Festive dining in style with colour co-ordinated black & white

For a dramatic and stunning décor in your dining room why not try something new and poles apart from traditional reds and greens and go monochromatic using black and white Christmas décor. The stark contrast between the two colours has been successfully used in interior design for decades and yet few people think of using it to decorate a festive table. These contrasting colours look striking and compliment cutlery beautifully. The reflective surfaces of your cutlery will bring extra interest and a magical sparkle to the table.

To get the look you can use a crisp white table cloth and use a black table runner, alternatively you can be really dramatic and use black table linen which will highlight your silver coloured cutlery and will look especially stunning when used with a plain white dinner service. To add to the impact ensure you include some different textures to your table setting otherwise you run the risk of making the table lack definition and character and also a little flat, boring and lifeless. As you already have ceramics in your plates, metallics in your knives and forks turn your attention to the different fabrics in your table linen.

Some of the latest designs are made from materials which has a natural shine and these would tie in beautifully with other reflective surfaces. You central table decoration also needs to be in black and white if you're going to stay true to the colour scheme, it's very tempting to include another colour as an accent, and there's nothing fundamentally wrong with this – if you are tempted opt for bright red, rich purples or gold and any one of these colours are Christmas-y and tone beautifully with black and white.

Shiny black candles can also be used on your festive table, opt for the shorter styles which will enable you to pass plates without the potential risks of being inadvertently burnt. As silver can be constituted as white you'll also be able to sprinkle metallic snowflake confetti onto the table runner or use an oversized wine glass or a clear cut glass fruit bowl to arrange a mixture of black and white baubles. This festive colour combination looks stunning in both modern and contemporary styled homes and if you have friends or family dining with you this Christmas they'll see that you've got your finger firmly on the pulse of the latest interior design idea.