Celebrate our two-year anniversary on Oct 22nd!
The case for a paper table (and a giveaway to start yours)

The case for a paper table (and a giveaway to start yours)

by Shana Starr in News

Here is the math nobody tells you about hosting.

You spend three hours on the food. You spend forty-five minutes on the table. And then you spend the entire next morning washing sixteen pieces of linen that have cranberry sauce on them.

The table is the part everyone photographs. It is also the part that punishes you the hardest the day after.

So let's talk about the paper table.

The paper table is not a compromise

I know what "paper placemat" sounds like. It sounds like a diner. It sounds like something you put under a toddler.

It is not that.

A good paper table setting is printed, thick, and detailed enough that guests pick it up to look at the artwork. Hester & Cook built their whole business on this idea, and they were right. The pumpkin placemat we have in store right now is a woodcut illustration, printed in a deep rust, on paper heavy enough that it lies flat without curling at the corners.

Nobody at your table is going to think "ah, paper." They are going to think "where did she get these."

And when dinner is over, you roll them up and throw them away. That's it. That's the whole pitch.

Start with the placemat, not the centerpiece

Most people build a table from the middle out. Centerpiece first, then everything gets arranged around it, and by the time they get to the place settings they've run out of ideas and energy.

Flip it.

The placemat is the thing directly in front of each person for two hours. It's the part they actually look at. Get that right and the center of the table can be three pumpkins and a candle and it will still read as intentional.

If you want to layer, put a runner underneath and let the placemat sit on top at a slight angle. That tiny bit of asymmetry is what keeps a table from looking like a hotel banquet.

The three-layer rule

Every table setting I actually like has three layers, and no more than three.

One: the base. The runner, or the bare wood if you're brave. 

Two: the placemat. This is your color and your pattern. Everything else takes its cue from here.

Three: the plate, and whatever you tuck under or beside it.

That's where a charger, a woven underplate, or a dark stoneware plate does real work. Warm rust paper under a matte black plate is one of my favorite combinations in the store right now, because the contrast does all the styling for you.

Stop at three. A fourth layer is when a table starts to feel like it's trying.

A note on mixing patterns

You can absolutely put a striped napkin on a pumpkin placemat. The rule is scale, not color: if one pattern is large, the other should be small. The Burleigh Stripe napkins work with the pumpkin placemat because the stripe is fine and dense and the pumpkin is one big graphic shape.

Two large patterns fight. One large and one small talk to each other.

Place cards are not fussy

I will die on this hill.

People think place cards are formal. They're not formal, they're kind. They tell your guests where to sit so nobody has to do that awkward hover behind a chair waiting for permission.

They also let you do the thing every good host does quietly: seat people next to someone they'll enjoy. Your cousin who talks a lot goes next to your friend who likes to listen. The two people who both just got back from Italy go together. That's not fussiness. That's the whole job.

Die-cut pumpkin place cards do this without anybody feeling like they wandered into a wedding.

Napkins are where you cheat

Here's the sleight of hand. Guest napkins, the paper kind, in a pattern good enough to feel like cloth.

Fold one in thirds and lay it across the plate. Or tuck it under the fork. Or run it through a napkin ring if you have one, which instantly makes paper read as linen.

The Burleigh Stripe guest napkins are the ones I keep restocking at home, because the print is dense enough that from two feet away nobody can tell. And you are not ironing anything on Thursday night.

What actually goes in the middle

Since we flipped the order, the centerpiece is last, and it should be low.

Low. I mean it. If your guests can't see the person across from them, the arrangement is decoration for you and an obstacle for everyone else.

Candles at eye level or below. A row of small pumpkins straight down the middle. A single branch laid flat. Table accents that stand up on their own, like the Grateful gold accents, give you height without building a wall.

Fall is the easiest season for this because the season does the work. Anything you pick up outside on a walk is already the right color.

So we're giving one away

We styled a full fall table in store this week and then decided we wanted to send one home with somebody.

The set is Hester & Cook from top to bottom, a $75 value: the pumpkin paper placemats, the Grateful gold table accents, the die-cut pumpkin place cards, and the pumpkin Burleigh Stripe guest napkins. Everything in this post, essentially, minus the plates.

To enter, go to the post below and tag your hostess or the guests you'd seat at this table. Each comment is an entry, so tag as many people as come to mind. Entries close at midnight Friday, October 9, and we'll tag the winner in stories on Saturday, October 10.

 

You need to be following @ivoryandoliveshop to win, be 18+, and have a US shipping address. And no, Instagram has nothing to do with it.

If you'd rather not wait

The whole fall tabletop collection is in store and online right now, and the pieces in this post are all under $20 each. Which means you can build the entire table for less than the cost of one nice candle.

Come see it set up in person if you're local. It's easier to picture on your own table once you've seen it on ours, and we will absolutely help you pick a napkin.

📍 24847 Del Prado, Dana Point, CA 92629
Tuesday through Friday 11 to 6, Saturday 11 to 5

Now go tag your hostess.

xoxo, Katie + Shana

Previous Post Next Post

Related Posts

Design Trends That Don’t Look Trendy

Design Trends That Don’t Look Trendy

Rooms that feel beautiful years later share a few things: personality, depth and a connection to how you live. Here are the directions we're loving.

Learn more
How to Design a Mahjong Room: Our "Midnight in Bamboo" Reveal

How to Design a Mahjong Room: Our "Midnight in Bamboo" Reveal

Mahjong is having a moment. (If your group text has a standing Tuesday game, you already know.) What started as a quiet revival is now one of the most-requested things walking through our door, and honestly, we get it. It is social, it is beautiful, and it gives you a reason to gather your favorite people around a table on a weeknight. So when a client asked us to dream up a space designed entirely around her mahjong nights with her girlfriends, we ran with it. The concept we landed on is one we are a little obsessed with. Here is how we designed it, and how you can design a mahjong room of your own. First, a quick definition for anyone new to the idea. A mahjong room is a space designed around the game: a square table that seats four, comfortable chairs, and layered, tailored decor that makes game night feel like an occasion. The best ones are equal parts functional and dramatic. Ours leans all the way into drama. We called it Midnight in Bamboo. Start with the table Every room needs an anchor, and in a mahjong room, the anchor is obvious. We chose the Kennedy Game Table by Made Goods, wrapped in vintage-inspired shagreen and framed by a warm walnut border. At 36 inches square it is the perfect scale for mahjong, a card game, or an intimate dinner for two. The detail that stops everyone: a hidden pull-out drink holder built into each side. Because a great game deserves a great drink within reach, and nobody wants a wine ring on the playing surface. That is the whole philosophy of a game table in one piece. Beautiful, but built to actually be used. Go dark, and mean it Here is the design lesson most people get backwards: small rooms do not need to be light to feel good. They want drama. We wrapped the walls in Bambusa wallpaper in Midnight by House of Hackney, a painterly bamboo print that reads like a forest after dark. Then we grounded it with Galaxias No. 70, a deep cosmic navy, on the trim and architecture. The effect is cocooning. You can feel it just looking at the plan: the room wraps around you, and suddenly a Tuesday night feels like an event. Dark walls also do something sneaky: they make brass glow and greenery pop. Which brings us to the next layer. Light it like a dinner party Lighting is where a mahjong room goes from nice to unforgettable. Overhead, we hung the Millie brass palm chandelier by Worlds Away, a sculptural burst of gold leaves that doubles as the room's jewelry. On either side of the art, we added a pair of brass palm sconces for that warm, candlelit glow that makes everyone look (and feel) good. Our rule of thumb: layer your light. One statement fixture, plus softer sources at eye level, and you will never host under a harsh overhead again. Seating you will actually linger in Mahjong nights run long (as they should), so the chairs have to earn their place. We chose the Deloris dining chairs in ivory by Made Goods, with their romantic, garden-inspired scrollwork. We cushioned them in a green palm performance fabric, which is the quiet hero of the whole room: it looks like a dreamy linen but shrugs off a spilled glass of rosé. For the inevitable fifth friend who pulls up to watch, we tucked in an Edith stool in a mossy Ming green. Extra seating that looks intentional, not like an afterthought. Then layer the finishing touches This is the part that separates a room that is "done" from a room that feels designed. We flanked the table with a pair of gold-leafed Bamboo Garden Birds panels by Wendover, which tie the bamboo motif together and bring in those pops of coral and blush. Underfoot, a hand-loomed Surya rug in soft green adds texture and warmth. Add fresh hydrangea in a blue-and-white vase, and you are done. That is the formula, start to finish: anchor with the table, go dark on the walls, layer the lighting, choose seating you will linger in, and finish with art, a rug, and a little greenery. Want a room like this? Every piece in this concept was chosen specifically for our client, which is exactly what would make it hers. That is what we do. Whether it is a mahjong room, a butler's pantry, or a whole home, we design spaces that are tailored to you and built to be lived in. If you are dreaming one up, we would love to help. Book a design consultation, or come see the full Mahjong Room for yourself. And if you are not ready to commit to a whole room but you love the vibe? Start with the game. Shop our mahjong sets, mats, racks, and accessories, and you will have everything you need for game night. 📍 24847 Del Prado, Dana Point, CA 92629📞 (949) 433-0851Open Tuesday through Friday 11 to 6, and Saturday 11 to 5. xoxo, Katie + Shana

Learn more
Friday Favorites: The Fall Essentials Edit

Friday Favorites: The Fall Essentials Edit

  Friday Favorites The Autumn Edit · September 18, 2026 Autumn in Dana Point does not announce itself. There is no turning of the leaves, no first frost, no morning where you suddenly need a coat. The light just gets lower and a little more golden, and one evening you realize you want the lamps on at five. Which is exactly why the way you do fall here matters. If you lean on orange and black and hay bales, the house looks like it is wearing a costume. If you do nothing at all, the season passes without ever arriving. The version that works is quieter: warm metals, deeper texture, a little more weight in the fabrics. Four pieces, and you are done. Dried Botanical Glass Candle From $62 · Two sizes Real botanicals are pressed flat against the inside of the glass, so the leaf is part of the vessel rather than something printed on it. Unlit, it reads as a decorative object. Lit, the flame comes through the leaf and the whole thing glows from the inside. Two sizes, and the difference is more than height. The 6 inch is a two wick pour at 24.33 ounces, which gives you an even melt pool edge to edge and roughly 85 hours. The 7.5 inch runs a single wick through 32.09 ounces for about 155 hours, nearly double. If a candle is going somewhere you will light it every single night, take the tall one. Scents arrive assorted between gingerbread and spiced pomander balsam. Both sizes are four inches across, so they group beautifully: tall one behind, short one in front, on a console or a mantel. "Scent and light are the two things that change a room instantly, and this does both. I keep one in the entry from October on. It smells like the season without smelling like a candle store." — Katie Shop the candle English Oak Napkin Rings $9.50 each · Acorn or oak leaf Nine fifty. That is the whole barrier to entry on a table that looks considered. Cast in gold aluminum with a genuinely dimensional motif, not a stamped outline. The acorn has real roundness to it; the oak leaf has veining you can feel. Each one has a flat base, which is the detail that matters most: the ring sits upright on the plate instead of rolling off it. The opening is 1.5 inches, so it takes a proper linen napkin and not just a paper one. Sold individually, which we like, because it means you can buy eight of one or four of each. Mixing both motifs down the table is the move. It reads as collected rather than bought as a set. "These are the kind of napkin rings that make people stop and pick them up. The gold finish is exactly the right warmth. I love putting both styles out together: it looks intentional without being too matching." — Katie Shop the napkin rings Cintia Throw by D.V. KAP Home $248 · Made in California Sixty by eighty inches. Say that out loud, because most throws are not, and it is the entire reason this one works. At standard throw size, a blanket is decor. It gets folded over an arm, it looks nice, and nobody touches it. At sixty by eighty, two people can actually be under it. That is the only real test of a throw, and it is the one most of them fail. The cotton-rich blend is 70 percent cotton, 30 percent polyester, which gives you softness that survives washing and a weight that drapes instead of stiffening. The oversized check in sage, oat, and warm grey is the quiet kind of pattern: enough structure to be interesting on a neutral sofa, restrained enough to live there through spring. Fringed edges, handmade in California. Shop the throw Embroidered Pumpkin Pillow $75 · 20 inch, light green velvet Here is the trick this pillow pulls off: it is covered in pumpkins, and you have to look twice to notice. The embroidery is worked at a scale and density that reads as pattern first and motif second. That restraint is what lets it stay out from September through Thanksgiving without the room feeling costumed, and it is why it beats every literal pumpkin pillow on the market. The velvet is doing real work here. It catches light across the pile so the green shifts as you walk past it, and the gold thread picks up whatever warm light is already in the room. Two kinds of light in one object. The green itself is soft and slightly muted, closer to sage than to anything bright, which is why it sits so easily next to the check in the throw. Twenty inches square with a removable shell, so it slips over an insert you already own. Handcrafted, so expect small variations in the embroidery from one to the next. "A pillow is the cheapest way to change a room, and the ones worth buying have texture, not just print. I would use a pair on a neutral sofa and change nothing else." — Shana Shop the pillow How we would use all four These are not four unrelated things that happen to be seasonal. They cover the two rooms where autumn actually shows up. On the sofa: the throw folded in thirds over one arm, not draped artfully across the back, and a pair of the pumpkin pillows at the opposite end. The sage in both is close enough to feel deliberate and far enough apart to not look matched. Put the 7.5 inch candle on the coffee table and light it at four thirty. On the table: napkin rings on linen napkins, both motifs alternating down the length. The 6 inch candle in the center, or two of them if the table is long. That is the entire tablescape. No garland, no gourds, no runner required. The gold does the seasonal work and the rest of your table stays yours. The through line in all four is warm metal and soft green against natural texture. That combination carries from now straight through Thanksgiving, which means none of it gets boxed up in four weeks. And if you want more than four These are the favorites, but they are not the whole shop. Here is where we would go next, depending on what you are actually trying to pull off. If you are setting a table The pieces that do the most for the least. Autumn Leaves cocktail napkins from Hester & Cook are $6.50 for twenty, which is the best six dollars you will spend this season. The matching place cards are $10 for a dozen and turn a dinner into an occasion without any real effort. For Thanksgiving specifically, the Grateful banner, ivory with gold foil calligraphy, and the Thankful trivet in gold, which does double duty as a landing spot for whatever comes out of the oven. If you want something with more permanence than paper, the Pumpkin Burleigh stripe guest napkins are a softer take on the color, and the Meredith amber tumbler from Blue Pheasant is hand-blown, $22, and looks like it cost a great deal more under candlelight. If you want the whole embroidered pumpkin look The pillow has a family. The 72-inch table runner is the same green velvet and gold thread, and it is the single fastest way to make a dining table look seasonal. There is a hand towel too, which sounds like a small thing until you put it in a powder room and realize it is the only fall decorating that room needs. If you just want the house to smell right The Harvest Pumpkin candle from tag is the classic version of the season, warm and spiced without going syrupy. The Midnight Pumpkin mercury glass from Illume is the darker, moodier one, and the vessel is worth keeping long after the wax is gone. And if you need something to hold branches or dried stems, the Prosper vase in ochre starts at $24. That is the shortcut: pick one from the table list, one from the textiles, and one candle. Three pieces and a house reads as autumn. Shop the Autumn Edit All four favorites, plus the rest of our fall collection: candles, table linens, place cards, and more. Shop Fall Decor Or come see them in person.📍 24847 Del Prado, Dana Point, CA 92629📞 (949) 503-1155Tuesday through Friday 11 to 6, Saturday 11 to 5 xoxo, Katie + Shana

Learn more