Holiday tables are beautiful for so many reasons. The faces of family gathered round, heirloom recipes filling the table set with grandmother’s china and other special things that only come out a few times a year.

Wait, though. Is that last year’s table runner? That’s not adding those necessary touches of color and warmth. It no longer echoes your décor or unifies what’s on the table. What are you thinking?

Do you need another excuse to go shopping?

We love Crate and Barrel’s Josephine runner, where gorgeous champagne brocade embellishes a deep cranberry background ($40-$60, depending on length, left).  Bed, Bath & Beyond takes the same color palette and adds a winding floral pattern and gathered tassles at the end of their Romantico runner ($25-$30).  For a crisper effect, Pottery Barn monograms their pristine white 100 percent cotton classic hotel table runner ($16-$39). You can get napkins to match, if you like - $24 for six.  And to create a sleek and tailored table, you can’t go wrong with Calvin Klein’s tonal bands table runner, all subtle in taupe and chocolate ($50-$70).

Ready for the big boys?

There’s no end to what Neiman Marcus can do, given some pretty taupe and beige fabric and a trompe l’oeil design. The result is their exquisite quilted and gathered Cyprus table runner ($260-$370, left). Belmont Home Décor has more than 100 different kinds of fabric to choose from; we’re dying for the Toulon runner, which looks like it came straight off of a fancy French table ($205-$275).  And we’re totally giving thanks for Horchow, whose rust-colored and tiny leopard-print Easy Rider table runner has us checking our credit limit.  ($325-$475, below). Just light the candles and you’re done.