Perfect Place Settings

You don't have to frequent five-star restaurants to enjoy an upscale dining experience.

With the right tools and skills, you can create a wonderful experience at will.

After walking on the style side and purchasing a beautiful tablecloth, it's time to dress it up with a designer place setting -- for a party of eight or just for you.

But fine china and linen should not be reserved for guests. To enjoy the good life, take pleasure in using them daily. What's more, these items need not be left at home.

Elegance is the one thing you can take with you.

Workplace Good Taste

Lunch at the office can become a brilliant experience rather than a harried one, even while working at your desk.

So before noshing on sesame shrimp or even a takeout deli sandwich, whisk out a formal place setting and enjoy your impeccable good taste and refinement, as well as your meal.

For safety and longevity, store your stylish setting right in your desk. Simply clean out a drawer for a four-piece place set like Mariposa's Baubles. Wrap some sparkling Vera Wang flatware and glassware in a linen napkin and matching placemat.

And if you don't have a private office, steal away to an empty conference room to avoid the inevitable green eye of brown-baggers.

Mind Your Manners

No matter where you're dining -- or whether you're a guest or host -- employing proper etiquette in public settings is crucial.

You don't have to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth to know where to place your fork and how to use it. For the right price, these skills can be acquired.

Enter experts like Gloria Starr, president of North Carolina-based Global Success Strategies, established in 1983. From her silky voice to her tailored suits, Starr exudes a captivating charisma, as well as teaches it through programs like Executive Finishing School, Ambassadorship Skills and the Modern Day Charm and Finishing School for Men and Women.

Etiquette gurus like Starr travel the world educating about good manners, making it a better place for everyone, one boor at a time. It's an investment -- a coaching session she recently held in Dubai cost $850 for a four-hour sit-down with the dining diva.

Starr has even coached celebrities, appeared on television and written extensively on etiquette. If you're still tucking a napkin into your collar or can't stop slurping your soup, check her site for a program near you.

Another dining diva is Peggy Newfield, a quintessential Southern belle who is the president of corporate etiquette training company Personal Best, also runs the American School of Protocol, which teaches manners to children.