24 Aug Three Ways to Style a Geeky Dining Room Table
You often see people style a geeky dining room table for weddings, special occasions, and even holidays. But I love creating geek-inspired tablespaces all year round.
I mean, you only get married once. Well… actually…
Scratch that. The holiday season only comes around once a year, right?
Yep. That’s better…
While I love the idea of a Star Wars themed wedding, I often think that we go overboard when it’s time to decorate for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. I don’t necessarily want themed table decor all the time. Plus it has to match our decor style. I’m sure we don’t have to have something on our table all the time. But it sure does tie together the rest of the space, rather than having this large wooden table just sitting in the middle of the floor.
What I’m saying is that your space should be geeky and classy with a touch of subtlety. “If you know, you know.” So I try to think outside the box when it comes to our dining room table.
Turn Themes into Ideas: Mario Bros-Inspired Table Decor
Hubs loves Mario Bros. Growing up playing the video games with his siblings brings him great memories that he enjoys talking about. So when the 2023 Mario Bros movie came out in April we were all in. Why it didn’t come out for March 10 (Mario Day), I will never understand. But in March, I created a spring Mario-inspired dining room table setting with a subtle nod to the upcoming movie. I chose natural unusual floral elements and a limited palette rather than trying to force a bunch of primary colors into a space that doesn’t use bright colors. Ever.
Okay, so really the only hints you can see that this could be related to a toadstool are the napkins (designed by me) and the painted mushrooms. But that was good enough for us. The point is when we do use that table, it’s nice to have every meal feel like a special geeky occasion.
Today, I’m sharing a short post with three ways to style a geeky dining room table to inspire you to try your own geeked out decor. And then I’ll show you how I decorated our dining room table to celebrate the television show with our Ahsoka Tano-inspired tablescape. We may not be able to talk about the television series just yet, but there are other ways to show our appreciation for our fandoms!
Three ways to style a geeky dining room table
- Use symbols and colors
- Try floral accents
- Bring in hardware to match your design style
Use symbols and colors to create a geeky dining room table
Our fandoms are colorful. I mean take a good look at our superheroes. Except for Black Panther, we have reds, golds, greens, purples, and bright blues. Nothing matches. So when decorating your geeky home you should really think in limited palettes and choose one or two colors that best represent your concept. Sometimes even just one color and a symbol works. Or a shape. Whatever you think of when you picture your book, movie, or character.
Fabric is a great way to bring in symbols, colors, and textures. Tablecloths, napkins, and runners can bring your idea together seamlessly without looking so much like a themed restaurant.
For our Ahsoka-inspired table, I designed Padawan-inspired fabric to sell on Spoonflower. The collection gives me choices when decorating or ordering fabric for costumes, and it’s unique to our style. I chose the blue to match the hydrangeas, but really had a hard time deciding on whether the orange would look better.
Try floral accents to style a geeky dining room table
I love plants. And I love using greenery in our home. I’m not even going to admit that I might have just a tad too many plants. One because we will not encourage hubs on this platform! And two, well, I can still see empty places that would make the perfect place for a new plant. I’m just saying.
Enough about our semi-jungle situation. Back to tables…
Using floral stems or branches to convey a mood or an idea is the perfect way to style a geeky dining room table. Using these little fuzzy yellow flower-puffs –
No, that is not the scientific name. They’re actually called craspedia (drumstick) flowers. But my name is so much better, don’t you think?
– in our Mario Bros-inspired table setting gave a fun and charming air to the very natural decor. When we think of the video games and the movie, we think fun and charming. And colorful.
You don’t have to go with a whole bouquet. Places like Trader Joe’s sells seasonal and unique flowers and greenery as single stems. This means you can mix and match a bit of color with green to get what you want. I like to stick with no more than 2-3 different types of stems so the table doesn’t look too crowded.
I found these blue hydrangeas at Trader Joes and had to have them for our Ahsoka Tano-inspired dining room. Fun fact: blue hydrangeas stand for forgiveness and regret. If you know the story of Ahsoka and Anakin, I think there was a lot of regret there. And, hopefully in the end, forgiveness. The baby’s breath means new beginnings, and one of my favorite Ahsoka quotes is “It’s a new day, a new beginning.” Of course, you don’t have to go that deep with your floral choices. Ahsoka has blue in her head-tails (lekku) so blue was the best choice for the concept and our decor style.
Bring in hardware and accessories to match your design style
The best way to define your design style is your signature look – all the things you use to express your design style including furniture, lighting, decor, and accessories. This should be your main inspiration behind your geeky decor as well; at least it should make it easier to find pieces and ideas. Does your space have a modern style? Scandinavian? Then look for things that have that same aesthetic. Your design style also includes all the things you’re drawn to – color, lines, textures, etc. These things come from your own personal style and how you apply it to your home decor. We’ll get into this a bit more in a future post.
One of the easiest ways to show your design style through your geeky decor is by using hardware like chargers, napkin holders, candlesticks and even a statement piece. You can also use plates and silverware to convey an idea. Try candles and unique planters, as well. Get creative and think outside the box, but try not to make it too obscure. Or do – that’s the fun in it, right?
I chose to go the obvious route with our Ahsoka Tano-inspired dining room table decor. A few years ago, I found a 3D bust of Ahsoka on Etsy and lost my mind. The image showed a beautifully painted statue of my favorite Star Wars character and when I saw the price, I had to have it immediately. When the order arrived, I was disappointed to find that the 3D print was not actually painted, and that the image shown was an example of how I could paint it. Despite the inaccurate and misleading description, I kept the bust. I just couldn’t be bothered to send it back.
Fast forward a few years later and I’m really glad I ordered the bust. I’m even glad I never got around to painting it like I promised I would. The simplicity of the white that leaves her colors to the imagination ended up being the perfect statement piece for our table.
So get creative, celebrate a movie premiere or new book series, and have fun with your table decor. You live in your space so make it as unique to you as you want.
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