Christmas Centerpiece Ideas: 15 Easy Looks for Round, Long and Coffee Tables

A long, narrow wooden box is the easiest centerpiece for a rectangular table. Line it with pine or cedar, set three or four candles in glass holders along it, and fill the gaps with large pine cones. It stays put, it is the right shape already, and it lifts off in one piece when the turkey arrives.

For a fuller look, use a wider box or tray and mix candle heights: pillars, votives and two or three slim tapers. Add berries and a few gold baubles among the greenery. Set it on a strip of burlap or a linen runner to protect the table and frame it.

Lay a garland, or overlapping branches, straight down the middle of the table. Thread a strand of battery fairy lights through it and tuck in red berries and pine cones. Place two or three candles in holders along its length. This is the look in the photo at the top of the page, and it works on a bare table or over a white cloth.

A shallow wooden dough bowl, or any long oval tray, holds four pillar candles in a row with greenery and pine cones packed around them. It is shorter than a runner, so it suits a table for six where a full-length garland would leave no room for dishes.

One black lantern with a pillar candle, set on a round wooden tray and ringed with pine cones and a few sprigs of pine. It takes five minutes, costs very little if you collect the cones yourself, and the lantern keeps the flame enclosed.

Use a round tray with a lip. Put a ceramic vase of pine, cedar and berry stems at the back, three pillar candles in front, and small ceramic or bottle brush trees to one side. Fill the floor of the tray with pine cones and loose berries. The tray is what makes separate objects read as one centerpiece.

A slice of wood as the base, three pillar candles in glass cylinders of different heights, and a wreath of eucalyptus and soft greenery around them. Greens and whites only, no red. It is the calmest idea on the list and it suits a table that is already busy with patterned plates.

A metal or wooden hoop standing in a base of greenery, half wrapped in red berry stems, with a few baubles and a star hanging inside it. It is taller than the other round-table ideas but mostly open, so guests can still see through it. It also works on a sideboard or in the entry.

Fill tall glass cylinders with water, drop in cranberries and a sprig of greenery, and float a candle on top of each. Use three cylinders in different heights. The berries float, so add them last and top up the water until the candle sits just below the rim.

No flowers needed: fill clear vases with baubles in two colors and push a strand of battery micro lights down among them. Top one vase with a few faux poinsettias or evergreen stems if you want height. It uses the ornaments that did not fit on the tree and it glows after dark.

The budget version of idea 9. Put a little coarse salt or sugar in the bottom of jars or tumblers to look like snow, add a tea light, and tie twine and a sprig of rosemary or pine around each. Line five down a long table or cluster three on a round one.

On a coffee table, a round wicker tray with handles holds a small vase of cedar and berries, a scented candle, two or three candle holders and a pair of small gold trees. Everything lifts off together when you need the table, which is the whole point of a tray.

A two- or three-tier serving stand gives height on a small footprint, which suits a kitchen island or a buffet. Group pillar candles on each tier and ring them with berry picks and leaves. After Christmas the stand goes back to holding fruit or cupcakes.

For an island, one tall narrow vase of bare or evergreen branches at the end nobody works at. Hang three or four light ornaments from the branches. It is above eye level and slim, so it does not get in the way.

The smallest centerpiece: a wide bowl filled with baubles, pine cones and a strand of micro lights. It suits a small apartment table that has to be cleared for every meal. For more ideas at that scale, see our small apartment Christmas decor ideas.