Summer Tablescape

Hosting friends and family is one of our favorite things to do. There is nothing like a beautiful summer evening outside with great food, good friends, and lots of wine. I set this table up in our back yard for a small dinner group. Mixing prints and textures when setting up a table is something I love to do. Seeing how the prints play off each other to make the table flow can be such a fun and unexpected surprise for your guest. I always love hearing my friends say, "I would have never thought to do that.” Yes Girl, be bold and mix those prints!! Another way to dress up a table is fresh flowers. They can completely change the way a table looks and help to bring everything together. For this arrangement, I started with four foam flower bricks I picked up at the craft store. Soaked the foam blocks in water and placed them on some plastic wrap (to keep them from getting my table cloth wet) on the table. Once in place, I started to arrange the flowers/greens until it's as full as desired, with no foam block showing through. Remember, keep centerpieces at a low profile to allow conversation to flow back and forth across the table.

In the Summer, when our yard is full of greenery, I love to walk around and find extra greens to fill in so I do not have to buy so much at the store. It usually takes 2-3 packs of flowers and about 5-6 bunches of greens to fill the foam bricks. To add a pop of color, I poked wooden skewers through lemons and added them to the arrangement as a nice finishing touch. 

People often have a fear of mixing too many prints. The key is having the scale of the prints and the colors being in the same wheelhouse. Here mixing the lemon plates with the blue and white napkins works because they are colors that have been pulled from other places in our tablescape. Mixing prints helps add dimension and interest to your table.

Lastly, I look at how I can add layers to the table. We have our flowers, our place settings and glasses. Layering the plates, chargers, napkins and even silverware in different arrangements give the eye another focal point and adds depths to the table. Bring all of these factors together give you the perfect balance of beauty and function. Now onto the fun part…. dinner with our friends.

Cheers Babes

XOXO