December 05, 2022

Tablescape Muses: Laura Butler-Madden

To celebrate the start of the festive season, we’ve collaborated with a handful of tastemakers for our inaugural Tablescape Muses series. Our Muses have styled a dining table in their own homes for Christmas using their selection of our festive tableware, interpreted in their own way. Keep your eyes peeled throughout the month for other instalments in this series.

Our final Muse this Christmas is interior designer and expert renovator, Laura Butler-Madden. Laura is known for her elegant interiors – both in her design work, and her own Bath townhouse and Cotswold cottage. Laura styled a beautiful, elegant Christmas table in a neutral colour scheme, adding festive touches through candles, flowers and ribbons. Read on to discover Laura’s table styling tips and Christmas traditions.

Could you share your top tips for styling a Christmas table?

In all my designs I love to work with nature and my Christmas table is no different. I love to incorporate decorations from the garden - dried hydrangeas, holly, anything that’s in season and looking healthy/happy! I also love to keep things fairly simple in terms of colour palette - natural colours, soft taupe, greens, golds with pops of colour from the flowers and other smaller accessories. I adore candlelight for creating a really intimate mood, so always have lots and lots of candles at different heights on my Christmas table.

 What are your favourite ways to decorate your home for Christmas? 

As above I love to work with nature and I do think that less is more - I love natural garlands made from eucalyptus and dried flowers - one for the table, one for the stairs and also on the mantelpiece. Then its down to the Christmas trees, table decor and lighting to do the rest!

What extra little touches to you add to your table over the festive period? 

I do love to leave little treats on people’s placements when we host over Christmas. On Christmas Day it’s a cracker, but for other lunch and dinner parties I like to leave a small surprise - chocolates, some homemade jam or chutney, just something small to take away with them.

 Do you have any family traditions at Christmas? 

We are slowly creating new traditions now that we have Lily. We always blend English with Spanish, as Patrick’s family are from Madrid. We always have a Jamon and other Spanish nibbles, olives from the market there and seafood on Christmas Eve, which is when Christmas is celebrated in Spain. Then on Christmas Day we move to the British tradition of Turkey will all the trimmings, mince pies, Christmas Pudding and Stilton and port in the evening. So much food! Thank goodness Christmas is only once a year!

What is your favourite festive drink?  

I’m quite simple when it comes to drink. I don’t really like anything too sweet, so I’m very happy a glass of good wine.

 Any tips for seamless entertaining? 

Prepare as much as you can in advance. If I’m cooking, then supper will be a shepherd’s pie or similar - something I can prepare fully before the guests arrive then just pop in the oven. I always am too busy chatting once people are there to concentrate on cooking!