The Tablescape Series: December - Deep Evergreen

Robin Daprato
Dec 31, 2025
5 min read

Holding Warmth Through Winter

Elegant Christmas dinner table with lit candles, crystal glasses, checkered napkins, and green accents. Festive and cozy ambiance.

Winter, for me, has always carried a particular kind of stillness.

I spent many of the coldest months of my childhood tucked away in the countryside at my grandmother’s house, where the world seemed to move at the pace of falling snow. Every December felt like a true retreat. Two full weeks where school dissolved, schedules softened, and life narrowed into simple, grounding rituals. Puzzles spread across the kitchen table. The low hum of the radio. Wool socks drying near the fire. Outside, rows of evergreen trees stood tall and unwavering, their branches heavy beneath fresh white snow. The landscape felt hushed, almost reverent, as though winter itself was asking us to slow down.

Those winters weren’t elaborate or grand, but they were the closest thing I knew to magic. The days were short, yet somehow endlessly full. We bundled up to trek through snowdrifts, our breath fogging the air, returning just as the light faded to see the house glowing softly in the distance. We peeled off damp snowsuits, slipped into cozy clothes, sat down to a warm dinner, and fell into the kind of deep sleep that only comes after a day spent fully outside. Exhausted, content, and safe.

I remember pressing my forehead to the cold window at night, watching snowflakes drift through the porch light, and feeling an inexplicable calm. The evergreen trees, ancient and unmoved, made everything feel steady. Protected.

As I’ve grown older, winter has become louder. It is often crowded with obligations, expectations, and noise. But whenever I see evergreen branches dusted in snow, something in me is pulled back to that childhood quiet. A reminder of what winter once meant. Rest. Permission to retreat. A kind of peace that didn’t need to be earned.

This year, I found myself craving that feeling again.

THE EVERGREEN TABLESCAPE

Festive dining room with a decorated Christmas tree, elegant table setting with candles, green accents, and wreaths on walls and windows. Cozy atmosphere.

Deep Evergreen was designed as a return to that winter quiet. For this month's tablescape, I wanted the table to feel comforting rather than impressive. Familiar, grounded, and quietly intentional. Soft gingham linens set the table, while greenery was layered throughout the room rather than on it. A wreath chandelier overhead, winter greenery along the windowsills, and simple candlelight warmed the space.

Elegant dining table set with checkered napkins, plates, crystal glasses, green goblets, candles, and trays of cookies. Mood: refined.

Gingham carries a sense of home for me. It is practical, nostalgic, and timeless. The kind of pattern that immediately softens a space. Paired with deep evergreen tones and natural textures, it anchored the table in tradition. Greenery brought the outside in, echoing those winter landscapes that first shaped my love for the season. Candlelight did the rest, flickering gently as the evening unfolded and casting warmth and shadow across the table.

A serene setting with a large beige vase holding greenery, black candles on a table with a draped cloth, and a textured wall backdrop.

THE FOOD OF WINTER

Festive dining room with a layered cake centerpiece, green decor, and crystal glasses. A person is in the kitchen, lit by warm lights.

The meal unfolded slowly, beginning with a simple aperitif for guests when they arrived at the table. A mulled pear and white wine punch, served warm, alongside rosemary–parmesan shortbread and other nibbles that sat on the table. It was meant to welcome guests in from the cold and to mark the moment coats came off and shoulders softened.

Punch and cocktail fountain with cascading orange wine and pear punch, surrounded by empty flutes on a patterned tablecloth, creates an elegant evening setup.

The shared table followed. Herb-crusted turkey breast with sage and lemon. Parmesan polenta finished with brown butter and thyme. Maple-rosemary carrots scattered with pepitas. Shaved Brussels sprouts with cranberries and pecorino. Charred broccolini with garlic oil and almonds. Warm bread rolls served with whipped herb butter.

Festive dinner table with plates of roasted vegetables, rolls, and a candlelit atmosphere. A book and greenery in the background.

The meal was served simply, with guests helping themselves rather than sitting through formal courses. It created a relaxed rhythm to the evening, one that invited ease, warmth, and lingering.

A chef in a black apron holds a layered dessert in a festive kitchen with green garlands. The apron reads "Chef Kate." Mood is cheerful.

To finish, a cranberry clementine trifle with vanilla mascarpone cream. Light, nostalgic, and quietly celebratory. A dessert that felt like winter without heaviness.

Hands scoop dessert trifle from a large glass bowl into individual cups. The setting is dimly lit, highlighting the creamy and fruity textures.

THE GIFT OF MUSIC

Candles illuminate a table set with plates and glasses. A woman sings near a lit Christmas tree, creating a festive, cozy atmosphere.

Music shaped the evening in the same relaxed way as the rest of the table. We chose to include live music not as a performance, but as atmosphere. Something reflective, familiar, and emotionally grounding. Dunstan Morey on guitar and Gabrielle Byrnes’ vocals brought a softness perfectly suited to winter. The selections drew from artists like Joni Mitchell and Simon & Garfunkel, songs that carry memory and feeling without asking for attention. Music that feels like looking back on a year just passed.

Woman singing and man playing guitar in a festive room with a lit Christmas tree and candles on a dining table. Cozy holiday ambiance.

As the evening came to a close, the music turned gently toward reflection. We ended with Auld Lang Syne, and Gaby invited everyone to join in. Voices rose quietly around the room, some confident, some tentative and it felt less like a performance and more like a shared pause. A moment to mark the end of another year, to hold gratitude, and to acknowledge what had been before stepping forward.

Singer performing next to a lit Christmas tree. People dine by candlelight, creating a warm, festive atmosphere with green and gold tones.

TO END THE EVENING

To extend the feeling beyond the table, guests left with a small offering designed to carry the evening home with them. A custom guide to winter hosting, paired with a cozy cocktail kit. A reminder that warmth can be created intentionally, even during the slowest months.

Two women smile at a candlelit table, decorated with ribbons and glasses. A man stands behind them in a cozy, warmly lit room.

As always, we closed the night by talking about the colour itself. What it brought forward. What it made us think of. Deep Evergreen was deeply tied to nostalgia. For some, it recalled school uniforms and running through familiar hallways. For others, it symbolized resilience. The ability to stay steady through darker months. And for many, it was inseparable from nature. The calm that comes from trees, fresh air, and time spent outdoors.

Dimly lit dinner scene with candles, glasses of wine, and plates on a black tablecloth. A person is dining, creating an elegant mood.

It felt like a fitting way to end the evening. A shared reflection on memory, strength, and the quiet comfort that winter, when approached gently, can offer.

COMING HOME TO WINTER

Festive table setting with candles, a wooden bowl, pine decoration, trifle dessert, and a dimly lit kitchen background. Cozy, warm ambiance.

Winter can be the quietest season. Sometimes the saddest. The days are short, the light fades early, and everything feels a little heavier. But around a table, winter softens. Through shared food, warm light, music, and conversation, something opens up. The table becomes a refuge. A way to gather warmth when the world outside feels cold.

Elegant holiday table set with candles, crystal glasses, and checkered napkins. Background of twinkling lights creates a warm, festive mood.

As I write this now, I’m sitting with my grandmother again. The trees outside are blanketed in white. The evergreens stand just as they always have, steady and unchanged, holding their colour beneath the snow. Being here brings me right back to childhood. To the comfort of warmth indoors while winter presses in from outside. To the feeling of safety that comes from being held by a place and a person that ask nothing of you except for your presence.

Festive dining table set with candles, green accents, and checked napkins; Christmas tree with lights in the background. Cozy and elegant mood.

I see now how deeply those winters shaped me. How much of my instinct for warmth, slowness, and care traces back to her. Deep Evergreen is, in many ways, a thank you. A return. A way of holding onto that feeling of being warm and safe while winter does what it does best.

Some seasons ask us to bloom. Others ask us to hold steady.

This season, for me, is about staying evergreen. Remaining vibrant, grounded, and present through winter’s weight.

Handwritten text on a white background reads "XOXO, Robin Anne" in black script, conveying a friendly and affectionate mood.

PHOTO GALLERY

LOOKING AHEAD

And now, the cycle begins again.

Next month, and the first table of 2026, we gather in Snowdrop Ivory. An evening shaped by lightness and clarity. Soft whites, gentle texture, and the calm that comes with beginning again. Ivory, to me, is never stark. It’s warm, layered, and forgiving. A colour that holds space rather than fills it. One that invites reflection, reset, and a slower entry into the year ahead.

January is a threshold month. The rush has passed. The noise has settled. What remains is possibility. This table will lean into that feeling. Clean lines softened by warmth. Thoughtful simplicity. A sense of openness. A fresh slate, without pressure or performance.

If Deep Evergreen was about holding steady through winter, Snowdrop Ivory will be about release. Letting go of what no longer needs to be carried. Making room. Beginning gently.

This edition will be intentionally pared back. An intimate evening rooted in calm, clarity, and connection. A table designed to welcome the year ahead with softness rather than urgency.

January’s edition is set for January 31st.