Pretty Place Settings: Summer

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August 6, 2010

    The weather is warm and the fireflies aglow, so salute summer by gathering together friends and family at home. Keep the food simple and let your tabletop décor shine with our easy ideas for charming summertime place settings.
pretty place setting

3 Principles for Perfect Place Settings
  • Layer, layer, layer: Stack together plates and bowls of different sizes, shapes and colors and notice how changing their order can change the entire effect. If you love the sizes and textures of two different saucers, stack them to create a unique bread plate for each setting. Or, use it as a candleholder—the possibilities are endless.
    Tip: Your silverware matters, too—if you have multiple sets at home to choose from, pick the design that best offsets the shape and style of your dishes.

  • Add something natural: From grass blades to fresh flowers, elements from nature add beauty and spirit to your place setting. We love tying leaves or twigs directly onto a rolled napkin with raffia, or showing off a few colorful buds in an old glass bottle.
    Tip: A distressed wooden table can add the perfect dose of rustic texture to a place setting that is otherwise clean and modern.

  • Break a rule: The best entertaining moments happen when your guests are surprised. Add whimsy by incorporating a “rule-breaker” to even the most traditional of place settings: layer your napkin between two plates as an added dose of color or set out the salt and pepper in small saucers, not shakers. You can even place all of your flatware on the right side of the plate—we dare you!
pretty place setting

4 Easy Place Setting Examples

  2. Sunny Minimalist: Let yellow take the spotlight when you set it against muted shades of blue and steel gray. Break a few rules, like laying a folded napkin sideways, to add a graphic twist to a traditional setting.
  3. Modern Floral: When it comes to color, pull a single hue from a pattern, then work from there. Here, plum inspires the napkin choice and flower arrangement, with robin’s egg blue keeping the deeper hues summery.
  4. Blue Willow Whimsy: What’s old is new again—begin with traditional china and add charming accents, like bold sunflowers and handcrafted paper fans, to achieve something totally modern.
  5. Rustic Zen: We picked a few blades of grass from outside and fastened the bundle to a rolled napkin with twine. Set atop a rough table texture and an imperfect stack of plates, it strikes the perfect balance.

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