Tablecloths, placemats etc

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Mine are all tatty handmedowns from my mum...

What shall I buy?
Was thinking a white/cream tablecloth and then bright placemats.
But all the place mats I've seen look really naff.

Any suggestions?

I think that if you have a tablecloth you don't actually need placemats.

I have lots of tablecloths, washable cotton ones, plus an oilcloth one for messy everyday use that gets a battering.

Placemats are horrible things really, what point do they serve?

I thought place mats were for protecting the table from heat?

I always go for white for house linens, then you can bleach them when they get covered in curry/red wine.

Which they always do.

Thanks all.
I'm happy to go without placemats, but what about for hot serving dishes - don't they damage tablecloths?

And Fluffy...
What bleach to you use? The stuff I've tried on white school shirts didn't get rid of all the stains.

Oh that is what those things are called.
Thanks :)

yy to hotmats or trivets for hot serving dishes, but plates never get so hot that they will damage the table or tablecloth.

And I too have found that bleach doesn't always get rid of all stains . My mum swears by vanish to get stains out of her tablecloths.

Anyone seen any good trivets lately?

I saw some nice ones in TK Maxx today.

I have never said that word out loud. I think it would make me giggle too.

my family uses old vintage tiles for trivets. They work well and look quite pretty.

JOhn Lewis always have lots of nice lable linen and placemats.

I would go white for the placemats, and I would also avoid linene, as if it gets very stained, you are limited as to the temperature of the water you can wash it in.

I have wooden placemats, they are quite pale (beech type colour) and they have square holes cut out of them - about 4 square holes x 6 square holes. I have had them for a few years and they haven't dated. Also from John Lewis.

If you want to jolly things up, you can buy coloured napkins and things.

I also put a layer of a special heat protection fabric (I got it on a roll from Dunelm) under my tablecloth to give the table another layer or protection from heat.