Design: Holiday tabletops

A holiday dinner host is entrusted with a special challenge -- delight each guest's inner child while serving a meal to remember on the grown-up china, all while capturing the spirit of the season. Each detail, from the guest list to the menu to the parting gift, is carefully chosen to create an evening that's unique, memorable and sprinkled with just the right touch of holiday sparkle -- and it all happens around the dining table.

Brooklyn interior designer and Smithtown native Harry Daniell is holding three Long Island seminars this month on how to plan, style and create a beautiful holiday tabletop. Here, Daniell shares five tips for making it magical:

1. CONSIDER THE GUEST LIST

Think about the number of guests, their ages and their personalities. Imagine them having fun around your table and ask yourself what, in this vision, is making each of them feel special? Then, make it happen. "If there are kids, you might want to gear something toward children," Daniell says. "If they're adults who don't know each other, you'll want to mix people. ... The seating is as important as the creation of the tabletop," he says. For the display on this page, he envisioned a young executive on a romantic date, so roses, wine and candles were in order.

2. MIX IT UP

Go ahead and start with the good china if you like -- but spread out all your other dishes, too, to see if any cool combinations emerge. "If you have more than one pattern, I definitely like the mix and match of pieces, alternating between the place settings," Daniell says. "It brings a sense of fun and a sense of interest to the table." That element of surprise lets guests know, before they even sit down, that they're in for something unique. "You're setting that tone right from the start," Daniell says. Here, he alternates goblets in red and green.

3. SHOW YOUR COLORS

"If somebody has just one set of dishes, as a lot of people do in terms of fine china, you've got to be creative," Daniell says. He arranged raw Thibaut fabric to bring holiday red to this tabletop, but inexpensive red chargers could do the trick for a Christmas dinner, he says. "It can be just at the head and the foot of the table," he says. Daniell says he secretly loves to scout discount retailers like Marshalls for housewares on the cheap, and the Christmas Tree Shops is a favorite spot for filling in the seasonal touches.

4. ADD THE ICING

"Those are the bones," Daniell says. "Now, what's key are centerpieces, candles and perhaps the place card holders. ... Those little elements are the key to a brilliant tabletop." For a whimsical take on the place card, use a gold marker to write each guest's name on a Christmas ball, he suggests. Fruit makes an enchanting alternative to a flower centerpiece, he says. Here, grapes are arranged with flowers on a two-tier serving platter for touchable, edible elegance.

5. 'OWN IT, AND BRING IT'

That's what Daniell says. This is your evening -- forget the rules, let go of your doubts and just go for it. "You need to believe that you can create something magical," Daniell says. "It's about ... committing to it and just doing it." His personal flair shines through with the nature-inspired flatware, wine rest and candleholders by Michael Aram.