Setting a simple Summer outdoor tablescape using yellow and white has a clean and crisp feeling.
Perfect for summer!
Now, I don’t have an amazing, spacious backyard. It’s not a space that one dreams of photographing.
It’s small, oddly shaped, and elevated in a weird way that doesn’t photograph well.
But, when the weather is nice, we enjoy sitting on our small deck and dining alfresco. There’s something about eating outside that’s relaxing. Time slows down a little.
I’ve been wanting to share an outdoor table setting with you, but have been a little reluctant since I don’t have a beautiful backyard.
So here it goes… my simple Summer outdoor tablescape. Because creating a patio table setting should be simple. Not lavish or elaborate.
Dining alfresco is casual, and your table setting should be, too.
The point is to enjoy eating outside and the nature around you. So simplicity is best.
This simple Summer outside table setting is SUPER easy to copy and takes no time to recreate. Plus its one you can enjoy over, and over.
How to Set a Simple Summer Outdoor Table
Step 1: Determine the foundation for your outdoor table setting
Dining outside typically means eating on a table that doesn’t have any covering.
But that doesn’t need to be the case. You can use an outdoor tablecloth, placemats, or chargers as ways to protect your table’s surface.
Using any of these foundation pieces will elevate the look of your table, and keep it casual at the same time.
I decided to use round rattan placemats.
I have a round patio table, so round placemats fit perfectly on the table.
Step 2: Create a patio table centerpiece
After you determine the foundation for your Summer tablescape, you need to decide on a simple centerpiece.
Something that’s easy to create and won’t take much time.
Since you’re dining outside, a potted plant(s) would be cute, or an outdoor lantern with battery-operated candles, or maybe a few small bud vases would look fantastic.
I have a patio table with an umbrella. I love it, but that umbrella pole/hole makes it challenging to have a cute centerpiece.
But I came up with a wonderful solution to that problem … a diy bundt cake pan centerpiece.
It’s perfect!
The middle of the bundt pan slips over the umbrella pole. Plus, it’s SUPER EASY to make.
(The link is at the bottom ~ you’ve gotta check it out!)
Once I’d completed the diy umbrella pole centerpiece, I filled it with pebbles. Then I added three mason jars filled with yellow daisies and three small jars filled with diy bug repellant.
The homemade diy bug repellant jars were doing double duty in my centerpiece. They looked cute, and they helped keep the bugs away.
Yay!
The patio table centerpiece helped hide the umbrella pole and it looked SO CUTE on the table.
Doesn’t it totally dress up the table!
*Note: there are SO MANY other decor items you can put in the bundt pan centerpiece. For example; votive candles, flowering annuals (if you add drainage holes), condiments and salt and pepper, etc.
Step 3: Set the place settings for outdoor dining
Because this is a simple Summer outside tablescape, we’re keeping the place settings super simple.
*Note: I used glasses and breakable dishes, but eating outside is perfect for using melamine and shatter-proof cups.
First I added a white plate in the middle of my rattan placemat. Then I added the flatware on the placemat.
Next, I added these amazing yellow glasses that I had found at an estate sale. They’re pretty heavy, so there was no worry that they would get knocked over.
And to complete my simple outdoor place setting, I slipped the EASIEST EVER diy napkin ring over a soft yellow and white napkin. It matched the rattan placemat perfectly!
Then I placed the napkin in the middle of the plate.
The colors from the napkin really pulled the look of the yellow and white tablescape together. It played off the colors of the patio table centerpiece, in a subtle way.
Don’t they look great on the table!
Step 4: Enjoy dining at your simple Summer outdoor tablescape
Wasn’t that the easiest Summer table setting?!
So inviting!
Doesn’t it just make you want to sit outside and enjoy a meal with friends and/or family? And the fact that it’s SO EASY to create! There’s no excuse for setting an outdoor patio table.
*Tip: To ensure you have an enjoyable outdoor dining experience, and that you don’t forget anything ~ download my Dining Outdoors Checklist.
Love those yellow glasses!! What a great estate find!! I wish they weren’t vintage so I could buy a set!!
I love them too! Fingers crossed you find them at an estate or garage sale!!