Before the First Course, the Dining Room Keeps Its Own Rules

Etiquette authorities have laid out the conventions behind a properly set American table, and in a well-run house those conventions start working before anyone sits down. Their guidance runs from the memory aid known as "BMW" to the right spot for the small fork brought out with oysters. These are details a guest may never name but will notice when they are right, at a long table under a chandelier or a round one by the window. A dining room shows its care through what sits at each chair as much as through its architecture.

With reporting from Elle Decor.