Kitchen & Dining

A narrow table leaves no room for a centerpiece and plates. So run a single line of small things down the middle: bud vases, tea lights, chestnuts.

Two-tone kitchens work when the two tones have nothing in common. Walnut against cream is about as safe as it gets.

The difference between a designer beige kitchen and a rental is texture. Plaster instead of flat paint, zellige instead of subway tile, wood with real grain.

Rust linen, crumpled on purpose. A Thanksgiving table starts with the cloth, and linen is forgiving: gravy spills blend in and nobody has to iron it.

A dining rug has one job: the chair stays on it when you pull it out. The 24-inch rule and the quick sum that gets you the size.

Swap the white mugs for brown ones. Put three squash in the fruit bowl. Done. A warm neutral kitchen is already halfway to fall.

Long tables are harder than round ones. One thing in the middle looks stranded. Here is how to run fall decor down the whole length, keep it low, and still have room for dinner.

A fall centerpiece without orange: sage green and white pumpkins, dried wheat, bunny tail grass and eucalyptus in one stoneware bowl, plus how to use it on a long table, a sideboard and every plate.

Yes, you can mix kitchen cabinet styles. Shaker on the everyday runs, flat slab on the tall wall, fluted wood on the island, and one countertop and one hardware finish to pull it all together.

A warm neutral kitchen is built from four materials: greige paint, oak, marble and brass. Here is how to put them together, from a marble waterfall island to a handleless two-tone kitchen.