I currently have a small live basil plant in the center of my kitchen table. (We get good light from our kitchen bay windows where the table is placed.)
When the basil gets moved outside, I may have a few sprigs of fresh flowers from the garden in a small vase.
Most of the time piles of papers, mail, “to do” lists, medication organizer, etc. fill the scene, as I use our kitchen table as my work desk, since it is the “best seat in the house” – lovely view, and central to household activity. I handle mail, pay bills, do paperwork, etc. there.
When we eat I clear it, and when we have company we eat in the dining room – which otherwise is also filled with paper piles (my “non-working/to be handled” piles – taxes, investments, etc.).
It is a work in process.
Some day, all will be cleared, I hope …
(except for a small something live in the center)
We don’t normally buy tourist things when we travel. These tables are made by handicapped craftsman in a project supported by Queen Noor, so you can feel good about spending the money.
The placemats are kept in the center of the table topped with a metal decorative tray that houses the napkin holder, S&P, sugar bowl, honey, hot sauce and sometimes a small vase of fresh flowers. There is also a table runner.
I keep my table set up with capiz shell placemats and cloth napkins in antique sterling silver napkin rings. I just move the napkins when we eat on the placemats. For some reason I am willing to keep the silver polished but I would never keep cloth napkins laundered and ironed. I do like how the table looks when it’s set nicely and it keeps me from using it as a place to stack things that really should be put away.
My dad turns wood bowls as a hobby and he made me a large one when we were building this house. I use that bowl as the centerpiece. It has a big diameter but is only 7 or 8 inches tall so we can keep it in place while we eat.
We have a round glass top table that should be bare. But right now, it contains a mega packet of markers, a board game, old homework, Girl Scout cookies, etc.
@abasket , no, I don’t think there is anything odd how anybody uses their table. I think it depends on the table itself and function. It’s just loud when we put our plates and glasses on the table, at least to me. The vinyl lessens that. And I do like the decorative color they give. However, they really aren’t a catch all for crumbs, that’s for sure.
I like placemats. I like to buy them when I travel. My favorite are made from Kikoy cloth and I bought them in Kenya. I also have placemats from Belize that I like a lot that are like Guatemalan fabric. I almost always have a tablecloth on my kitchen table. I like cotton and table linens are something I search out when I travel.
The center has a couple of different sets of salt and pepper shakers. Napkins in a ceramic holder that one of my kids painted at a ceramic paint store. Sometimes I have flowers. My dining table alternates between a set of candlesticks or a large vase my D painted. The vase usually doesn’t have flowers in it. I also have a large island and it occasionally has flowers in the center but usually it is bare.
We use placemats…but not vinyl ones. We have cloth…either quilted or woven. They go on the washing machine.
We DO sometimes have a fruit bowl on our island. For example…if I get a flat of cuties, I put them in the bowl. But most often, the island has a little basket for out cat to sleep in…and that’s it.
My husband’s used to buy me flowers most every week, and they sat on the kitchen table, but then I got a small disrespectful kitten who thought knocking things over and down was great fun. She knocked big heavy glass bowls off the China cabinet, a nice ceramic chip and dip container off the sideboard, and many vases of flowers over before we gave up. I guess now I’m with @scout59 - the cats are our centerpieces. (I tried for years to keep them off, but with three others in the house who encouraged them to get up, I lost that battle). Now when we have company I set the dining room table, and put a tablecloth OVER the dishes.
