of-the-box is excellent. That white wooden planter? A great container for baguettes. That narrow full-length mirror? Make it a table runner and adorn it with candles.

I'm impressed by his alchemy and regret I can't add cleverness to the shopping cart. Still, Target's huge selection holds promise even for an amateur, at prices that allow glorious excess. For my Thanksgiving table we choose green chenille place mats with taupe linen napkins and beaded napkin rings (stick a bay leaf in each ring, says Jenkins, for extra elan). Twig place mats will be placed crosswise over the green ones and drape elegantly off the table. Yellow-and-green Tuscan-style dinner and salad plates complement the color scheme, as do green glass chargers (large underplates) and ribbed stemware. For the centerpiece we add six glass candle lanterns and two glass cake stands, the latter to be piled high with hydrangea, fall fruits and clumps of rosemary.

Pausing to take stock, we make a disconcerting discovery. At $280, we haven't spent nearly enough money. Still, there are the mantel and coffee table to adorn. Jenkins spots twig-style candle holders in sizes up to about a foot tall. Get six in several heights for the mantel, he suggests, plus a couple of stand-alone oval candles with triple wicks. A glass bowl on a bronzelike stand will serve nicely as the focal point once it's filled with hydrangea or Christmas ornaments. For the coffee table, Jenkins and I both reach for the triangular silver-plate bowl on a pedestal--but he's the one who suggests floating gardenias and tiny candles in it.

Our total for this spree comes to $467. Satisfied that we've exhausted Target's offerings, we head for the next destination.

Sampling the smorgasbord

My husband has this fantasy: He jettisons every stick of our furniture (nothing personal, he tells me) and replaces it with bright, contemporary furnishings and accouterments. Where does he get the stuff?. Ikea, of course, the Scandinavian store whose wares are fresher than gravlax and cheaper than last year's wrapping paper. Jenkins and I seek similar inspiration from the land of the smorgasbord, but our goal is comparatively modest: to outfit a fall buffet table for 20.

"The idea is to pick one thing and work a theme around it," says Jenkins. To demonstrate, he heads for the fabrics, where the choices include red-and-white-checked cotton, sparkly green organza, and linen with large, bold leaves on a cream background. We decide on five yards of the leaf-pattern linen for a fall motif; puddle it on the table, Jenkins advises, to avoid the horror of hemming (and stack bricks or books underneath the cloth to display food at different heights, a caterers' trick). For a centerpiece, we'll set off the leaves with citron- and celery-hued vases and fill them with foliage-bearing branches.