Whats your way of creating a nice atmosphere in the dining room?

With Christmas just around the corner (well not really but I like to plan!) I'm thinking about getting a bedroom vanity. We live in a small apartment, with a small bathroom. Basially it can fit two people and even then we're standing close and can't really do much other than to stand! A bedroom vanity small enough to not crowd our bedroom would be such a time saver. For example, when I get ready for bed, I don't need the bathroom and Martin can use it because I can just use the vanity. When we get ready to go out somewhere and he needs the bathroom, I can just use the vanity. This would save lots of time and well some arguments! lol. Stay tuned for a vanity review, maybe sooner than Christmas now that I'm thinking about how awesome it would be that looks like this:

For now though, I'm so excited to tell you, I'm getting the chance to review placemats from CSN stores. I love placemats and we've had a few different ones. We've had towel ones that go right into the wash, bamboo ones from Pottery Barn that after about 8 years we had to throw away, and vinyl ones. The problem with vinyl ones is the cleaning. Its easy to wipe down but not really easy to just throw in the wash like the towel/cotton placemats. I love the way a dining table looks when it has placemats and a runner all coordinated together. It really makes me want to sit at the table and have a nice family dinner! Especially when there are flowers in the middle or a candle. So I'm "redoing" our table look with placemats and either a lantern or flowers, I haven't decided that part yet but I figure the first place to start are the placemats. I've been looking at these

I think a placemat should be simple enough to want to look at everyday and not take away from a yummy plate of food, but still look pretty and just enhance the look of the table. I think the color should match the kitchen too, so a color like brown, black, tan or white seem to match most colors (just in case we change the colors one day).

Which one do you like better? What color and kind of placemats do you like best? Whats your way of creating a nice atmosphere in the dining room?