The Blue Jeans of the Dining Room

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In my last post, I walked you through how to create an easy, everyday centerpiece and briefly mentioned that I always start with a table runner. Well, today, I thought I’d dedicate an entire post to my favorite table accessory, the blue jeans of the dining room, the table runner. 🙂

In my humble opinion, like a well fitting pair of jeans, a table runner is the perfect basic for your dining room wardrobe. It adds softness and color and is a great backdrop for your centerpiece. I prefer runners because, unlike tablecloths and place mats, your plate and the inevitable after dinner crumb mess lands on the table instead of your tablecloth or place mat. It’s super easy to wipe the table down after meals and the runner escapes most mealtime messes. We can usually go about a week without having to change it out! I also love that the runner allows the natural wood of your dining room table to be seen.

Here’s how I’ve used a few of my favorite table runners over the years!

Starting things off with an oldie, but still one of my favorites! This runner is from World Market a couple years ago (no longer available, sob!). The colors go perfectly with my dining room and it adds such a nice touch of color without being overwhelming!

Simple + Fresh Centerpiece

Clean Table Club

I found this next runner at Marshalls last year and love the colors! It was too wide so I intended to return it, but then decided to try to shrink it. A couple washes in hot water and tumbles in a warm dryer later and, ta-da! It fits! I love the tassels at the bottom!

How to Create Effortless Everyday Centerpieces

This next runner is one of my most used runners! It’s so versatile! I’ve used it for everyday like this…

How to Create Effortless Everyday Centerpieces

And I’ve used it in seasonal fall tablescapes like this simple one…

Fall Home Tour 2016

…and this fancy fall tablescape!

Fall Tablescape 2016

I love looking at Home Goods for seasonal table runners like this next one. I was thrilled to find a runner with blue pumpkins for fall!

Quick and Easy Fall Centerpiece

This silver runner is also a Home Goods find and was the perfect backdrop to my breakfast nook Christmas decor! I never got to do a full post on this tablescape last Christmas. Facepalm. Consider this a sneak peek for next Christmas. Haha!

I recently picked up this green and cream striped runner from Target and it’s already become a staple! It’s another super versatile runner for both everyday or holidays like our last dining room Christmas tablescape.

Festive Christmas Dining Room

One last runner that I’ve used over and over is a simple cream runner with burlap layered over the top for texture. Super easy and cheap!

Sweet and Simple Christmas Centerpiece

I’ve rounded up a bunch of table runners I thought you all would like, both neutral staples and colorful statement runners. Don’t forget to look at Home Goods, TJMaxx, and Marshalls, too! I’ve found some great runners at those stores for a great price!

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