an intimate holiday gathering–with a heartfelt table to match!

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text by  SHANI SILVER
photography by  SONYA YRUEL
styling by  CHRISTINA VO

This San Francisco supper party aimed to do what we all strive for around the holiday season–take a quiet moment to enjoy time with friends, despite the hurried vibe of the holidays.

Chad Bolick and Gene Chan (and dog Leroy) welcomed guests into their Castro apartment in San Francisco. Here, stylist Christina Vo walks us through her tips for bringing together a tabelscape like this one.

  1. A DRIFTWOOD CENTERPIECE Either go forage for a piece of wood for a centerpiece or purchase one at the local flower market, lumber yard or possibly even a craft store. But it makes it more fun to go out and look for something yourself. Then, get 1 or 2 pieces of pine to lay over the top of the wood and wrap the pine with small battery-operated string lights, such as these from Crate and Barrel (These string lights are great to use. )
  1. VESSELS On both sides of the centerpiece, to create dimension, find a couple small vessels and bottles that you like. I used two taller glass bottles and put some nandina berry branch and pygmyweed. 

Any branch will look great and as mentioned above, add a little dimension. For something to add a little sparkle, I also used two gold bud vases from CB2 with interesting red brunia

  1. CANDLES To bring out more gold, I also bought 2candleholders from CB2
  1. NAPKINS I selected napkins that replicated the French country stripe napkins because of their nice farm table. I added a piece of greenery and tied it with jute string to add an interesting touch.You can really use any greenery, even herbs, like rosemary, that you might already have available in your kitchen.

In sum, the first step is to look around and see what items you already have and try to incorporate them. Creating a beautiful tablescape doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be as simple (or inexpensive) as getting a piece of driftwood, a few branches, berries, and small elements to fill bud vases. Some folks might even be able to find these things in their own backyards!