Today
NBC (NBC) National Programming, DMA: 0
09:37AM EDT June 02 2008
Programming Type: Talk News

>>> this morning on "today's home," setting the table with style. entertaining season is about to kick into high gear, but you don't have to dust off your wedding china to impress your guest. susanna salk has creative ideas to spice things up. good morning. >> hi, ann. >> so i want to have people over for dinner and i've had them over for dinner before and used the same china. you say we can have a little fun. >> have a little fun. get creative, personalize it, mix and match. even the most high-end china companies want you no longer to buy just 12 of one thing. what i like to do and what i try to show you here is take some more formal china -- >> like this piece, for example. >> this is from z gallery. >> more formal. >> more formal. gold is back now. and i took a salad plate from another one of their collection and put it together, and all of a sudden, you've got a whole new look. >> but you have to be careful that you are making the right choice, and not everybody -- i mean, i'm looking at this table thinking, my gosh, i probably not have come up with this. the simple rules to think about is you can mix those. what about color? >> mix and match away. colors, have fun. i did a basic table cloth white. this is from pottery barn. i chose plates that i loved and then accessorized the way you would create a fashion outfit. find your dress or outfit, then add on your earrings or bracelet to give it style. i monogrammed the napkins from pottery barn with the green. it picked up the green. >> that m right there, uh huh. >> this is from target, the flatware. i thought it looked so pretty with the gold. martha stewart from wedgewood glasses picks up the gloeld from the plate. once you have the basic elements in place, you can really have fun. i love to take glasses and use them as vases. so these are from anthropology and i used them not only for water, but put flowers on them. >> i see. so that's also on the table. just make sure you don't pick up the wrong one to drink. >> exactly. and also layer it. have fun. these placemats, look how gorgeous they are. >> you put the place mats on top of the table cloth. >> again, layer it, add texture, add dimension. >> what about these items here? >> i love this. these are wipable place cards. so you use them once, you write the name, wipe it right off with a towel and you can start off with the next dinner party. >> use the color that matches. >> match it and use them over and over. i thought thoe were so pretty. >> so this is fun. kind of feels like a spring get-together with girls. >> and more formal with fun elements. i want to go crazy and try a whole other color tone, which is black and white, which i also had fun with. again, i started with the table cloth. don't be afraid to mix patterns. this is from anthropology and what i did to make it nice is i added a plate on top. then you can have fun again. these are from another collection from anthropology, right on top. and then these white glasses kind of pick up the white. then i added votive candles. these are so fun. so again, just texture, color, personality. >> you get a nice-smelling flower, on the low it. >> keep it low. >> so you can see each other. >> and what's so fun is these are from martha stewart for 1-800-flowers. you order it, it comes with the julep cup and the freesia and you can reuse the cup. >> nice idea to have small flower arrangements the guests can take home. that's an interesting idea. >> you can even put it one on each plate and that's the takeaway gift. and the tray, this is so pretty. again, another way to bring texture and personality to your table. have fun with it. use everything that you have. find just a few accessories and liven the outfit of the table. >> you're really sending a message by designing your table this way, but this is going to be a festive, joyful -- >> fun. >> you don't have to spend a lot. you also like this idea of using chargers. >> chargers. >> what are chargers, anyway? >> they go under the plate. these are from ballard -- >> they're for looks. they don't do anything. >> they don't do anything, but you can put your salad plate on it and it brings it to life. >> that is very pretty. >> it's so pretty in the way it shimmers and that will look good with anything. >> and use ten-fold, like these -- >> these twigs servers from crate and barrel. i'm obsessed with using utensils with the food because if you don't, it takes away from the work you put into the recipe. i'm sorry, i love it! >> thank you so much. great ideas. >> thanks again. >> i want to go to your house for dinner. >> please come. >> for more of susanna's ideas, go to todayshow.com and visit our ivillage community. >>> up next, what to buy a dad who has everything. creative father's day gifts, coming up right after this. 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