Lush + Luxe Red and Green Christmas Tablescape

Inside: It’s easy to create a luxurious traditional red and green dining room table with garland, napkins, plates, and ribbon for holiday elegance that’s not too fussy, formal, or in your face! ➡

Red and green Christmas tablescape with magnolia and pine garland table centerpiece

So many holiday color scheme possibilities, so few tables. So why would you set your table for a nice Christmas dinner with the expected, traditional standby of red and green?

With the return of green as a trendy color, I’m here to make a case for the classic red and green. Admittedly, this color cliche can come with the danger of making the formal dining room look like a kids’ classroom holiday party. And a lot of home decorators feel like red is too loud or doesn’t fit in with their style.

Magnolia and pine Christmas dining table centerpiece garland

But it is possible to set a red and green table that’s elegant and luxe, yet not too formal or fussy. And a far cry from looking like the kid’s table thanks to subdued color shades and rich textures.

Let’s see how this one all came together with just six things. And one of the best things about it? It only took about twenty minutes to put together all of these Christmas table decorations with the help of the first element.

The red and green dining table centerpiece.

The secret to how fast this was to put together? I used a Christmas garland made for the fireplace mantel that was already ready to go and simply laid it down the center of the table. It’s so full, a table runner wasn’t even necessary. And it fills the middle of the table so much better than individual floral arrangements would!

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Magnolia and pine garland as a dining table centerpiece

The garland is actually two wired together – long needle pine and magnolia. Then to bring in red and white to the green I wove deep red velvet ribbon and white berry sprigs throughout. And a few extra faux magnolia picks to coordinate with the staircase garland.

See how I use this trick to beef up skinny garland here. And you can see this magnolia and pine garland on the family room fireplace mantel in the red and white classic Christmas family room last year here.

I finished off the Christmas centerpiece with these brass candlesticks in varying heights. They seem to go with every tablescape! And flameless white candles with the moving flame that can be set on a timer and turned on and off with the push of a remote button.

The red and green place settings.

Red napkins as dinner table decor.

Next, I folded satin sheen napkins also in a deep crimson red, and laid them vertically as a red Christmas base for the table settings (ignore where I hide the candle remote😊).

Red Christmas napkins for place setting base

SH&H Tip: This trick makes it easy to set a color theme and it breaks up the expanse of a brown table or a white tablecloth!

White charger plates.

I topped the red napkins with inexpensive white chargers from Hobby Lobby styled after china plates:

White chargers on red napkin place settings — You can see how I used these chargers as wall hanging holiday decor **here**.

Classic white china.

Next, I filled the chargers with the real stuff – elegantly understated gold-rimmed white china plates.

White china and red napkins on Christmas dinner table

The real napkins.

The red napkins are just for decoration, but for the napkins that would be used, I chose to go with these natural linen napkins. They look good with everything and are a nice contrast to the formal china, making the look of the table more “business casual” than “black tie“. But white napkins in this holiday tablescape design would also be a nice, crisp pop of contrast.

Linen napkin in a Christmas ornament napkin ring

Napkin rings.

And the finishing touch is where the green comes in for each place setting.

Red and green Christmas place setting with velvet ribbon

Instead of a place card in the holder of the mercury glass ornament napkin rings, I threaded soft green velvet ribbon through each and tied a simple bow.

I’ve used this elegant, olive green throughout the living room and foyer this Christmas season, as well as in the dining room to add green to all the red and white.

Red and green Christmas tablescape with garland centerpiece

You can see the rest of the decor in the living room and foyer in the red, green, and white Christmas tour here.

Red and green Christmas decorations on the dining room sideboard.

Red and green Christmas dining room decor

Green colors come to the rest of the dining room with some cut velvet green pillows in the chairs flanking the buffet table.

Red berry wreath with green ribbon on sideboard mirror

And on the sideboard, green chiffon and velvet ribbons “hang” the red berry Christmas wreath on the mirror.

Green and white Christmas decor on dining room sideboard

Below I filled a bowl with a white and gold gift box tied up in the velvet ribbon, mercury glass gold ornaments, magnolia leaves, and pine cones. And let some of these spill out along the marble top.

If you’d like to see more Christmas tablescape ideas, you can check out last year’s red and white dining room here.

Sources for this post or similar.

I hope these table decor ideas have shown that you can set a beautiful table with red and green that’s not brash or boring.

So in the spirit of the more elegant shades of this traditional Christmas color scheme, let’s sign off this post Ron Burgundy-style: “Stay classy, red and green“.

Have a Very Merry Christmas,

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Lush + Luxe Red and Green Christmas Tablescape

The red and green dining table centerpiece.