With the recent holidays of Easter and Passover, we have been striving to dress up our dining room tables. Now comes graduations, reunions, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Valentine's Day....the cycle of celebrations never end. How to avoid having too many boxes and drawers filled with holiday-specific linens that are never ironed when we need them to be? Restaurant white is an option, but we can also discover the power of red!

It doesn't have to be lipstick red - it can be crimson or red-orange. But a shade of red works with almost every holiday. Valentine's hearts, fall harvest, candy canes, patriotic fever...the common thread is a red one. 

Even for Easter, mix the red with its analogous colors of purple, orange, and yellow, and the table will look like someone had a lot of fun dyeing Easter eggs. By investing in a great, deep crimson table cloth, then buying several set of cloth napkins in many different colors (white for formal, mint green for a modern Christmas, deep blue for Bastille Day), we can have a great holiday table without bothering with linen storage. 

Add some flowers and some holiday-themed candies scattered for effect, and we're ready for the bet part of holidays: the food!

Pottery Barn has some sharp new table linens in the latest shades of red. In particular, take a note of the Jackie Floral http://www.potterybarn.com/products/jackie-floral-table-runner/?pkey=e|jackie%2Bfloral|4|best|0|1|24||4&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-NoMerchRules-_- ,  and Leila Block-Print tablecloths http://www.potterybarn.com/products/leila-block-print-tablecloths/?pkey=e|leila|6|best|0|1|24||1&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-NoMerchRules-_- .