LOL Mine would host plates full of cat hair if I left them set. I advise harshly that the cats should not get on the table...but have you ever advised a cat? I have never seen them on the table...but they leave signs....signs I don't want at a dinner party!

I'm having a hard time with the new house because the dining table top is scarred from one too many wine glass over the last hundred years so it has to have a cloth. I prefer wood so I can see cat hair and dust....

No, I think that looks soo silly...what is the point. My dining room table has a center piece on a nice runner and looks great. Well, it usually has my purse and tote bag too.
Tonight it looks really nice but not set...we will do a serve yourself off the counter in the kitchen and then sit around the dining room table.
Happy Thanksgiving all!
Karen L

Not here...it looks lovely and I've thought about it, but not really practical for us. Usually a centre piece and some candles...

LOL - we only have one dining area and one table, so it gets daily use as a home office, homework station, and place to read the newspaper as well as somewhere to eat. I don't suppose the salt and pepper and napkin holder technically count as a "centerpiece", either!

Carrie

Ummm..........I'm hoping that no one says they keep their table set. Why would they? Now, I did have a relative once who set the dishes upside down on the table after she cleared dinner. She said it was to make things easier the next night's dinner, but truly.........I don't see how that saved any time.

Red

I didn't think a set table was the norm, but I have a neighbour who I've popped in on a few times, and her table is always decked out, no matter the season!

We have a small house and just one table, so it is used for everything - meals, wrapping gifts, reading the Sunday paper, writing "to do" lists, Christmas cards, etc.

I agree with the others, keeping a table "set" is just a dust-catcher. Most of us have enough of those!

Shellsmom, I am guessing your neighbor doesn't have any hobbies other than cleaning house?

Not here either. Other than a vase and flowers and a toy car or two nothing's on our table all the time.

My DR table is never set unless we will actually be eating in there. I have cats too. Even if I did not, I can't imagine keeping it clean. Have to admit, it looks lovely in decorating magazines.

ROFLMTushieO
!!!!!!!!!!!!

(my answer is a resounding...no!)
LOL............

For all the above reasons! LOL

Not mine. Some times I cut fabric on my table. We only eat in the dinning room on the weekends.

My neighbor, who's a single man I might add....keeps his set! His exwife lives down the street and paid for half the house I might add(she owns her own successful business);helped him decorate the place after the divorce. So I think he keeps up the look in case she stops in. Wouldn't want her to catch him not following her advice. :0)

"Shellsmom, I am guessing your neighbor doesn't have any hobbies other than cleaning house?"

Colorcrazy, you are absolutely right! She is the lady I hired years ago to clean my house. I haven't used her services since the kids have grown up, but she has lots of clients in our town! I guess she just can't stop when she gets home!

It seems staged and odd to me, but I've seen it done. On reflection, I suppose it was simply her way of making a "tablescape". Hmmmmm. On second thought, if it's interesting, artistic and constantly changing and not a static setting of the "company china", then it IS a tablescape, which is a very different thing. I think there are several very talented posters who do just that, at least seasonally, if not year 'round. If you have the design skills and love playing with arrangements, it makes an excellent canvas!

Wow, really? Am I the only one that does this? I'm in Canada so we celebratedour Thanksgiving a month and a half ago. After things were all done, I cleaned up and set it again so it's ready to go for next Thanksgiving. We usually have Christmas dinner elsewhere so Thanksgiving is really the only time the dining room gets used. I give it a once over with a swiffer duster before the big meal and it's as good as new. How can all of you stand not having a perfectly set table to look at year round? I don't get it. Bunch of weirdos...

Dan ;>)

Dan, most of us weirdos feel the tug as you pull at our legs........

Red

p.s. And how do you keep your cat out of the china?

I don't think anyone ever really thought about keeping a table set for decoration until real estate stagers started doing it, and then it also showed up on the reveal of design shows.

That said, the nuns at my local convent used to wash up and reset the table for the next meal, but put the glasses and dishes upside down.

No mine is decorated for xmas along with the rest of my inside..

Without question there's ALWAYS unsanitary/unseen "stuff" in the air that's going to settle onto those pretty dishes setting on the table for decoration for weeks/months....especially if you have a pet......and using a Swiffer duster advertguy2....EWWWW....that's SOOOO totally GROSS and DIRTY!!! I for one would NOT want to eat off those dishes unless I knew without question that they had been sanitized in the dishwasher just before the meal.....just hand me a paper plate please!

Well, the dishes would have been on the table for about 8 years now.

Depending on your floor plan a dressed table would be very festive, but no that is not a thing I do. I do love to see the table scapes and this subject reminds me of that blond on HGTV cooking that always shared a table scape at the end of her show... I am just not that into dishes. Many LOVE LOVE LOVE them and have several sets. If I did, I maybe would but I don't and if I set a table even a week before an event--I would feel I needed to rewash everything before the guests arrived.

I don't have a china cabinet yet and I just got all these beautiful French garden dishes for my birthday. The only way to display them is to set the dining room table!

When my great grandmother was alive her dining table was always set. She was an antique collector/dealer and her table was always ready for a party. She has lot of glassware and stuff. I wish I could go back in time and see it all again, I appreciate it much more today than when I was very young.

My former boss's wife did this. I don't know if she left her formal dining room set ALL the time, but it was always set when we were there for socials, teas, receptions, etc which did NOT involve the use of the dining room. She was a very la-di-da person, and I thought her display of crystal and china was ridiculous. But that's just me.

No. I have cats. 'Nuff said.

I understand it in model homes or displays in shops, but with dust, dander, pet hairs, mites and other stuff blowing thru the air, I can't imagine. At least not in my home!

As a family we eat every dinner in my formal dining room on my antique( not anything too special to me just an auction find) china and crystal stemware so it is set before each dinner than cleaned and put in China cabinet until the next meal

The two of us eat on the couch in the TV room, so the dining room has a beautiful 19th century Chinese bowl flanked by two antique German birds on the claw-footed oak table that are untouched unless we entertain, which we try to avoid as much as possible.

I always have mine set sorta, i have chargers out not plates.

S H It looks beautiful.

When DH was alive, I always set the breakfast table the night before going to bed - one less thing to do in the AM.

When I am hosting a holiday meal, I always set the table a couple of days ahead of time as I enjoy seeing all my pretty things on the table, and it allowed me to do enough things ahead of time that I could actually enjoy my own party! When I still had cats, the french doors between the LR/DR were always closed!

I am a salesman who needs to sit at the kitchen table to do my presentation and write up the contract. When I come to a house with a table set for a dinner that never happens, I immediately look for an alternative place to conduct business. What I have been able to discern from these types of people are 1) they tend to be superficial, narcissistic, and wishful of a formal dinner that never seems to come about. 2) they do not have an alternate place to do business and if you move the settings you are inadvertently disturbing their psychological profile and they become pensive. They will sometimes smile but inwardly dislike you when they try to accommodate you. They will direct you to their formal living room that they themselves do not even use, expecting a positive, relaxing atmosphere. In reality, when you sit that far away in a sterile environment, it increases the tension and awkwardness, resulting in a very indifferent, wary and cold approach. 3) the people are putting up some type of defensive display to show others they are more sophisticated and not down to earth with their lifestyle or what they say. 4) they also have very clean and orderly houses which also sets normal people looking for where they live in their own house. 5) they are people that do not know how to make an impromptu decision and nearly always give you their final objection as, we have to think about it and we'll get back to you. 6) they never call back and are inwardly resentful if you close them more than 4 times. Give me Joe lunch bucket any day over these types of people. 7) they tend to be subconsciously democratic but display conservative approaches and dialog. You are put on egg shells when in their prescence. 8) overall tend to be whitecollarish and formal and nearly always a no deal scenario. They of course, would object to these observations of over 35 years of direct sales.

I seem to remember reading that in older ethnic Russian homes the table was always set to show guests that they were welcome, no matter how unexpected. It was a culture where there was great hospitality and lots of visiting going on, and in that context it makes a sort of sense.

I have a centerpiece (of sorts) and placemats but do not leave dishes or silverware out. I often leave napkins out, however.

Dust

We have a open floor plan so you see the dining room, kitchen and living room. We eat at the kitchen island every day. No cats to worry about. After the holidays, I took off the holiday decorations and kept the formal dining room table set. Why not, were not using the room. I love looking at the settings. My sister in-law is the sweetest lady I know, she has done this for years and it really looks beautiful. I will be having a dinner party soon but that's not why it's set now. I enjoy looking at it. Some friends told me last week what a great idea their table is a catch all. I plan to do a quick wash of the dishes glasses and silverware before the next use. Not a big deal. Sorry about the 2 photos was attempting to find a way to rotate the photo

No delete option found.

I'm personally not a huge fan of rooms or spaces that don't get regular use, nor do I enjoy perching on a stool to eat, so we have all our meals at the dining table in our open space area. Obviously, that means in practical terms that the only permanent "setting" is the fruitbowl in the middle of the table.

I realize that some folks have a more formal and delineated approach to their homes, which is fine, but for me, setting a table just for display feels quite alien. Like they say, to each, his own ;)

Good grief! This thread was started 10 years ago!

LOL. But it was still an interesting read! Since I use my dining table for every meal, I keep it set with a tablecloth and placemats and cloth napkins and my mostly functional centerpieces including trivets so I don't have to fish around for them when I bring out a hot dish. This does not preclude using the table for other pursuits when needed, but that's rare as I have a "work table" in the family room. Easy enough to set the placemats and other stuff aside. Would be weird to set with dishes if I didn't use them every day since they would just be "for show." Something I can't really afford to dedicate space to in my tiny home. I'm assuming most folks would do the same, but if it made someone happy to see a set table in their home, who am I to judge! Since so many modern housewives are working, I think they are even mostly forgoing having fancy dishware at all. I'm too much of an environmentalist to go with paper all the time, but it is quite common especially among the younger set. With kids, it really wouldn't pay to have nice things out where they could get broken accidentally.

When I was growing up I knew a family that had a formal dining room that had a locked door on it and they were never allowed to go in there. Same for their living room, although it was open, but they were not allowed in there. The kids could only be in the basement playroom, outside and in their rooms. My mom let us range all over the house, although I know she got criticized for it back then since that was back in the day when many folks had "off limits to kids" spots in their homes. If I had kids, I would probably keep my sitting room with its antiques off limits to them, but the rest of the house is pretty well worn. I would definitely have a more robust dining set, as we did when I was a kid, and I would not display my china out on the buffet tops as I do now. That is one justification for those old china cabinets, to protect your stuff from getting knocked around. If you indeed could afford having the "stuff" in the first place.

Heck no. My dining room, if always set, would have cat hair all over it. And paw prints on the dishes. Who knows where the nether end would sit, or what was licked?

Even in the period when my family had no pets, if anything got set out for serious company, it was the night before.

Who needs the dust? Eating areas are meant to be used. (And NOT by the pets..)

My children were not allowed in the DR or LR unless the family was in there. They had a basement play room, and toys in their bedrooms. The LR and DR were "adult rooms" and I did not want toys in them. Interestingly, they have both done the same with their own children. No one appears to have been "warped" by this.

I cannot imagine turning ones DR into something that looks like a setting in the silver/china dept of a store with registered bride's choices being on display. Even when we used our DR for two meals daily (and we did this until children went to college!), the placemats/napkin rings were removed after each meal and the table re-set right before the next meal.

When it became just the two of us, I would sometimes set the breakfast room table the night before just for greater "speed" getting breakfast on the table in the morning. But by then, I had no "helpers" to do this for me as I did when the children were still home.

When I entertain, I do sometimes set the table a day or so ahead of time, and when I had cats, I did close the french doors from the LR into the DR as I didn't want cat hair on the table! The door from the kitchen to the DR is always latched to keep the dogs out of that part of the house. I enjoy looking at my beautifully set table and centerpiece before the party. It's also one less thing I must do the day of the party. At my age, I must do things in small steps.

Thought keeping it set for holidays as decor would be nice.

I try to have my table "set", but the kids always dirty the table runner, so I'm constantly removing it. My version of a "set table" is a runner, charger plates, and cloth napkins with rings. On the sideboard, we have cute flatware holders. I don't set them out because I don't know what the next meal will be. The baby would climb and brake the plates and cups if we did tried to set them out.

I do

No, but it does look nice when it is. Hate to take down.

In earlier times, people would set their tables for a formal meal a day ahead of time to save time on the day of the event. they would cover the entire table with a lightweight gauze like dust cover to keep everything clean.

this year we are having 21 people for dinner and i love to set a beautiful table, so doing that a day or even two days ahead will be very helpful. with all that goes on Chfistmas day, anything that saves time will help. But i have not been able to find anything to cover it all to prevent dust. Does anyone have an idea ?

Who is here in 2022? lol 12 year thread… and yes I decided to leave my tabled decorated. simple but I like the look.

Haha here in 2022 , yes i just started keeping mine set. everyone is so worried about cats or dust, but its really not a lot of work to clean dishes and stemware, or linens, and i enjoy eating at a set table. life is too short, use the chine, the crystal, the candles...buy a boquiet of flowers too and enjoy a nice atmosphere at home while dining.