How to Set a Thanksgiving Table That Leaves Room for the Food

The most common Thanksgiving table problem is not a lack of decorations. It is too many of them. By the time the turkey, the stuffing, three sides and the gravy arrive, there is nowhere to put anything. A good Thanksgiving table starts with the food and builds the look around it.

1. Plan the space before you decorate

Lay out the serving dishes you will actually use on the empty table the night before. That shows you how much room is left for a centerpiece, and whether some dishes should live on a sideboard or a side table instead. If the table is small, serve the big dishes from the kitchen counter and keep only bread, butter, cranberry sauce and gravy on the table.

2. Keep the centerpiece low

Guests should be able to see each other across the table, so keep anything in the middle below about 12 inches. Some easy ideas:

• A wide wooden bowl filled with pears, figs, small apples and a few sprigs of rosemary. It looks like autumn and you can eat it on Friday. Our Hand-Carved Olive Wood Serving Bowl comes in sizes up to 14 inches.
• Three bowls in a row down a long table instead of one big arrangement, like the Hand-Carved Olive Wood Nesting Bowls: fruit in the largest, nuts and small gourds in the other two.
• A linen runner with a few small pumpkins and short candles. Unscented candles only, so they do not compete with the food.

3. Give the condiments one home

Cranberry sauce, butter, salt and pepper get passed around more than anything else on the table. Putting them together saves a lot of reaching and a lot of "could you pass the…".

• A Black Ceramic Condiment Set on Acacia Wood Base holds cranberry sauce, herb butter and flaky salt in three lidded dishes on one base.
• An Acacia Wood Lazy Susan in the middle of the table lets everyone turn the gravy, the butter and the salt toward themselves.
• A small salt cellar such as our Olive Wood Salt Cellar with Swivel Lid looks better on a holiday table than a shaker, and the lid swings aside with one hand.

4. Set each place simply

You do not need formal rules, just a setting that makes sense when people sit down:

• Dinner plate in the center, with a salad plate on top if you are serving a first course.
• Fork on the left. Knife on the right with the blade facing the plate, and the spoon to the right of the knife.
• Water glass above the knife, wine glass just to its right.
• Napkin on the plate or to the left of the fork. A sprig of rosemary or a sage leaf tucked into the fold is all the decoration it needs.

5. Bread and appetizers off to the side

A basket or a wooden bowl of warm rolls can go at each end of the table. Appetizers belong somewhere else entirely, so the table stays clear until dinner. Put them on a sideboard or the kitchen island; our guide to a Thanksgiving charcuterie board covers how much to put out so nobody fills up before the turkey.

6. Set the table the night before

Plates, glasses, napkins, the centerpiece and the condiment set can all go out the evening before. On the day, the only thing left to do at the table is carry in the food.

After dinner

Wooden pieces just need a quick wash by hand in warm, soapy water and a towel dry, never a long soak or the dishwasher. A little food-safe mineral oil every few months keeps the grain rich; more in our guide on how to care for olive wood.

More pieces for the table are in Table Accessories & Décor. Shipping is free anywhere in the US, and every product page shows its delivery time, so check it before you order for the holiday.