Placement of Placemats

Place mats are there to protect your table as well as outline a bit of personal real estate in a way. Often mats are good for under the plate but not the flatware, especially with round mats. Or at times when a charger plate hogs up a bit more space. You could either look for oval mats or allow your flatware to rest on the table. But for some reason we really do want the place mat to do it all- the plate, the flatware and the glassware.

If that’s the case –and it most likely is- then why not double the space with 2 mats (I know, its rocket science, really.)

As the above shows 2 horizontal mats were just simply criss-crossed to allow more space above to handle the stemware. This is especially good when you have a table surface that stains or scratches easily or in the summer months when condensation gets spills all over your table.  Two or even 3 round mats could also be used to elongate or enlarge your space.  Finished or waxed wood gets big white circles that are easier to prevent than remove.

The above also shows the variety of serving items that can easily be created with using various items such as the small Woodbury glass bowl on the platter in the back right side. Note also the mix of materials, Cavendish Stemware, wood, Horn, Chilewich place mats as well as colors of slate, shale and alabaster in the Barre (pronounced "Barry") table top items all by Simon Pearce.