This quick and informative article is courtesy of pier1.com and the diagram was a wonderful and easier way to make a buffet style meal possible.

(This table-setting business is all well and good if you’re having a sit-down dinner. But what about a buffet? Is there no handy diagram for that easy-on-the-hostess approach to dinner parties? Glad you asked. If you still want to keep your dining table for seating, you can set your buffet around a kitchen island or adapt it to a sideboard or kitchen counter.  (via pier1.com)