Chic Christmas Tables

It's always fun to decorate and set up for a Christmas party, but you might be tired of pulling out the same red and green table settings and centerpieces that you use every year.

If that's the case, Colin Cowie, entertaining expert and host of "Everyday Elegance," gave some ideas on The Early Show that you can use to set your table for the festivities.

Cowie's philosophy on parties and decorating is always about how to make everything look fabulous without necessarily having to spend lots of money. Cowie has shown us before how a few basic things -- such as candles, leaves and sometimes even salt -- can turn any party or table into a spectacular sight.

Cowie set one round table with deep-red color scheme. The second table, an oval table, was set in all white for a winter wonderland look. The third table, a rectangular table, used a non-traditional, more contemporary Christmas color scheme.

When it comes to the actual event, Cowie suggests when you're having a sit-down dinner, set the table the day before rather than the day of. He says the best way to enjoy your dinner is to make sure you design the menu so that you're chained to the table, not glued to the stove. He also suggest you to always use lots of candles because they make us all look younger and more glamorous.

Table 1

Cowie dresses the first table using a red color scheme. It goes along with the traditional expectations for a Christmas party, but it still a beautiful twist on what everyone else does. This table is easy to do, has an edge and it a reinvention of the dressed table. Cowie covered the table in a dark red cloth and everything else on the table was also red.

Cowie says to make a statement (and to make this table work) you should stick to one color but use lots of it. So, the table will have red plates and goblets and bright, tomato-red napkins tied with a ribbon. But, he will have half of the napkins treatments using a red ribbon (along with red votive candles) and the other half will offer the more traditional twist with red-plaid ribbons, along with red-plaid votives. The centerpiece will be made up of a variety of different red fruits in lieu of flowers, so it will be a decorative bowl filled with red apples, grapes, pomegranates, plums, etc.

He also threw in some red ornaments for good measure. Cowie notes that all of these things can also be recycled again (meaning you could eat the fruit and use the ornaments next year). And for those who think they can't pull of a look like this because their dishes aren't red, or their glasses aren't red, Cowie says this is the kind of stuff that you can pick up at a flea market or you can find it very inexpensively at places like Crate and Barrel. Although Cowie's finished looks always look like a million bucks, the actual cost is usually far from it.

Table 2

The second table is Cowie's vision of a winter wonderland. Cowie says this table top is a lot of fun, and is great for the country. The table was set in all white, so again play on using one color and lots of it to make it look really great. He used a bedsheet to cover the table — showing once again that you can make do with things you already have in the house, if need be.

Then, Cowie arranged an assortment of things down the center of the table. He placed pieces of Douglas Fir and Pine along the center, and nested candles and different ornaments into it. Included in this amalgamation of items was a dozen apples, spray-painted white. Again, an easy way to achieve the look you want for not that much money is to buy fruit and spray paint it. Then, set it with all white dinnerware. But to make it a little more modern, Cowie used square plates, silk napkins and tumblers instead of stemware. Altogether, it was a pure, elegant look that anyone can pull off.

Table 3

For this table, Cowie used a contemporary, funky and unexpected color theme - amethyst and chartreuse (purple and lime green). This is the table that someone a little younger and hipper might be inclined to do because it's not the usual staid red and green. Although we always think of red and green for Christmas, Cowie says there is no reason why those have to be the dominant colors on your table.

He found gorgeous ornaments that are amethyst and chartreuse and he also found little vases in these colors, so he built the theme around these items. Cowie says he was looking for a fashion forward, chic color combination that he could re-invent in the style of Christmas. This table will be covered with an eggplant-colored tablecloth. The centerpiece is an amethyst bowl filled with things that follow the bright purple, amethyst and lime green color scheme, like grapes and limes and eggplants. And if you wanted to dress it up a little more, Cowie says you can stick some roses into test tubes of water and slip them into the centerpiece, and they'll last for a week. The table is original, beautiful and chic.