Nothing spreads joy and togetherness like gathering over food. This ritual has always played an important role in our lives, especially the tradition of entertaining at home. Beautiful tableware is key to creating ambience and conveying a sense of personal style when hosting at home, and this year, tableware trends are all about expressing ourselves through colour, organic shapes and loose layering. Here, we've rounded up the trending cutlery, napery, glassware and dinnerware styles to look out for in 2022.

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What colours are trending in 2022?

Primary colours such as sunny yellows, fire engine reds and classic blues are making an appearance, mostly as hand-painted abstract patterns on white dinnerware and napery. These bright contrasting hues add playful energy to table settings and instantly make you think of summer holidays. As part of our desire to reconnect with nature and the outside world, it's no surprise that earthy browns have also taken centre stage. Saturated chocolate browns are not only relaxing and warming but create a rich, earthy aesthetic that grounds dining rooms and provides depth.

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Relaxed dinnerware

To create more rustic and relaxed table settings, servingware is appearing less refined and polished. Instead of fine porcelain, we're seeing hardier earthenware and stoneware with crackle finishes and rougher textures to emphasise the artisanal process. Ceramic servingware is also appearing more textural with raised dots and other motifs. The extra texture comes in handy for better gripping of serving vessels. 

 

Coloured cutlery

It continues to be so much more than just silver for cutlery. Rosy copper continues to be popular, but there has also been a growing trend in black and gold cutlery, particularly with a semi-matte finish. Expect to see more two-toned styles with gold tips and black or white handles. Slimline cutlery is also an emerging trend, with finer and more elongated designs more common than traditional profiles. 

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Nostalgic napery

Last year, we saw an acceleration in the "cottagecore" movement on social media, with influencers flaunting a nostalgic return to country life. This brought on the trend for more romantic Laura Ashley-style florals in soft furnishings, including table linens. Bright patterns are also popular for napery, emulating the sunny Mediterranean tables from our holiday memory banks. And, of course, linen tablecloths continue to be popular, preferably wrinkled and relaxed, and in pastel hues. 

 

Vibrant glassware

In keeping with the less formal look of dinnerware and table linen, glassware is more fun and playful with mismatched sets in rainbow colours proving popular, including sets of stackable melamine glasses. Similar to the crackled finish of stoneware platters, glassware is appearing less polished, with bubbles appearing in glass to emphasise the artisanship behind the pieces. Glasses are also becoming chunkier in terms of stems and rims, while vintage-style goblets with pressed glass motifs will be this season's essential accessory.