Do you love collecting plates but don't have enough of one pattern to set for 12? Then mix and match the ones you have and bring the look together with the placemats or tablecloth, matching napkins, or colored glass and stemware.

Don't stop the mixing and matching there, however. Mix vintage and new-new chargers underneath your antique salad plates, new flatware with your inherited "pudding spoons" for the dessert course to keep the look interesting and fresh.

Create a color scheme — black, white and yellow or black, white and red, just pink! — coordinate a color so everything matches. Pink flowers, pink drinks, pink dishes and punch it up with silver. More is more in romantic styling so when you're doing a dinner party, set the hall table to announce your theme by creating a vignette with your tabletop elements — a glass filled with the "themed" drink, votives and a single bloom in a vase set in front of a mirror on the foyer table.

— Adventurous: Use bold, rich colors to set the tone of your adventurous table — deep blues, oranges, deep reds, mustards, browns — in the form of nontraditional tablecloths and napkins — a favorite chenille bedspread, a vintage paisley shawl, an old silk curtain panel, vintage hand-spun linen, or antique, embroidered dishtowels.

Put flowers in unique containers such as in colorful coffee tins, old pharmaceutical bottles, stoneware pitchers or teapots, or in small buckets or tole ware. Pick a theme based on a country or continent and mix materials — copper, dark wicker, wood, and metal — patterns and emblematic colors and symbols of that region.

Float candles and flowers in odd-shaped vessels and create elaborate centerpieces out of natural finds — shells stacked in the middle of the table interspersed with candle pillars, votives and tea lights.

— Serene: When set, the serene table should look the visual equivalent of a dry martini — perfectly balanced, smooth and with architectural grace. Keep the elements to a minimum — placemats on a marble, glass or wooden tabletop, simple folded napkins, matching flatware set just for the course about to be served. Since the elements are minimal, make them spectacular — artisan blown glassware, hand-woven placemats and napkins, or hand-thrown pottery.

Go organic with green linens, earth-toned dinnerware, clear stemware and natural elements as a centerpiece — birch bark candles, simple ferns in glass bottles or low trays of wheat grass or moss. Celebrate the contrast of natural textures — wood and glass, pottery and silver, bamboo and porcelain — but keep the table uncluttered.

No matter if you're setting the table in a romantic, adventurous or serene style, I believe some type of natural element — flowers, herbs, shells, ferns — and that all-important candlelight, are a must! The rest is up to you and, remember, there are no rules when setting a beautiful table full of spice and personality.

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Chris Madden is author of 16 books including the newly released "Haven: Finding the Keys to Your Personal Decorating Style," Clarkson Potter Publishers.