new year’s eve entertaining (with bed, bath, and beyond)!

i know that new year’s eve is often celebrated with over-the-top glitz and glamour– and partying into the wee hours of the morning. but for as long as i can remember, my new year’s eve tradition has been a lot more casual and low key. i mean, i love a good party, but after all of the festivities of the holiday season, i’m usually ready to just relax and unwind with a few close friends and family members. one last warm and cozy gathering before we refresh our palettes and look forward to new beginnings.

and speaking of new beginnings, i don’t know that i’ve mentioned it much, but we just got through a pretty major home renovation a couple of months ago and have yet to show it off! we have some time until the big reveal (more details on that to come), so we’ve been taking it easy and slowly refreshing the decor throughout the house in anticipation of the big day. one of our main goals in renovating the house was to be able to do more entertaining. a lot of my family lives here in town, and we really like having our doors open for family dinners, play dates, impromptu bbqs. so when bed bath & beyond asked me to share some of my tips for new year’s eve entertaining, i was all over it. i’ve basically spent the past 3 years in our house just planning out how to use this space once we were able to invite guests over, even if it is just a casual affair!

my bed bath & beyond NYE checklist:

like i said, i’ve been scheming all of the things i need for entertaining for quite a while, so i felt like a kid in a candy store shopping around at bed bath & beyond. for our new year’s eve gathering, i knew i wanted something that was totally decadent, yet still comfortable and casual. it took a lot of restraint on my part, but i opted to go super neutral with the table settings because i knew that i wanted to add lots of color with bright red peppers, deeply hued pomegranates, glossy black olives, rich cheeses, and fatty meats. i even added vodka and cranberry to the champagne! so for the tableware itself, i decided to stick with neutral colors and luxurious textures: perfectly rumpled napkins and a tablecloth fashioned into a runner, matte dinnerware and bowls, natural wood-grain peeking through the serving boards and trays. and i added a spray of foraged dry florals over the table to add a breath of fresh air to remind us of the coming new year, even when it’s gloomy and cold outside.

as i was shopping for all the perfect pieces, one theme that started to emerge as i started to put my list together? i really love their in-house brand, artisanal kitchen supply. it was a great starting point for me because they have a lot of very on-trend options like marble, wood, and cast iron in really beautiful complimentary color schemes. i decided to go for the linen colorway on the dinnerware and expanded from there. a quick search for cotton and linen came up with beautifully textured napkins. i went for a mix of both classic and stemless champagne flutes. and since we have a lot of mid century furniture in the house, i was even able to find a set of perfectly retro candlesticks to tie things together. i literally didn’t have to step foot into any other shop (besides the grocery store) and my place is now totally holiday ready. if you need your own starting point, they have tons of holiday shops, which include hanukkah, christmas, even halloween all in one destination so you can sleigh the holidays.