Getting Your Table Linens Ready for Thanksgiving

Are you hosting Thanksgiving Dinner this year?

If so, there are a multitude of things to think about: the menu, preparing a grocery list, who is sitting where, if there are enough tables and chairs, and so on.

Getting your table linens ready for Thanksgiving should also be somewhere on that to-do list.

Before you get in the thick of things, take 15 minutes to evaluate your table linens.  You don’t want Thursday morning to arrive without this detail being squared away.

Getting Your Table Linens Ready for Thanksgiving

Getting your table (or tables!) ready for Thanksgiving doesn’t have to be incredibly time intensive.  Look at the project in bite-size chunks and get started!

Here are some ideas:

• After planning your tables, ensure that you have enough tablecloths and napkins.
• Go ahead and dig all of your table linens out of their hiding spots – the linen closet, china hutch, etc.
• Evaluate if they need to be washed.  If so, do that on Monday or Tuesday of Thanksgiving week – well in advance of Thursday morning when things might be more chaotic and time is tight!
  If possible, it would be best to wash them the week before.  Life has a way of throwing kinks into our best laid plans.
• After washing, see if they need to be ironed.  A spare bed is the perfect spot to flatly store an ironed table cloth until you’re ready to use it.
  Simply iron and have a family member help you transfer it to the spare bed and lay it out flat.

Need more help with linens? Read Washing and Care Instructions for Table Linens for step-by-step assistance.

Table Linens Needed for Thanksgiving

What other table linens might you need for Thanksgiving?  Use this list to brainstorm your own needs, and then make sure they’re clean and ready to go by the beginning of Thanksgiving week.

You’ll be so thrilled with yourself for taking care of this small, albeit important, detail!

Which of these items do you need to pull out of the linen closet?

• Plenty of clean dishcloths and kitchen hand towels
• Bread basket liners
• Clean aprons
• Clean potholders
• Clean place mats

Set a Goal

Set yourself a goal to have all of your table and kitchen linens completely taken care of by ________ (fill-in-the-blank here).

Is your company coming in the weekend before Thanksgiving?  If so, you’ll want to have these details crossed off of your to-do list 1.5-2 weeks prior to their arrival.

Will your company only be at your home for Thanksgiving Day?  You can probably wait until Monday or Tuesday before Thanksgiving at the latest.

Ensure that you’re not stuck taking up time with linens when you need to have your full attention on being a hostess.

You’ll be so happy you didn’t wait until the last minute!