Hosting for the Holidays

From gathered tables to beautiful boards, these local pros share their go-to ideas for hosting with warmth, ease and style. 

NEST Samira Mikel

What are your top three tips for creating a beautiful holiday tablescape without making it feel overly complicated?

Start with a simple foundation, and layering,  Beautiful linens, herbs as accents, tuck fresh rosemary sprigs into napkin folds. Scatter edible pops of color like pomegranates, persimmons, pears, or citrus fruits directly into the greenery for a classic look. Always leave plenty of room for food, elbows, and movement.  Keep all focal elements low so guests do not have to peer around massive structures to talk.

What are some unexpected or non-traditional items that can elevate a holiday table?Use pieces you already love in a different way. Wood boards, small bowls, baskets, vintage pieces, ornaments, greenery and even meaningful family pieces can become part of a beautiful tablescape. Everything doesn’t have to be traditional holiday décor.

What are your favorite ways to make a home feel warm and inviting for holiday guests?

Lighting is everything. Turn down the overhead lights, turn on your lamps, add candlelight, soft textiles and greenery, and have some music playing. I want a home to feel good the moment someone walks through the door.

What small changes can make the biggest impact when preparing your home for holiday gatherings?

Edit before you add. Clear some of the everyday clutter and then bring in a few intentional holiday touches. Freshening your pillows and throws, adding greenery and creating one beautiful focal point can make a huge difference without redecorating the entire house.

What are a few simple “finishing touches” that make guests feel especially welcomed?

I love anything personal—a handwritten place card, a small treat at each setting, a beautiful guest towel, a candle burning or even having their favorite drink ready. Those little details tell someone you were thinking about them before they arrived.

If someone only had an hour to get their home ready for guests, what would you tell them to focus on?

Focus only on what your guests will see and use: the entry, living area, kitchen and guest bathroom. Clear the clutter, fluff the pillows, dim the lights, light a candle and put something beautiful on the table. Then stop worrying and enjoy your guests!

What is one décor piece you think is worth investing in?

A beautiful, versatile centerpiece or vessel that you can change with the seasons. I love pieces that aren’t tied to one holiday—you can fill them with greenery, branches, florals or seasonal elements and use them throughout the year.

What’s one holiday tradition that inspires your decorating or entertaining style?

For me, it’s gathering around the table. I love creating an atmosphere that makes people want to sit down, stay awhile, share a meal and enjoy each other. The décor should make the gathering feel special without ever being more important than the people around the table.

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THE GRAZING TABLE / THE BLUE ROOM

Dana Henning

What are your top three tips for creating a beautiful holiday tablescape without making it feel overly complicated?

Start with one clear color palette, repeat a few natural elements, and keep the food part of the design. A beautiful table does not need to be crowded. A runner of greenery, candlelight, linen napkins, and a thoughtfully styled charcuterie board can create plenty of impact without feeling overdone.

What are some unexpected or non-traditional items that can elevate a holiday table?

Fresh fruit, herbs, ribbon, small bowls of nuts or olives, vintage glassware, and edible garnishes can make a table feel layered and personal. We love using pears, figs, pomegranates, rosemary, sugared cranberries, and small ceramic dishes to add color and texture.

What are your favorite ways to make a home feel warm and inviting for holiday guests?

Focus on the senses: soft lighting, something good to eat as soon as guests arrive, a welcoming drink, and a table that feels intentional but not untouchable. A grazing board is one of our favorite ways to welcome people because it invites guests to gather, nibble, and settle in naturally.

What small changes can make the biggest impact when preparing your home for holiday gatherings?

Clear the main surfaces, dim the overhead lights, light candles, set out fresh hand towels, and create one beautiful food or beverage station. Guests notice atmosphere more than perfection.

What are a few simple finishing touches that make guests feel especially welcomed?

A small welcome bite, a signature drink, place cards, a wrapped chocolate at each setting, or a handwritten menu can make a gathering feel thoughtful. Even a small bowl of salted nuts or olives near the drinks says, “We’re glad you’re here.”

If someone only had an hour to get their home ready for guests, what would you tell them to focus on?

Focus on the entry, the bathroom, the table, and the first thing guests will eat or drink. Do a quick tidy, lower the lighting, put on music, set out something beautiful and ready-to-serve, and let the rest go.

What is one décor piece you think is worth investing in?

A beautiful serving board or platter. It can be used all year, not just during the holidays, and it instantly elevates everything from charcuterie and desserts to simple appetizers.

What’s one holiday tradition that inspires your decorating or entertaining style?

We’re inspired by the tradition of lingering at the table. The best gatherings are not rushed. They have layers: something savory, something sweet, something poured, and enough beauty on the table to make people want to stay a little longer.

Holiday offerings from The Blue Room

This holiday season, The Blue Room is offering charcuterie orders, curated grazing boards, desserts, wine, specialty provisions, and thoughtful host gifts. For larger gatherings, we also offer catering options and private or semi-private events in The Blue Room. Guests are encouraged to call ahead for private booking inquiries, holiday party reservations, and catering availability.

Host tip from The Blue Room

Do not try to make everything from scratch. Choose one or two things to make personal, then let beautiful prepared food, good wine, candles, and thoughtful details carry the evening.

Holiday order reminder

Holiday charcuterie and special orders should be placed by [at least 72 hours in advance, with earlier ordering recommended for Christmas week] to ensure availability. For private holiday gatherings, catering, or reservations at The Blue Room, please call 509.968.5038.

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 AMERICAN WEST

Camie and Bryan Anderson

A Collected Christmas

At American West, our approach to the holidays is much like our approach to a home: collected, not coordinated. Christmas should feel like another chapter of your home—not an entirely different house that appears for six weeks and disappears in January.

What are your top three tips for creating a beautiful holiday tablescape without making it feel overly complicated?

First, don't start with a theme. Start with the table and pieces you already love. Favorite dishes, interesting glassware, collected serving pieces and even mismatched chairs give you a much more interesting foundation than trying to make everything coordinate.

Second, choose one color and repeat it in small doses. We love red at Christmas, but a little goes a long way. A few miniature red ornaments, velvet ribbon or colored taper candles can carry that color across the table without overwhelming it.

Third, let the materials do some of the decorating. A wood table, linen napkins, aged brass, glass, silver and candlelight already create so much depth. Christmas doesn't always have to be added on top—sometimes it's simply about making what is already there feel a little more special.

What are some unexpected or non-traditional items that can elevate a holiday table?

We love taking something completely ordinary and giving it a Christmas moment.

Instead of a traditional centerpiece, fill a favorite dough bowl with collected vintage glass ornaments. Use special ornaments at individual place settings. Swap standard tapers for sculptural Christmas tree candles.

And bring out the pieces that normally feel "too special" for everyday use—the old silver or your grandmother's dishes. Christmas is the perfect excuse to actually use them.

What are your favorite ways to make a home feel warm and inviting for holiday guests?

Think about contrast. Some of the most inviting rooms balance things that feel elevated with things that feel relaxed—aged brass against reclaimed wood, polished silver on a well-worn table, or soft velvet alongside natural materials.

That mix gives a home depth and keeps it from feeling staged for the holidays. We want a room to be beautiful, but we also want people to feel comfortable enough to settle in and stay awhile.

What small changes can make the biggest impact when preparing your home for holiday gatherings?

Instead of adding Christmas everywhere, choose a few places to make a statement.

Take the candleholders that live on your mantel all year and fill them with green Christmas tree tapers. Replace one everyday pillow with a velvet or patterned holiday pillow. Fill a large bowl with vintage ornaments. Tie a generous velvet ribbon somewhere unexpected.

One really good moment has more impact than a dozen little decorations scattered around a room.

What are a few simple “finishing touches” that make guests feel especially welcomed?

Have something waiting for them.

People always seem to congregate in the kitchen, so we like having a simple board of snacks ready before anyone arrives. It doesn't have to be elaborate. Put it on a wood serving board and dress it up for Christmas with fresh cranberries and sprigs of rosemary.

There is something immediately welcoming about walking into a home where the food is already out and you're invited to help yourself.

If someone only had an hour to get their home ready for guests, what would you tell them to focus on?

Don't spend that hour trying to make your entire house presentable. Create the gathering place.

Clear the kitchen island. Put out the serving board. Set the drinks somewhere guests can help themselves. Pull another chair into the conversation area if you need it. Light the candles and turn on the music.

Then go get yourself ready.

The goal isn't for your guests to walk in and think, What a perfect house. It's for them to know exactly where to put their coat, where to pour a drink and where to pull up a chair.

What is one décor piece you think is worth investing in?

We'd skip the seasonal décor altogether and invest in a great dining table.

It's one of the few pieces of furniture that can become more meaningful the longer you own it. Christmas dinner happens there, but so do birthdays, homework, Sunday breakfast, late-night conversations and ordinary Tuesday nights.

And don't feel obligated to buy the matching chairs. We love a substantial table surrounded by chairs that feel collected over time—perhaps leather chairs at the ends with stained wood chairs along the sides.

The table can be the anchor without everything around it having to match.

That's the kind of piece worth investing in.

What’s one holiday tradition that inspires your decorating or entertaining style?

More than a particular tradition, we're inspired by the idea of Christmas decorations having a history.

We love an old-world Christmas—vintage glass ornaments, candlelight, deep reds, greenery and pieces that look at home alongside the things you live with all year.

There is something special about opening the Christmas boxes and recognizing everything inside. The ornament that belonged to your grandmother. The one you bought on a trip. The funny one your child picked out. The special ornament you found in a little shop and knew you wanted to keep.

We'd rather add one or two things we truly love each year than start over with a new Christmas look.

Eventually, you aren't just decorating a tree. You're unpacking your family's Christmas.