Q&A

Lynn Butler Beling

Stylist/consultant Lynn Butler Beling’s resume is an impressive one that includes such client names as Ralph Lauren, Oprah magazine, Country Living magazine, and Martha Stewart Living/Omnimedia. With that experience to draw from, it’s no surprise that she’s also owner of The Product Gallery, an e-commerce store specializing in home and entertaining items, as well as the simple, clean-line tabletop pieces that reflect her personal taste and might well be described as minimalist art. (To see them, visit theproductgallery.com) Here, she gives Casual Flavors simple tips on the table-setting art.

Casual Flavors: Your tabletop line is largely streamlined and contemporary, very subdued in color. Do these qualities also apply to your approach to setting a table?

Lynn: Very much so. There are no patterns or details on my china or pottery dishes—on anything. I believe that the food itself should be the focal point and, for me, a beautiful plain plate will showcase food a lot better than a patterned one. The subdued palette goes along with that idea, though you’ll also find some black clay pottery in the line. Some people shy away from using black, but it makes a wonderfully dramatic vessel for food colors. Just picture golden kernels of corn inside a black bowl, or the colorful ingredients of a mixed salad.

CF: What suggestions would you make for choosing a color scheme for your tabletop?

Lynn: I always think you should have a tight color palette, using no more than two or three complementary colors. To choose a palette, you might take cues from your centerpiece colors, or your mauve-tinted goblets, or soft-toned linen table napkins. Then go on from there to combine, maybe, two of the subtlest colors with small touches of a bright or deep one to make everything pop. What I would advise against, though, are orange or red plates, which are most likely to clash visually with food rather than enhance it.

CF: Speaking of centerpieces, have you any general tips about floral arrangements?

Lynn: Well, first of all, there’s the old rule—and it’s a good one—about keeping the centerpiece low enough so that guests can talk easily and have eye contact across the table without having to peer through the elements of whatever the centerpiece happens to be. If you order a professional arrangement, be sure to tell the florist it’s for a dinner party so you’ll have the right height. If you’d like to do it yourself, but aren’t too confident about mixing different kinds of flowers and foliage, which is, after all, an art, you can’t go wrong if you stick to one type and color of flower—like pinky-orange tulips—used in abundance. You can use a single container for this, or several containers in a variety of heights and in multiples of three or five. Just be sure the finished arrangement keeps a comfortably low profile.

CF: With several major holidays on the horizon, when centerpieces for festive dinners take on a special importance, people are always looking for unusual, impressive ideas. Any good suggestions?

Lynn: One of my favorite holiday centerpieces is an arrangement of fruit. Take pineapples, for example. They’re not only a traditional symbol of hospitality, which makes it especially appropriate for holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, but they’re also easy to do because, with their green leaves and textured golden color, they’re beautiful just as they are. I’ve also used long rectangular containers— wood, or glass, or a single color of ceramic—filled with bunches and bunches of grapes—or lemons, or limes, or oranges—all running down the center of a rectangular table. Here, just as with flowers, the secret for success is using a rich abundance of a single fruit.

CF: Most of the tabletop settings featured in magazines show a large dining table that can seat ten people or more. But is there a way to get the same visual impact on a smaller table?

CF: And finally, what do you think is the most important factor in designing the picture-perfect table?

Lynn: I’ll sum it up in one word: Editing! What you want to avoid is a hodgepodge of elements. So, when planning your table, pick one style and stick with it—that is, don’t mix your modern dinner plates with Victorian serving bowls. Don’t work with more than three coordinating colors. And, if using multiple containers, for say, a centerpiece, make sure they’re all the same material.