Whether you're hosting a large group to celebrate the holiday season or having a few loved ones over for a festive drink, there are endless ways to curate a memorable experience.
Throwing a holiday dinner party can feel overwhelming, and with good reason. Aside from the tidying and cooking and decorating and just being a consummate host, setting the perfect table can take a lot of thought and time. For such a festive occasion, it’s the time to step away from your everyday tableware and create an experience for your guests. While a holiday party also doesn’t mean you need to purchase an entirely new suite, though it’s a great excuse if you’re so inclined, adding a few new pieces to your dining landscape can create an impressive display.
Whether you're hosting a large group to celebrate the holiday season or having a few loved ones over for a festive drink, there are endless ways to curate a memorable experience. If you’re in need of an instant upgrade, sure to impress, look no further than London designer Tom Dixon. Probably best known for his passion for and long-term experience with metal – often working with iron, steel, copper and brass, Tom Dixon experiments with all different materials, shapes and methods of design to create impressive, original designs.
Welcome your guests with a drink. For his latest glassware collection, Puck, Dixon sat down with his Coal Office restaurant team for a long and intense investigation into the perfect shape and proportion for the contemporary cocktail. The process involved stripping away as much non-essential detail to create something that’s more minimal, heavy-weight and authoritative in mixology glassware. Puck is made in Poland using mouth blown glass that has a hint of smoke colour creating a pared back design which allows the glasses to live in multiple environments.
Add drama to your table with Press. The thick industrially pressed glass artefacts are designed and engineered to catch and refract light. Press is a series of heavyweight grooved vases, bowls and candleholders made of fat, chunky coils of pure and clear transparent glass. Bold in silhouette and simple in function they are manufactured by dropping big globs of molten glass at 1,200 degrees centigrade and pressed in two to three iron moulds to create immediately familiar silhouettes.
A great trick for setting a holiday-themed table is mixing metallics. Characterised by a hand painted copper band, Tank takes its sculptural cue from the functional shapes and volumes of scientific glassware. Minimal yet decorative for a multiplicity of purposes of drinking, pouring, storing and displaying food and drink, the range forms bold building blocks of table-top architecture. Tank is made from mouth-blown clear glass, finished with the same precision as cut crystal.
Not to be overlooked, there are a series of intangibles that can be just as important in interior-design as furniture, lighting etc. Often, the most potent first impression of a space can be its smell. Tom Dixon scents, including the Eclectic Collection, are created in Paris. Each note has been hand-picked and expertly combined to create an evocative sensory experience. Each Tom Dixon wax and diffuser scent container is made from hand spun brass to copper. Tom Dixon candles are made in the UK and contain 10% fragrance – a much higher level compared to the standard 1-3%, meaning the scent is stronger and will last longer. The larger and medium candles each come with a Morwad marble lid. Both Diffuser and candle have been designed with the intention for a second life – whether this be a plant pot, container, or refilled into a new candle – scent vessels are adaptable and made to last a lifetime. (Making this and excellent gifting item as well.)
Set the Table. Dixon’s long-term love affair with marble bears more fruit with a new series of Green Forest marble artefacts. Rock is a collection of interactive, playful and stackable sculptures, which act as architecture for your dining table. The range displays the natural and uniquely solid materiality that Tom Dixon Studio has long been associated with. The pattern and texture of each piece are entirely unique, depending on the block of marble it was carved from, which creates an individualistic quality in every product.
Shop our Holiday Gift Guide here.
