Scandinavian Christmas table: 3D printed ribbed tray with two tealight holders and ribbed vases with dried pampas grass on a linen runner, pine cones, tree in the background

Christmas Table Decor: Minimal Scandinavian Style with LED

5 min read Updated October 4, 2026 By Kahaus · printed in Poland

In short

Build the Christmas table on a tray: when the dishes arrive, the whole centrepiece goes to the sideboard in one move.
Two calm colours and three heights are enough: low lights and small vases on the table, one tall vase with branches on the sideboard.
LED tealights only, never a real flame. Our vases take dry twigs and grasses, never water.

Christmas table decor in Scandinavian style is less about adding and more about choosing: a linen runner, a tray of soft lights, a vase of bare twigs. A good Christmas table centerpiece stays low enough for people to see each other and small enough to leave room for the food.

We print every piece below ourselves in Poland, from PLA, in matte colours with fine ribs. Here is how we would set a minimal Christmas table, from the first Advent evening to Boxing Day.

Start with a tray, not a pile

A tray pulls loose objects into one arrangement. At Christmas that matters more than any styling rule: the table fills up with dishes, and a centrepiece you lift in one move waits on the sideboard until dessert.

Our oval ribbed trays measure 19.7 × 12.3 cm and are only 1.6 cm high, so they sit in the middle of a table for four without taking over. The quickest start is the tray with 2 LED tealight holders: a tray and two ribbed holders in one colour, nothing to match. For a longer table, take the set of 3 LED tealight holders: two holders sit on the tray, the third stands beside it or moves further down the table. More ready-made combinations are in our Sets collection.

Beige set of three ribbed LED tealight holders, two on an oval ribbed tray and one beside it, on a round wooden coffee table — Set of 3 holders: two on the tray, the third free to move. See the product →

Beige ribbed vase with a slanted opening and a ribbed tealight holder on an oval ribbed tray on a wooden sideboard — Vase set: Shizu vase, holder and tray in one colour. See the product →

Three heights, two colours

Minimal does not mean flat. A table looks calm when the pieces step down in height and share one base colour.

Piece	Size	Role on the Christmas table
Tray with 2 LED tealight holders	tray 19.7 × 12.3 cm, holders Ø 7.8 cm, 3.5 cm high	low light in the middle
Set of 3 LED tealight holders	same tray, three holders	light along a long table
Vase set with tray and holder	Shizu vase 12.4 cm, holder Ø 7.8 cm	twigs and light in one group
Set of 2 vases with tray	12 and 9.6 cm high	two heights of dried grasses
Large ribbed vase	17.6 cm high, Ø 14.4 cm	branches on the sideboard
Tayo vase	18 cm high	tall accent, also in silk gold

On the table itself, keep the highest point modest. The vases in our sets are 12.4 cm and lower, and a few dry twigs add height without blocking anyone's view. The large vase and Tayo belong on the sideboard or windowsill, where branches can grow as tall as you like.

Colours: the sets come in beige, white, black and grey, always the whole set in one colour. White and beige are the Scandinavian classic on linen and pale wood, grey feels wintry, black contrasts with a white tablecloth. Tayo comes in ten colours, including glossy silk gold and silk silver. Our tip: one base colour and one accent, such as white sets on the table and a gold vase on the sideboard.

Light: LED tealights only

December evenings start early. A few low lights at plate height do more for the mood than one big centrepiece.

LED only, never a real flame, and that is not a formality. PLA softens above about 55 °C, and a Christmas table is full of things that burn easily: dry twigs, pine cones, paper napkins, crackers. With LED the lights stay on through a long dinner, and nobody reaches over a flame for the gravy. Our holders are 7.8 cm across and 3.5 cm high, sized for standard LED tealights. Tealights are not included.

If you count down the Advent Sundays, two trays with 2 holders give you four lights for a minimal Advent display: switch on one more each Sunday.

Vases with twigs, dried grasses and a little green

Our vases are not watertight: dry twigs, dried grasses, pampas and artificial flowers only. At Christmas that is less of a limit than it sounds: bare birch twigs with a few wooden stars, dried grasses or an artificial fir sprig look calm and last until January. Fresh fir sprigs can lie directly on the runner around the tray.

The vase set with tray and LED tealight holder puts the Shizu vase (12.4 cm, slanted opening) and a holder on one tray: twigs and light in one group. The set of 2 vases with tray gives two heights, 12 and 9.6 cm, for a table that should stay low. How tall the stems should be is in our guide to dried flower vases in Japandi style, and more vases are in Home decor.

Large beige vase, smooth below and ribbed above, with dried pampas on a low wooden sideboard by a window — Large vase, 17.6 cm: room for tall branches on the sideboard. See the product →

Beige Tayo vase with fine vertical ribs and a single dried stem, next to a linen-bound book on a wooden sideboard — Tayo, 18 cm, also in glossy silk gold and silver. See the product →

Important: our vases are not watertight, so dry twigs, dried grasses and artificial greenery only, never water or fresh flowers. Keep the display away from radiators and other heat sources too: PLA softens above about 55 °C.

Christmas lunch: what the table really needs

In the UK the big meal is Christmas lunch on the 25th, with crackers on every plate and dishes passed around the middle. Keep the decoration long and narrow along the runner, not tall and round: one tray in the centre, single holders further along, vases at the ends.

Still too full? Move the vases to the sideboard and leave only the lights. The single fluted oval tray works as a base for LED candles or pine cones on the windowsill.

After Christmas the same trays and vases simply stay out; we use them in autumn with pumpkins and mushrooms too, as in our autumn table decorations.

See all our home decor

Questions we often hear

Are LED tealights included?

No. None of the sets includes tealights; you buy them separately. The holders are sized for standard LED tealights.

Can I put fresh fir branches in the vases?

Not with water: our vases are not watertight. Use dry twigs or artificial greenery in the vase and lay fresh fir sprigs on the runner instead.

Will the decor look out of place after Christmas?

No. The trays, vases and holders have no Christmas motifs, so they work all year round. Take away the stars and cones and the table is ready for January.