Ideas for Buffet Table Decorations
Ideas for buffet table decorations is not about how to decorate a banquet buffet for a wedding reception but how to accent a home buffet and hutch in a dinning room, as well as how to choose different styles of furniture that will be appropriate with your theme. It’s also about ideas on how to use the buffet for formal diners, what items are appropriate for the buffet, how to make it look unique yet still functional, and how to avoid buffet clichés that will take away from the elegance or singular atmosphere you are aiming to create. We also present ideas on where to get a simple folding buffet table for outdoor garden or patio parties, how to make a buffet instead of buying one, and how to decorate outdoor tables in artistic yet practical ways.
Regal Ease versus Mere Mortal Ingenuity
If you have something like the regal antique Burrton buffet, and the dinning table and chairs and hutch to match, with gorgeous carved legs and details in mahogany or cherry, then decorating it is easy with antique plates or vases that match the luxurious setting in which undoubtedly it is set. However, if you are like most of us mere mortals who can’t afford almost $1,000 for a single piece of furniture, which is what the Burton buffet costs, then you’re probably going to have to use some ingenuity. Are you wondering how to adorn a simple dining room buffet table? What about a low side table with or without a hutch? Do you want something that works for everyday? Are you looking for inspiration on how to use a buffet or side table as an additional place to serve appetizers, pastries, cheese platters, wine, or coffee and liqueurs when having a formal dinner or celebrating a special event.
Choosing Dining Room Buffet Table Furniture
Before we can decorate, or lay out a gourmet spread with garnishes, we need to take a look at what buffet styles exists to choose from. A good place to get high-end and good quality medium priced buffet table furniture is from Modabode. Yes they have the $1,000 pieces, but they also have small black buffet table designs for as little as $170, and ultra modern designs for around $470 and antique Chinese chest-style creations with Asian colors and motifs for just over $550. Since a rich oak buffet table will require a totally different décor than a glass one, or a contemporary white design, or an Asian, colonial or rustic style buffet, here are the top 5 designs we’ve selected to feature and ideas how to turn them into stylish, elegant or funky side table serving areas.
Oriental
1. An antique Chinese buffet table does not only go with themes that are totally Asian. For example a contemporary minimalist space, even a Zen theme, may have one single piece of furniture that is red or a rich black finish piece with antique brass accents. It’s a singular focal point all its own. In fact, too much color or too many Asian or Chinese pieces of furniture or decorations may take away from the distinctive item. These pieces, which don’t have matching table or chairs, will be ideal for extra serving space during a formal dinner.
Consider this idea: Use a contrasting Chinese table runner instead of a table cloth. Use the buffet for appetizers or a cheese platter interspersed with fruit, persimmons, star fruit, a pineapple top. Use a single tall clay decanter to dispense wine and choose small round porcelain glasses instead of crystal goblets. The garnishes can be nothing more than single white or white or green orchids. Keep it very simple. Do not use floral bouquets or tall candles. Decorate the main dining table in a similar fashion, with a long runner, and matching oriental placemats, and a single orchid at the right of each place setting beside a tea light.
Another very simple way to dress up table or buffet and give it a singular oriental flair without overdoing it with Asian items, is to add nothing more than a red oriental bead bracelet (they’re really cheap to buy) that’s strung with elastic to each napkin as a holder. If you prefer to buy the beaded napkin holder already made, you can find them at an online shop called The Picket Fence. They’re more expensive when sold specifically for napkins – about $13 each, so if you want to save some money, buy the cheap beads from a Chinese dollar store and add to a plain white napkin or a soft green colored one, if you’re also going to add some green orchid accents.
Elegant Wood and Wine
2. One of the best wood buffet table designs is one that has a wine cabinet incorporated, be it a visible rack that’s open or one that’s hidden behind the doors. A buffet is most often used for pre-dinner wine and appetizers or the after dinner liquors, coffee and desserts. Therefore having the wine, brandy, cognac or other items in a cabinet near the table, will allow the hostess to serve her guests with less interruption, or to have guests feel free to serve themselves.
To make it known that the buffet serves that purpose, simply set out a tray with a variety of types of glasses that will be appropriate for the drinks available. Use crystal or glass decanters instead of bottles – it looks more elegant. Don’t over decorate a table and buffet if you want guests to feel free to serve themselves. Remember to include a pitcher of water with some lemons. Decorate with small oranges or lemons in a single tall glass jar – nothing more.
By the way, the suggested antique buffet table pictured is the Howard Miller Verona Wine Cabinet that has accessory drawers for wine openers, napkins and other items, and the cabinet itself holds 78 bottles of wine on adjustable shelves that pulls out for easy access.
The decorative accents and wine glasses as well as the decanters we recommend can be purchased easily online at The Picket Fence.
Outdoor and Portable Buffet Table Tips
3. We’re sorry to have to tell you this shocking bit of information: unless you own a 5 star hotel and can afford to add masterful ice sculptures to your outdoor buffet, and also happen to have incredible ocean views so no one will be looking at the table dressing, or unless you’re planning a low budget wedding…DO NOT USE SKIRTED TABLE DRESSINGS and most especially, DON’T RENT TABLE SKIRTS to cover ugly plastic or metal folding buffet tables. Although it’s not exactly cheap, it looks cheap.
There are many solutions to creating interesting portable buffet table arrangements. Here are some examples:
Starting with a basic folding buffet table, which you can buy at almost any online furniture shop for between $50 and $100….like the Alera Melamine Folding Banquet Table that costs just $47 at Discount office Items, we begin. The table is melamine, ugly wood veneer with metal legs, so naturally you want to hide or cover them in some way. How?
First, try to place the buffet in a shaded area, either partly under a deck or patio cover, or in a garden under a tree, but allow for movement around the entire table. Even if it’s small, it will seem larger and be more functional if it’s accessible from all sides.
If you desire a drapery effect, select gauze or natural cotton fabric to cover the table, not standard linen tablecloths or skirted attachments, but simple fluid fabric that you can drape over the table and legs and leave pooled at the corners, on the ground, over the grass or on a deck. For less formal affairs, use a soft colored fabric, always something fluid that will flow and drape well.
Stay away from common floral bouquets with roses or clustered floral arrangements that are symmetrical and…mmmm…perfect, and try to think along the lines of wild flowers with twigs or a single unusual flower instead of an actual arrangement or bunch. Consider decorating with fruit in low bowls or tall glass vases – apples, lemons, pears, oranges or even grapes. For an exotic theme, use pineapple, mangoes, kiwi…No, we’re not talking about the new Edible Arrangements that have cut fruit on sticks like flowers and can be eaten, ( which are okay for kids parties and very casual decorating), but we’re talking about very elegant crystal vases filled with uncut fruit. Don’t put them in water, and don’t add bows or ribbons. We can’t overstress – keep it simple. One color or two…clean lines, clear glass, no bows.
Don’t Buy Buffet Table “Ugly” – Create Unique
The biggest problem with the cheap buffet tables you can buy or rent for outdoor use is that they’re ugly, and you’re forced to spend a great deal of time, energy and money trying to hide, cover and/or decorate them. For less than what it costs to buy a folding table and then cover it, you can create something distinctive.
If your buffet is to be outdoors, use old wine crates, wooden boxes, old barrels, antique carts, old furniture like a very weathered table with peeled paint, even aluminum tables and a piece of glass….. take a look at what you have in the garage, in the attic, in storage or go to a yard sale or flee market and get anything that will create a base. In fact you can use two tall clay pots or an old wrought iron base or even large stones. You needn’t hide or cover these unusual bases but incorporate them into a theme. Rustic is the easiest theme, but remember that there is rustic elegant and rustic funky.
Elegant
For elegance, choose white napkins, clear decanters and soft green or taupe accents, even black candlesticks or an old tin pot. Perhaps select a copper theme, but pots, bowls vases and everything else in neutral tones. Compliment copper items with sage green accents or a dash of royal blue or lavender.
Funky
For funky, use colorful ethnic fabric, bright orange or red napkins, mismatched plates and cups, old lanterns, watering cans as vases, colored stones or even sand in jars to hold candles. Try a single piece of dinnerware or a platter that’s distinctive, perhaps pick something from The Picket Fence, like the Poppy bowls, or the Mustardseed and Moonshine platter, or even a funky pitcher like Abigail’s Gathered Garden. A single piece is enough for a table or buffet.
Wine Rack Buffet
Another idea is to use a wine rack or indoor buffet server table and bring it out onto the deck or garden and serve wine and cheese and fruit and have the bottles and glasses handy. If you don’t have something like this, you can get really cheap wine racks that are simple pine open designs with a small table tops that make an ideal buffet. If you’re wondering where you can get something like what we show in the images, try Winsome Wood, who have models for under $40, or shop for furniture at places like Amazon and even Sears.
Or….None At All…
If you just don’t have enough space to serve all your guests, and a buffet of any kind is not sufficient, then perhaps you can borrow an idea created by the ingenious hosts of the Secret Sea Cove Dinner (on the California Coast) where the best buffet and table décor was absolutely none at all – just sea and sand….white tablecloths, pine chairs, and clear goblets for wine.
A Little More….
For more information on round or glass dining table designs, more ideas on how to decorate large tables for formal diners or how to choose unique kitchen table styles, please select another related topic.
