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Interior designer Natalie Jahangiry says she prefers a personal, eclectic dinner-party table to a fully matching set. In an Ideal Home article, she describes combining vintage stainless steel, ceramics, mixed candleholders and glassware; the advice is personal styling guidance, not a reported trend or product test.
Interior designer Natalie Jahangiry has outlined how she styles a dinner-party table without matching tableware, using vintage stainless steel, expressive ceramics and varied candleholders to create a setting that feels personal rather than coordinated. In an article for Ideal Home, she presents the approach as a reflection of her own hosting style, shaped by family meals and a preference for pieces with character.
Jahangiry says hosting has long been part of family life. She describes growing up in a family where food and gathering mattered, including a Persian grandmother, and says meals were a place to catch up, discuss the day and spend time together. She also says she has carried that emphasis into family life with her own daughters. For her, the table is not just a display: it helps make guests feel welcome and comfortable.
Her styling starts with contrast. Jahangiry says she has used stainless-steel olive coupes found at Chiswick Lazy Flea Market and combines metal finishes with candlesticks in different styles, including black accents. She also points readers to contemporary alternatives, mentioning Soos Atelier and H&M. Her stated aim is to mix materials, textures and metal tones rather than make every object look like part of one set.
Ceramics provide a softer counterpoint. Jahangiry highlights pieces from independent brand Honung Ceramics, including burgundy bubble coasters and cups, tealight holders and a ceramic coaster for a wine bottle. She says their shapes, colour and texture work alongside the cooler metal pieces. Candleholders at different heights add another layer to the arrangement, while glassware is a focus she describes as a personal interest. The article’s core advice is to select individual objects that work together through contrast, not to buy a complete matching collection.
A Table Built Around Personal Pieces
For readers hosting at home, Jahangiry’s approach offers an alternative to buying a coordinated dinner set or styling a table around a single trend. Her examples show how a mix of metal, ceramic, glass and candlelight can create visual cohesion while allowing individual pieces to retain their own character. That can also make inherited, second-hand or independently made objects part of an everyday setting rather than items kept for display.
The practical point is not that every combination will work automatically. Jahangiry’s table draws connections through repeated materials, complementary colours and different heights: burgundy ceramics sit beside steel, while black candlesticks add contrast. Those are her choices and preferences, not a tested design formula. The article does not compare costs or provide evidence that mismatched settings are more popular than coordinated ones.
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Family Meals Shape Her Hosting
Ideal Home introduces Jahangiry as one of its Open House contributors, writing about home design for busy family life while staying true to personal aesthetic values. In this piece, she connects her table styling to family traditions and the role of shared meals. She says the kitchen and dining area was a priority when her household designed its home because it functions as the heart of the family’s daily life.
Jahangiry also says a September talk at Livingetc Unlocked, featuring editor Pip Rich and chef Yotam Ottolenghi, prompted her to reflect on what a dinner party can look like at home. She describes the discussion as resonating with her own family’s way of hosting. The article then contrasts her eclectic preferences with the Victoria Beckham homeware collection that had recently launched through Westwing. Jahangiry praises its minimal, luxurious look but says the price is high for some items and that its style does not reflect how she sets her own table.
Advice, Not a Design Test
The article is a first-person account of Jahangiry’s own tastes and household, not a survey of hosts or a review based on comparative testing. It does not establish whether mismatched tableware is more widely used, or whether the named products are available at the same prices and in the same ranges now. The supplied material also ends during Jahangiry’s discussion of glassware, so it does not provide the full detail of any further advice she may have offered about choosing glasses.
Her descriptions of the Victoria Beckham collection, including its price point and design influences, are her opinions. The article does not include a response from Westwing or Victoria Beckham, and it does not set out a full list of product prices or independent assessments of the pieces.
Try the Mix With What You Own
Jahangiry’s article does not announce a scheduled event or a forthcoming product launch. For readers following the advice, the next step is to build a table around pieces already at home, then add contrast selectively: a metal serving piece, a ceramic cup or coaster, and candleholders at varied heights. Her examples leave room for second-hand finds and family keepsakes as well as newly bought items.
Anyone interested in the named products can check the retailers and makers directly for current stock and prices. The article is best read as one designer’s account of how she makes her own dinner table feel welcoming, rather than as a prescriptive shopping list.
Key Questions
How does Natalie Jahangiry make mismatched tableware look cohesive?
She combines contrasting materials and finishes, including stainless steel, ceramics and black accents, and uses colour and texture to link the pieces. She also varies candleholder styles and heights rather than relying on a matching set.
What kinds of tableware does she mention?
Jahangiry mentions vintage stainless-steel olive coupes, candlesticks, Honung Ceramics cups and coasters, tealight holders, a ceramic wine-bottle coaster and glassware. The article names Soos Atelier and H&M as possible sources for some metal pieces.
Does Jahangiry recommend buying a complete new tableware set?
No. Her account favours mixing individual objects and incorporating pieces with history, including vintage finds and family items. She does not present a matching set as necessary.
What does the article say about the Victoria Beckham homeware collection?
Jahangiry describes the Westwing collection as minimal and luxurious and says some pieces appeal to her. She also considers the price high for certain items and says the collection does not reflect her own eclectic hosting style. Those comments are her personal assessment.
Source: idealhome.co.uk
