Every year, we ask our favorite style icons for their take on the holiday table; each setting is wholly different, and we love hearing each person’s philosophy of the dinner table.
This Thanksgiving, it’s Sam Hamilton’s turn. For Sam, proprietor of design-forward kitchen store March in San Francisco (and who, at least to us, has probably the best design eye of anyone in the city), Thanksgiving is a time for family and not a time for being anxious about the table. “At Thanksgiving, people typically reach for their finest—their wedding china, silver flatware, white tablecloths,” she says. “But I like to keep the table relaxed and less fussy; it’s a time for family, and you don’t want people to feel uptight.”
Sam’s main tips: Be comfortable with a little imperfection, like wrinkles on the tablecloth and natural-looking produce. Keep pitchers of both water and wine on the table within reach, so people can easily pour themselves another glass. And mix earthy and accessible wares with more refined pieces. Let’s see how she did it.
Above: The March Thanksgiving table is set on a Black Sawhorse Table from Blackcreek Mercantile & Trading Co.; it’s 9.5 feet long and made of black-stained oxidized white oak; $6,000. Behind it, holding the vase, is the company’s Table Stool; $690. Sam’s Thanksgiving table, set in the March store in San Francisco, embraces a wholly moody tone: “I like going dark and bringing up the light with food and candlelight; putting things against a dark background spotlights them,” she says. Above: The tablescape is set on a folded Boxwood Linen Fringed Tablecloth in the color “arabica,” cut and sewn in upstate New York of European linen; $550 for a 72-by-120-inch tablecloth. Though March offers wares at the undeniably higher end of things, “Not everything is precious at the table,” says Sam. “My vintage cups from the 1970s are glass, not fine crystal; I like mixing them with things that are more refined.” Above: Scattered across the table is a single March Brass Menorah, which functions as nine individual candlesticks when separated; $2,500. Two gunmetal pillar candleholders by French ceramist Georges Jouve are Sam’s own. Above: At each setting is a salad plate and dinner plate from Brickett Davda’s Black Plates collection, made by hand in the UK of glazed stoneware (available in four sizes, starting at $52 for a dessert plate). The flatware is Sam’s own vintage Alan Adler sterling silver. Above: Sam pours water from a Spruce Crystallized Pitcher by Christiane Perrochon ($600) into vintage 1970s bronze-hued glasses from her own collection. Each setting is anchored by a Rush Matters Round Mat, a 16-inch-diameter placemat made by hand of bulrush harvested from freshwater rivers in England and woven using time-honored techniques. Above: Table jewelry: Perched atop each salad plate is a Small Bowl by designer Ilse Crawford, made in Denmark of solid brass; $175. Tucked beneath is a Boxwood Linen Fringed Dinner Napkin to match the tablecloth; $55 each. Above: For coffee service after the main course: Lobmeyr Espresso Cups ($55 each) with plated brass Saucers ($165 each) on a Black Oak Serving Tray by Belgian designer Michaël Verheyden ($3,400). A Spruce Crystallized Teapot ($900) and Spruce Crystallized Dessert Plates ($105), both by Christiane Perrochon, stand at the ready. Above: Made by hand in England, a Sweet Chestnut Trays by Annemarie O’Sullivan has a base of handwoven willow with a chestnut bark hoop. The small tray shown here is $375. At right is an Italian Berti Ox Horn Bread Knife, also $375. Above: Florals need not be fancy, even in an heirloom-quality vase: Here, a simple branch clipped from the yard rests in a slate Flower Vase by Christiane Perrochon; $2,700. Above: In the foreground is a solid brass Dew Trivet from Swedish design house Skultuna, inspired by Art Deco floral patterns; $260. “I like a less formal centerpiece,” says Sam. “Flowers mixed with fruit feels like a cornucopia.” For more Thanksgiving tablescapes, see:
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins
Error: No connected account.
Please go to the Instagram Feed settings page to connect an account.
v5.0
×
Join the Remodelista Family of Websites
Become a Member at no charge
When you register as a free Member of the Remodelista family of websites (Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home), you gain access to all current posts plus 10 archived posts per month, our internal bookmarking tool, and the community bulletin board.
Access 10 archived posts (older than one year) per month on each site
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Unlimited access to the Product Catalogs, Design Travel sources, and Architect & Designer Directory listings
Choose from our ten newsletters to keep up with the latest on the sites
Or Subscribe for Maximum Value!
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
×
Subscribe to the Remodelista family of websites
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
×
Sorry! As a registered member you get 10 free posts from our archive (posts more than a year old) every 30 days. You have reached your limit for this 30-day period. If you would like to access unlimited posts from the archive (ad free, too), become a subscriber today, and keep reading as many articles as you want.
Full Access Individual Subscription
Benefits include:
Unlimited access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home sites
Ad-free browsing environment
Unrestricted access to 30,000+ archived posts
Receive the full-text daily newsletters
All features that Members have access to
Annual subscribers pay just 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
Sorry! You have reached your limit of three (3) free posts from our archive every 30 days. You can increase this to 10 posts by joining as a free Member, or read unlimited posts with no ads by becoming a paid Subscriber.
Subscribe to the Remodelista family of websites
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
Become a Member at no charge
When you register as a free Member of the Remodelista family of websites (Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home), you gain access to all current posts plus 10 archived posts per month, our internal bookmarking tool, and the community bulletin board.
Congratulations on becoming a Subscriber to Remodelista, Gardenista and The Organized Home! You now have access to many great features across the sites:
Unlimited access to all three sites
Ad-free browsing environment
Unrestricted access to 30,000+ archived posts
Receive any of the newsletters, including the the full-text daily Remodelista and Gardenista newsletters
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Congratulations on joining as a free Member of Remodelista, Gardenista and The Organized Home! You now have access to many great features across the sites:
Access to all posts published in the past year
Access 10 archived posts (older than one year) per month on each site
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Unlimited access to the Product Catalogs, Design Travel sources, and Architect & Designer Directory listings
Choose from our ten newsletters to keep up with the latest on the sites
If at any time you want to become a Subscriber and enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to all our content, just go to the My Account link and choose Subscribe.
Have a Question or Comment About This Post?
Join the conversation