Whether it's a sit-down dinner or buffet, the dining table assumes center stage for holiday entertaining. It's the gathering spot for family and friends. But it also speaks volumes for those trying to create some extra-special magic -- something beautiful, memorable, a strong visual takeaway for family and guests.

Some are tradition-bound with setting the table, perhaps bringing out special plates and family heirlooms each year, just like the menorah during Hanukkah or favorite Christmas tree ornaments. Even so, it's always fun to layer in something new, whether it's a set of salad plates, new flatware, glassware, serving pieces, table linens, candleholders or salt and pepper shakers.

Guests may not immediately notice something smallish, but you'll feel as good as you do when you're wearing a new fashion accessory or piece of jewelry to complement a staple in your wardrobe.

Tabletop trends in recent years have echoed many in home design. Settings have become more relaxed, and there's a wonderful synergy between nature as a muse and artisanal pieces, or those that look handcrafted. There's an appeal in irregular edges and imperfect surfaces.

So many of the current table settings featured on retailer websites are showing a lot of wood, with place mats or runners crisscrossing tables, often serving as place mats for two. One reason, perhaps, is that the wood adds warmth and contrast to the porcelain or stoneware. In a neutral tablescape that features white plates complemented by wood serving pieces and a salad bowl, plus woven place mats, the wood solidifies an emerging brown palette, but keeps it interesting with tonal differences and textures.

Tablecloths, of course, are perfect for providing allover color or pattern, from paisley to stripes, as well as seasonal motifs such as leaves, pumpkins, poinsettias and trees.

But dressing up has changed a bit. The new approach to glitz and glamor may appear as sparkly accents to earthy dinnerware. Just as metallic threads or beads might find their way to humble materials like linen.

These looks are especially dramatic when layered, with a mix of materials.

Remember when square dishes disrupted the status quo on tables? A lot of the buzz was generated at restaurants, which embraced the form as modern, and perfect for showing off beautifully composed food. Now, irregular shapes like exaggerated ovals are coming into play, and scalloped and even irregularly shaped plates are winning fans.

Many retailers now feature tips on how to dress the table for the holidays, some even offering recipes. There are a few underlying themes in common.

-- Embrace the season. There's nothing wrong with bringing out those visual touchpoints that connect you to holidays. Think pumpkins, candy canes, snowflakes, dreidels, Christmas trees and noisemakers. What makes it all fresh is modern interpretations in the artwork. That may mean changing up scale -- making it either giant or mini, stylizing or adding a whimsical note.

-- Consider a color other than red and green or those most tied to other holidays. Well, doesn't blush (remember millennial pink) seem to be the color of the moment? It's a good look on dinnerware, and we've seen it beautifully paired with shiny or matte gold. It's soft and pretty.

-- Add natural touches and colors from nature. For a Thanksgiving table, pumpkins and gourds, ornamental cabbage, the red, orange and gold hues of autumn leaves. For Christmas, winter white, red berries, green fir, pine or holly.

-- Mix in metallics. Gold still is riding the hot wave of popularity. Both shiny, matte and burnished gold lends a warm look, as does copper. One huge plus for those who like gold-embellished dinnerware. A number of brands now offer plates that feature microwave- and dishwasher-safe golds. Silver also can be every bit as elegant -- in low-key pewter, silver leaf or polished stainless. And don't forget about glittery accents and beads, which you might find in embellished table runners.

-- Go modern. Even if you use traditional pieces, mix them up with modern shapes or patterns. Like a geometric or stripe teamed with a floral.

-- Just as wallpaper has become bolder and more graphic, so has some dinnerware. Large-scale imagery makes a statement, like uber-sized flowers.

-- Black (especially matte) is enjoying a huge moment. It can be dramatic in both dinnerware and flatware, the latter sometimes combined with gold for a luxe look.

-- Add whimsical, folksy or childlike touches. A new Versace design for Rosenthal recalls vintage samplers, but in a sophisticated interpretation, with an alphabet in typical bold colors, accented with gold and Greek key design.

-- Update traditional. The best way to do this is by layering. Add a new modern charger in burnished gold to set off your grandmother's dishes or pair a woven or chunky wood charger with less rustic plates.

-- Artisanal accents. This is key: Anything hand-painted or handmade will elevate the table, as it celebrates craft.

-- Mix stemmed clear glassware and others with a hint of color. From clean-lined simple shapes to textures, there's a range of colors, from soft rose and blue to gray and amber.

A beautiful table makes your guests feel special. So raise a glass and toast, as you give thanks, wish a Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas or a joyous Kwanzaa, and ring in the new year.

Sources

-- Coralla Maiuri through TableArt, 323-653-8278, www.tableartonline.com

-- Crate and Barrel, 800-967-6696, www.crateandbarrel.com

-- Lenox, 800-223-4311, www.lenox.com

-- Marie Daage, shop@mariedaage.com, www.mariedaage.com

-- Pier 1, 800-245-4595, www.pier1.com

-- Rosenthal, 800-596-3503, www.rosenthalusa-shop.com

-- Sambonet, 800-596-3503, www.sambonet-shop.com

-- Spode, 888-778-1471, www.spode.com

-- Villeroy and Boch, 800-845-5376, www.villeroy-boch.com

SIDEBAR

Table It on the Side

Two side tables are competing for attention, along with the big one where holiday feasting unfolds.

One is set up for hors d'oeuvres, like cheese and charcuterie. The other is decked out with desserts -- just a little teaser to whet the appetite. And for both, the range of stylish choices for serving pieces has expanded.

Cheese boards have dressed up, some pairing materials like marble or slate with wood, others with metal inlays or simply contrasting light and dark woods.

Elevated cake stands lend interest to a buffet, when food is presented at different heights.

Fall seasonal decor is associated with autumn colors, all pulled from nature. And, of course, Halloween touches of orange and black are as tried and true as red and green for Christmas.

But here's the thing: Those dazzling hues -- mostly reflected in landscape foliage morphing from green to a range of brilliant scarlets, golden yellows, even purple tones -- are currently the hot home palette. The warmer tones were especially palpable at the September Maison and Objet, one of the international mainstays of trend-spotters, with a particular spotlight on ochre, which settles in nicely with brown, orange, berry, plum, denim blue and blue-green.

The time seems especially ripe for yellows -- rich ochres, mustards, tawny butterscotch and orange-laced saffron -- in upholstery (especially in velvet, which still is going strong), lighting, rugs, pillows, tabletops, bed linens and glassware.

"Sometimes the trend stars align and something that has been a quiet classic becomes all the rage," says Caroline Scheeler, creative director for Jayson Home. "This is the story of the color yellow, gold, saffron, mustard ... a color with many names and quite the range. Yellow can draw such evocative emotions -- the color of royalty, the sunshine, sunflowers and the school bus. While some really have an aversion to it, it's a neutral color in my eyes. Yellow goes with every color. It can feel ancient, modern, happy, earthy, but never sad. Perhaps that's exactly why it's having a moment, in the face of these uncertain times. Yellow says 'happy, vibrant, hopeful.' Yes, a color can do all that."

The golden hues pair well with other warm tones. But all of these colors have transitioned, just as the Halloween palette has softened, somewhat driven by the beautiful shades of farmer's market pastel pumpkins in apricot, sage, blue-green and marvelous stripes.

"Orange is a staple in the fall, but a sophisticated orange is on the rise," says trend forecaster Michelle Lamb, who is based in Southern California. "There's cinnamon, terra cotta, clay -- a little sweet, almost reaching for pink. "

Retailers have picked up on the nuances, celebrating these pairings, especially in pattern, as well as the move beyond cliche, even for Halloween. Fall wreaths, for example, are almost as prolific as those for Christmas -- and well-styled. Crate and Barrel goes for an elegant look in its guidelines to setting a Halloween table. Pottery Barn describes "fall dressed up" this way: "Take an elevated approach with soft florals, glass pumpkins and a hint of sparkle."

One of the best sources for more glam Halloween decor, like beautiful jeweled pumpkins and velvet pumpkins in bold magenta, saffron or orange is Grandinroad. On its website and in the catalog, a hooked rug doormat depicting a bird playfully combines autumn hues in an almost camouflage pattern, set on a blue ground for contrast.

Even on a small scale, orange can be electric -- as in a vase on a white cocktail table in a living room with velvet seating, here an orchid sofa and peacock chair. In a room with dark plum walls, with a mottled gold metallic recess and gold cabinet with an alligator-like pattern, rich red-violet velvet chairs are striking. Especially fetching is how the metallic gold provides sparkle to the warmth of the color.

Camel and cinnamon are other colors that fit nicely into this palette. A suede tufted boxy chair from Crate and Barrel is a chic choice, as is a round velvet stool or an ottoman with a kicky fringe, as those recently shown in Paris by the Portuguese brand Dooq.

"We're braver with our decor," says Lamb, "and that's especially true with millennials. But people are becoming more intentional about what they buy -- part of it is a space consideration, with people living in smaller spaces."

That's particularly important with seasonal decor. "People don't have a lot of space to store," Lamb notes. "Millennials love Halloween and want it to be fabulous, but they'll buy one or two pieces, not 15. The same is true with Christmas."

If you're looking to add a dash of yellow or any of the fall hues, here are some ideas.

-- One of the easiest ways to bring a bit of outdoor color indoors is to pluck branches, foliage or flowers in russet, gold or orange tones. Mix these in with blue hydrangeas, which are turning to a soft green. Your arrangement can sparkle in a clear or white case. Or choose a complementary color.

-- Create a tablescape or mantelscape with pumpkins in different sizes, colors and compositions, including real ones, ceramic, glass, mercury glass, even mosaic -- the latter a chic option in neutral hues at Pottery Barn.

-- Pillows are a failsafe means of changing up a look with a shot of color without too much expense. Patterns and textures create even more impact. A spotty ikat in black and white on amber from Jayson Home has a playful vibe. At Crate and Barrel, three pillows are particularly stunningly grouped: One has a very linear horizontal striping in black on white, with additional almost random tufts of warm colors. Another, on a white ground, appears to be hand-painted with broad brushstrokes; in fact, it's embroidered. The third is solid, but with a woven dobby texture. Burnout velvet is another beautiful option, often with leafy or geometric patterns. And textural weaves may be artfully blended with different hues.

-- Mix all-white dinnerware with pops of color and pattern. At West Elm (www.westelm.com), there's a glazed stoneware collection called Kaloh, a simple design finished in textured matte amber with a translucent white interior. The rustic yet refined pieces were set on a table with an open-weave gold metallic table runner. Terrazzo looks and marbling is a striking way to introduce multiple colors; the one in a confetti pattern, the other in a swirling blend. A collection from Astier de Villatte at Jayson Home teams green, fiery orange and gray. Glazed and matte serveware in soft terra cotta looks especially fetching on fall tables.

-- Add a lamp with a shot of fall color in the base or shade.

-- A small rug or runner, especially in a plaid or geometric pattern, can pull in several autumn shades.

-- Change out the bed linens. Go for gold, actually a spicy shade of Dijon, in linen sheets and pillowcases from CB2. Or choose a floral or pattern with foliage in autumn colors.

-- Hang drapery. If you have one window that's unadorned, you may want to frame it in velvet. At West Elm, a rich color called Golden Oak is absolutely on trend.

Sources

-- Apelt, https://apeltstoffe.de

-- CB2, 800-606-6252, www.cb2.com

-- Crate and Barrel, 800-967-6696, www.crateandbarrel.com

-- Dooq, info@dooqdetails.com, www.dooqdetails.com

-- Grandinroad, 866-668-5962, www.grandinroad.com

-- Normann Copenhagen, online shop on www.normanncopenhagen.com, customerservice@normann-copenhagen.com

-- Pottery Barn, 888-779-5176, www.potterybarn.com

-- West Elm, 888-922-4119, www.westelm.com

Australian native Greg Natale's design aesthetic can be bold or subtle, but color, often in tandem with pattern, always catches the eye. It's telling when you consider the titles of his two books: The most recent, "The Patterned Interior" (Rizzoli), and the previous, "The Tailored Interior" (Hardie Grant). There's not a dichotomy. The styles coexist seamlessly in his interiors.

With an international design following, a range of products -- furniture, rugs, bed linens, tile, wallcoverings, towels, cushions -- and a home accessories collection launched in the spring at Bergdorf Goodman (with a second group debuting in November), the 45-year old Australian is a rock star.

Natale has what "Happy Chic" guru Jonathan Adler describes as "it," along with luminaries such as Kate Moss, Adele and Ellsworth Kelly.

Whatever it is, it's working. His design business is thriving, he continues to earn accolades everywhere. He was honored in 2016 as International designer of the year by the High Point (North Carolina) Market Authority, and is contemplating a further extension of his product offerings ("I would love to add fabrics and dinnerware," he states.). And this month, he'll open his first retail shop in Sydney, Australia, with an eye on a chic spot in Los Angeles.

Part of what has grabbed attention in publications from AD to Elle Decoration and Vogue Living to the Robb Report, is his mastery of pattern. It's a signature consistent in his work -- sometimes in-your-face, but never overpowering, and even subtle. Page through the new book and you become aware of pattern as perhaps you had not considered it before. How the fluting on a glass shower door interacts with the grain of a cerused wood vanity, geometric marble tiles on the wall and a green terrazzo floor. Consider Art Deco-style paneling on a seafoam green entry door, inspired by arches of gold wallpaper nestled against it inside.

His own pattern designs, as in mosaics for Bisazza, include swirling malachite, an alluring watery moire, along with undulating or graphic linears. But what sets his look apart from others equally ebullient about pattern is that it's tempered with crisp tailoring, such as a rustic Oklahoma property furnished in sophisticated Navajo and plaid motifs with bluestone fireplace.

His "crazy dream" began in a home custom-built by his Italian immigrant parents in 1978. They apparently embraced their heritage with decorative tiling everywhere, for which he then confessed an "inherent dislike." Now he appreciates it.

"Pattern has always been in me," he says. Influenced profoundly by the '80s TV series "Dynasty," which he devotedly watched with his four older sisters, he "loved the sets -- the Carrington home, Alexis' office. "It's totally one of the reasons I became an interior designer," he states.

Embracing that decade's Memphis Movement, he then wanted to paint everything pink and turquoise. He went to design school, studied architecture, and worked for three different modernist architecture firms. When he decided to go out on his own, he thought long and hard about who he wanted to be as a designer.

"I was inspired by David Chipperfield and John Pawson, amazing (British) architects," known for their minimalist aesthetic. "But everything in Sydney looked like that. Minimalist white boxes dominated interior design. If I kept doing what everyone else was doing, I wouldn't stand out." So he did his homework, researching mid-century design, and was drawn to the works of Italian Gio Ponti, the late English designer David Nightingale Hicks and Danish designer Verner Panton. His aha moment was the idea of laying pattern over '90s minimalism.

His first "lucky break" -- a bedroom he designed for his oldest sister -- generated a lot of buzz. Inspired by fellow Australian and pattern pioneer Florence Broadhurst, he went for it: with a Broadhurst wallpaper that he tinkered with, custom-colored, "turned upside down and pulled out one of the (printing) screens to make it feel very current." He covered nearly every surface with the pattern -- walls, window shades, bedding and framed art. It was published in Belle, an Australian magazine, and then Wallpaper magazine.

"Look, for me, design has to be a statement, spark conversation," Natale says. "I like it to be provocative."

Unafraid of big notes, as he puts it, Natale often sets the tone at the front door. In a home whose interiors he crafted with strong Spanish Revival influence in a western suburb of Sydney, he punctuated the staircase for maximum impact, paving the treads with black granite and lending character to the risers with alternating patterns black and white cement tiles that he designed, and finishing if off with a black iron hand rail and graphic spindles.

Describing himself as "never one to shy away from a bold design gesture," that goes for Natale's personal style as well. While he is crazy for tailored clean lines of photographer Hedi Slimane and declares, "Tom Ford is a genius," Natale totally can rock a boldly patterned Versace jacket. He doesn't love jewelry, but his gold Rolex Date Just is de rigueur. When he travels, black jeans (Ksubi, a cult Australian brand) are a staple, as are trainers by Saint Laurent. And he's a huge fan of American artists -- Frank Stella, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and L.A. graffiti artist Retna.

Natale realizes that pattern can be intimidating and polarizing, but that it can impact how we feel about a space. His own fearless approach sounds simple.

"It's about balance. I may start with a geometric pattern, then use an organic pattern, then a plain texture or wall color. It's a magic trilogy. And I love the way pattern plays with architecture." He often introduces pattern in a more architectural way. In his own apartment in Sydney, he created a 3D effect on the doors of a walk-in closet in the foyer.

"I wanted it to feel like a piece of art," Natale explains.

When he designed a mosaic tile collection for Bisazza, he wanted to explore "how motifs that are so wild, uneven and random, could be reinterpreted" within a linear, unvarying medium.

Organic expression is important, not only in pattern, but in the natural materials he uses, like shells and stone. His bowls and boxes celebrate form and pattern with modern lines in a classic way. Upcoming accessories will include more color, ceramics from Italy and resin.

Natale uses a lot of gold for warmth, and he likes it both shiny, matte and burnished, sometimes intentionally luxe.

"Glam to me is about all the layering, with metals, texture and pattern," he says. "I like an interior to look glamorous and feel rich."

It's that layering that Martyn Lawrence Bullard of Bravo's "Million Dollar Decorators" applauds: "I am particularly fond of his layering -- a difficult skill to master -- with which he brings personality to each space; whether eclectic or minimal."

"Pattern can bring a space to life," writes Natale. "It introduces a vital layer to the design of a house, delivering a dynamic buzz, adding contrast and balance, injecting warmth, detail and interest. And I couldn't live without it."

SIDEBAR

TIPS

There are plenty of tips to glean from Natale's book:

-- Choose light, bright tones to maximize proportions. In Natale's own apartment, white dominates, but pattern defines it.

-- Use wallpaper to effectively and elegantly tie spaces together and create an impact at first sight. Even on the ceiling.

-- Pare down the palette. Natale mainly uses blues and greens, with one bolder hue, such as fuchsia or mustard, for punch. Pink is his latest go-to, often paired with green, like emerald and even olive.

-- Incorporate metallic touches -- Natale loves gold -- to deliver warmth throughout a home.

-- Consider a piece of art as an important element of design. Colorful, bold -- even on a bold wallpaper backdrop.

-- And, of course, play with pattern. Abstract, linear, graphic, floral, plaid, geometric -- whatever you choose can be a cohesive link throughout a home.

-- Pop patterned cushions on a sofa. Natale says it's an attractive, easy way to add color, pattern and texture, especially to sofas and beds.

Source

-- Greg Natale Design, www.gregnatale.com