How To Create A Beautiful Thanksgiving Dining Room

Fall is a favorite time of year for me and Thanksgiving decorating is one of my all time favorite things. The colors, the cozy charm, all the fall feels! Join me and my designer friends, Kristy and Crystal, for the next edition of “Designing Women Tell All” as we share our design and decorating inspo for Thanksgiving. You can click the links below to their blogs for more Thanksgiving decorating ideas and inspiration.

Those of us who host the holidays are always on the hunt for ideas for an elegant yet inviting table don’t you agree? Creating the right vibe is essential to bring in the perfect holiday feels. And, I think it is especially important to create a beautiful Thanksgiving dining room table given the sentiment and purpose of the holiday.

DIY GRAPEVINE CHAIR WREATHS

One fun way to bring in the Thanksgiving vibe is to create these simple chair wreaths for the back of your chairs. These are easy and inexpensive and don’t require a lot of time. These wreaths were purchased at Hobby Lobby for $6.00 apiece, the wheat was just one bushel split between all the wreaths and the wooden leaves are from The Dollar Tree. I just brushed some stain on them and then dry brushed on some white. The wheat stems and leaves are hot glued on and I have them tied to the back of the chair buttons with a small piece of twine. Easy breezy and I love the touch of charm it adds to my dining room.

ADD PUMPKINS AND FALL FLOWERS TO YOUR EXISTING FLORAL

Do you ever get tired of trying to figure out what to do with your existing decor when the holidays roll around? Yeah, me too! So sometimes an easy solution is to simply add your holiday touches to your existing decor. I made this arrangement last January and wasn’t ready to change it out so I simply added white sunflowers and white pumpkin picks throughout. It didn’t need a whole lot, but a little goes a long way and it’s just what this floral needed to display Thanksgiving vibes.

These simple touches transformed it from my everyday centerpiece to my Thanksgiving centerpiece. Afterward I’ll just pluck them right out and store them away in my Thanksgiving bins till next year. Much easier than trying to store this monstrous floral arrangement. Love that!

Here I just removed the candles that were displayed in my cloches and incorporated white pumpkins to further bring in a touch of Thanksgiving to my dining space.

And here I simply added a neutral pumpkin candleholder to the existing decor on my chest. A simple, but fun nod to Thanksgiving. This was originally an oil rubbed bronze pumpkin and I painted it white to soften it up and coordinate with my dining room. Use paint for an inexpensive way to update dated holiday decor!

CREATE INEXPENSIVE CRAFTS FROM THE DOLLAR TREE

This pumpkin addition to my year round green wreath is another way of incorporating Thanksgiving to my existing decor. No need to store these wreaths just yet – I just simply layered my DIY pumpkins on top for a little Thanksgiving touch. Easiest craft in the world and all it cost me was a couple of dollars.

I purchased these from The Dollar Tree unfinished and then painted them with some white sample paint I have stored away here.

These leaves came in a package of 6 or 8 and I used them in numerous places in my dining room. Two of which were on these pumpkin wreaths.

I stained the leaves a chestnut brown….

Then I dry brushed on some of the same white I used on the overall pumpkins….

I tied them onto my pumpkins and then onto my year round wreaths and boom! Cheap and easy, holiday breezy Thanksgiving touches on my barn doors!

LAYER YOUR TABLESETTINGS FOR A LUSH, INVITING LOOK

I love a full layered look to a table, full of the texture and interest needed to reflect the holiday, season or theme. Here I started with these woven runners I purchased at Hobby Lobby on an end of season clearance sale. Instead of a long vertical one I decided to use three placed horizontally on the table. Since they were on clearance it wasn’t a big investment and I love this twist on the look.

My next layer are these large chargers or trays I made a couple of years ago. I use them on table settings, as trays or as a charcuterie board. Very versatile. And they were so simple to make. I’ll be doing a blog post on how I made these in the near future so be sure to check back and find out how to do this DIY yourself.

My next layer are these rattan chargers that I purchased at a vintage flea market. I love this texture with the wood and the woven runner

Next are these shiplap chargers – also purchased at the vintage flea market.

I then added a simple soft white plate.

On top of each plate are these Thanksgiving napkins I purchased at Kohl’s – again at an end of the year clearance sale.

On top of the napkin I placed these fun charcuterie boards I got on clearance at Hobby Lobby. Whenever possible always check the clearance aisles at the end of each season for inexpensive decor and doodads. How fun are these?

And, then I topped them off with these white mini pumpkins which I think is a fun look. Subtle and simple, but cute. I kept them this way for the last month, but I just recently changed the look to the look below:.

I placed my silverware on the charcuterie boards instead of the pumpkins to complete the place setting. Fun, huh? The perfect width and length.

With the silverware here I just moved the pumpkins to the wine glasses and let them sit on top for a fun Thanksgiving touch.

UNIFY YOUR PUMPKINS AND CANDLESTICKS WITH PAINT

These “pumpkin candlesticks” have also been displayed on my table as my table centerpiece, but this year I decided to place them on my buffet since I left my floral on the table.

This was another fun, easy DIY project. I gathered together a mish mash of random pumpkins in all sizes and colors and painted them a soft ivory color. Then I lightly sprayed an antique gold over them to give them a washed gold look and a bit more of an “elegant” look for my dining room. Since I already had the pumpkins and the ivory spray paint, it was simply a matter of purchasing the antique gold spray paint. Yup……another cheap and easy, holiday breezy way to unify a random collection and give them new purpose. By the way I used a similar technique on these mismatched candlesticks to unify them as well.

These are some fun, easy, inexpensive crafts and ideas that I used to transform my day to day dining room into a festive, welcoming Thanksgiving dining room on a budget. I get tired of spending an enormous amount of money each year on the holidays and now that I’m retired it’s just not something I can continue to do. Budget friendly, easy decor is my jam! I hope this has inspired you to create your own cozy, beautiful Thanksgiving dining room on a budget! For another easy transition to fall decor check out my previous blog here.

And, be sure to check out my fellow designer friends with “Designing Women Tell All” below for more Thanksgiving inspo:

Crystal with Sweet Valley Acres – An artist and dreamer since birth, Crystal loves creating beautiful spaces in her home and garden for her family and friends to enjoy. She also loves pushing her builder husband, Bentley to his very limits when it comes to building and renovating. After 33 years of marriage and taking on 11 homes that were the worst house on the block and turning them into show stoppers along with three new builds later, Crystal has a wealth of knowledge and experience. In addition, she has won many awards for garden design and used to own a home and garden decor store for many years.   

Kristy with At Home With Kristy – Homebody at heart and very passionate about creating a warm & welcoming home environment for family and friends BS Interior Design Interior Designer with 35 years experience specializing in Residential Interior Design, perfectionist, & big picture thinker, but also loves getting lost in the weeds perfecting every detail Love sharing my knowledge and expertise to inspire, encourage and empower others  

Happy Fall, Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Life By Design!