Leslie Schofield of Leslie Schofield Studio designs homes all year round, but she loves decorating for the holidays. She invited us into her home to share tips on setting the perfect holiday table.
What makes a holiday table setting?
“I think a holiday is the time when you get to go all out. If you are entertaining, you are entertaining for your friends, your family, the people you love most and you should make it memorable and special. Normally, I’m ‘less is more’, but during the holidays, more is more—candles and greenery and sparkle. If you love color, bring your color in. Bring pieces that mean something to you. In the end, it’s always about the people. The most important thing at your table is the people and the memories you make.”
How about festive decorations? Can you overdo it?
“To each his own. I probably tend to keep the other areas simpler. But when I’m entertaining, I want to make sure the bar’s done well, I want to make sure the table’s done well, I want to make sure my tree shines and sparkles, and then I want the other areas not to be overdone.”
Controversial question: fake tree or real one?
“I’m diehard real tree! We buy our tree every single year. The thinner the better—we like the sparse skinny tall ones that aren’t too perfect, but with plenty of room to hang ornaments. I’m a white lights person—I love my tree to sparkle.”
What can you do if you’re on a budget to make things pop?
“You can do what I did for the first 10 years of marriage: make a lot of ornaments! You can do beautiful things with ribbon. If you want to get really old school, you could spray paint popcorn silver and gold, string it for a little sparkle.”
Run the Gamut: high to low
“We’re lucky in Salt Lake because we have Target, Crate and Barrel, Williams Sonoma, but you can also go to the Garden Store. Then you can go to O.C. Tanner! But there are also second-hand stores, like Capital City Antique Mall. One set of glassware on my table is from The Old Flamingo in Millcreek. It’s set right next to Baccarat crystal from O.C. Tanner. My chargers are from Pottery Barn, and I have my husband’s grandmother’s china. Try to combine—high and low, new and old.”
Decorate with what you already have
“Buy one new thing a year. Since my kids were little, I’ve collected Christmas books. We’ll have stacks of holiday books that we can read from. That’s a fun way to decorate that you can build on. My holiday table is a collection of years.”
At the holidays, Leslie serves up cake on dessert plates she inherited from her great grandmother. Photo by Natalie Simpson | Beehive Photography.
Leslie always tries to create a mix of high and low, new and old. Photo by Natalie Simpson | Beehive Photography.
Color is back
“I think people love color right now. They want vibrant things, beautiful things. If I look across the board at my clients, most of them love color. But rather than follow a trend, I say follow your heart.”
What do you love most about this season?
“I get to create something beautiful for my family to enjoy, and for my friends to enjoy a sense of comfort, love, warmth and tradition. I do it with clients all year long, but I get to bring it home on the holidays.
I love to decorate as soon as Thanksgiving is over. You only get it for a month! Utah really celebrates the holidays. I love the Christmas lights. Downtown is amazing, it’s magical.
I always try to go see the lights.”
For more of Leslie’s work, visit leslieschofield.com. Be sure to follow Leslie on Instagram for fresh ideas and plenty of inspiration @leslieschofieldstudio
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