You either don’t know how to do a summer tablescape or you pull out all the same décor every season. My best guess is that it’s also probably all white. 

I want to create a home where people feel like they belong. Tablescapes are one of my favorite ways to do so. I want to be able to change up the style of my home without re-furnishing it. This lets me have fun with design by bringing in the colors, fabrics, and florals of the season.

For this reason, I set out to find artisan pieces that would allow me to create inspiring summer tablescapes. 

Why our tablescapes are uninspiring

There are several reasons why our homes and summer tablescapes lack the inspiring feeling that we want them to have:

• You can only find seasonal décor during big holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas)
• When you do find linens, napkins, and table décor they’re usually white or pale colors
• After using those colors or the same stuff for so long, it becomes uninspiring
• By the time you collect everything you like, the season is over
• It can be so overwhelming that you don’t want to do it 

If we don’t use our design love language to create special moments in our homes, we’re faced with:

• Lacking the light, fresh, summer feeling
• An impersonal home with no personal touches
• Feeling like you’re missing out on the experience of entertaining and finding joy in creating beauty in your own home

I am looking for tablecloths, mats, napkins, runners (filled with personality, color, and pattern) that feel like spring and summer.

Since these are challenging to find, I worked with artisans to bring these elements into my shop, Village Antiques. I want the shop to be a place where clients can speak their design love language in their own home.

Naturally, I have to show you what I brought into the shop. I also and which styles I will be bringing home for myself…and my family (of course).

How to fix our inspiring homes and summer tablescapes

To design the summer tablescape that I am seeking, I went to Village Antiques, because I knew I would find exactly what I was looking for.

Right away, I was greeted with all of the colors, fabrics, and textures that I hoped for.

First, I spotted several table runner options:

• Purple linen with what looks like hand-painted embroidered flowers
• Flax linen with blue stripes
• Semi-sheer yellow florals
• Blue and white cotton embroidered flowers
• Lime green bordered cotton with vibrant floral details throughout

The last option is actually my favorite.

Admittedly, it is not typically what I would bring into my home. The purple and pink florals with a lime green edge are very bold for me. However, I’m excited to see how this is going to look in my home.

The colors in this runner will be my guide to mix and match additional décor that I build on top of it.

With this bright, nature inspired theme in mind, I grabbed drinking glasses and a chicken wire vase for my summer tablescape.

The summer decor haul

Now let’s get started on this summer tablescape!

Remember I was a little hesitant with the lime green color? Well, once I brought it home, I could see a lot of the same hues in my kitchen. My countertop actually already has shades of green throughout it.

It gave me so many decorating ideas! I was able to pull décor already in my home with the same purple, pink, blue, and lime green tones.

From here, I just did a little bit of trial and error to create a very beautiful summer tablescape.

Now let’s decorate my breakfast table!

To begin my summer tablescape, I’m going to start with placing the runner onto my breakfast table.

From there, I just try to arrange a couple of more different objects on top of it.

That means:

• Finding the right bowl
• A vase for flowers
• Adding additional flat surfaces for food placement and eating

First, I did some finagling to land on my centerpiece bowl. I had two options: a violet purple toned one and another that incorporated more pink and floral details.

Keeping my runner design in mind, I opted for the ladder of the two.

With the bowl in place, I definitely felt like my table needed more. This is where the chicken wire vase came in. If you don’t have one of these, a large mason jar would do the trick.

It looks beautiful standing tall next to the bowl.

Speaking of chicken wire, I also included a pie stand for the opposite end of my table.

With the sides filled, I was left with an empty spot in the middle, perfect for a breadboard. If you don’t have one of these, you could use a white or neutral platter in its place.

For serving ware, I set down the pink vintage style glasses that I grabbed from Village Antiques.

To emphasize the pink, I also added a single vintage inspired pail from our spring/summer collection. The colors remind me of what I’m seeing in the runner.

At this point, the table already had plenty for the eyes to feast on. ready to enjoy a meal on. It just needed a few finishing touches.

I even baked a beautiful cherry pie to go on the chicken wire pie rack.

But before I placed that down, I used the chicken wire vase to house a loose floral arrangement.

Summer tablescape finishing touches

This is where things went…wrong.

1. I went to the wrong flower shop
2. The colors I thought I was going to buy did not match when I took my cloth
3. I had to rethink the flower design on the spot
4. I also made a very impulse buy of the peonies which did not match

The flowers did not go with the tablecloth. As I was shopping, I couldn’t resist all of the beautiful options, so I ended up buying too many.

Luckily, the flower arrangement came out beautifully in the end, but don’t be like me when picking out flowers. Keep your runner and color palette in mind when shopping. Otherwise you’ll be bringing home way more than you need.

Once my arrangement was done, I simply put it on the end so it wouldn’t obstruct anyone’s point of view.

The final summer tablescape reveal

I finally feel like this summer tablescape is me, and I’m having so much fun with it!

This time I was able to bring in colors I’ve never worked with before. All it took was embracing the designs in my runner.

This one spot of my home brings in such a beautiful vibrancy. The runner alone inspired me to utilize pieces that I already have, but in a different way.

As a matter of fact, the only new décor was the runner, chicken wire vase, and pink glassware.

It was fun to bring bright colors into my table setting and move away from white/ neutral shades that I tend to stick to.

Now, this summer tablescape has transformed my home and breakfast room into a place where people feel like they belong. I can host a dinner party or me, my family, and friends can all just hang out and enjoy a slice of cherry pie or an al fresco snack.

I feel so inspired and can’t wait to enjoy my perfect summer table. This was exactly what I needed to fix my uninspiring table decor, and I hope this did the same for you!

Amitha 

P.S. You can find all of these early fall decorating items at our retail store, Village Antiques in Houston.

Please stop by and check out our collection of farmhouse-style furniture, French country home decor. We also carry antiques, vintage, chalk finish paints, and more!

We are open Tuesday – Saturday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. 

You can also reach us at (713) 468 – 3931