Tempt guests with delicious table settings

: I’m hosting my entire family for a holiday dinner this year, and I’d like my dining table to look special. Any ideas?

A: Here are some ideas I’ve come up with over the years that I think are keepers.

Hunt club

I’m crazy about this table treatment because it has a decidedly masculine feel. Start with table linens in rich men’s-wear fabrics, like a red-and-green plaid. Then, build each place setting atop a twiggy birch tray, using your white china topped with a red or black transferware salad plate.

Have fun creating a woody wonderland at the center of your table. Find some interesting miniature winter trees and plant them atop risers, like silver cake plates, to give the display a variety of heights. Then, add a few creatures to your forest, like a bronze stag figurine. Finish off by weaving twists of pine garland through your display, tucking in some votives and a sprinkling of gold pine cones.

Now get to work on your chandelier. Lace your light fixture with craggy pine garland and hang frosty ornaments from the arms, like icicles or snowflakes.

Silver sparkle

Send a chill up your guests’ spines by dressing your table in the cold brilliance of silver. Start your tablescape with a white-and-silver damask tablecloth. Anchor each place setting on a black woven place mat. This is a great chance to mix and match dishes that feature silver, white-and-black trim for a terrific textured look. Be sure to put a soup bowl or coffee cup on top of your stack of dishes to fill with strands of silver garland and a silver ornament.

At the table’s center, place a crumbling garden bust on an ornate silver riser. Position a grouping of three mercury glass candlesticks to one side, crowning each with a glossy white tree ornament. On the other side, add a silver vase filled with white roses.

To complete your look, add pop to your chandelier by draping scads of garland from each arm, tied up with black-and-white plaid ribbon.

Merry and bright

Celebrate this merry season by filling your table with bright colors. Cover your table with a cheery red tablecloth turned on the diagonal. Start each place setting with a rustic wooden tray, then add a round pine wreath, which will serve as a charger for your holiday-themed dinner plate. Bring on the drama by topping your dinner plate with a tall glass pedestal that’s covered with a glass dome. Place a matching china coffee cup holding a bright red ornament under the dome.

At the center of the table, display three tall, thin apothecary jars, each filled with different colored tree balls. And on the chandelier above, loop folds of faux pine boughs and picks featuring bright red berries. Finish off by hanging brightly colored ornaments from the arms of the chandelier.

Go for the gold

If you’re looking for opulence, you’ve got to use gold. Dress your table in a snowy white tablecloth or find one with a hint of a gold damask pattern. At each seat, build a place setting with gold-edged china atop a gold-handled black tray. Crown each tower with a gold pine cone place-card holder. Then, tuck in a few gilded fern or eucalyptus floral picks at the edge of the dinner plate

At the center of the table, why not feature an epergne with painted gold accents? Fill each arm of this multitiered centerpiece with gold balls and garland, and pieces of your gold china, like a sugar dish, creamer and gravy boat.

For an unusual chandelier treatment, turn a wreath horizontally and descend it from the center of your light fixture. Embellish the wreath with clusters of gold balls, gilded floral picks and greenery.

Mary Carol Garrity owns three home furnishings stores in Atchison, Kan., and wrote several books on home decorating. Write to Mary Carol at nellhills@mail.lvnworth.com. Her column is syndicated by Scripps Howard News Service.