A Beautiful Summer Blue Tablescape Out in the meadow

Hello and welcome to the summer blue tablescape! I just had to set this one because I’d gotten some beautiful flowers and the backyard meadow was calling to me! I set another table with these exact same flowers, that you can see in the How to Make Your Everyday Table Setting Look Stunning post. And it just goes to show what different looks you can get with the same arrangement!

For this particular elegant al fresco dinner party, everything was blue and gold except for that pop of flower color!

The Summer Blue Tablescape at Sunset

If you’ve been around M&T for a while, you probably know that I work a full time job away from home during the days. So it’s often pretty late in the afternoon, or even early evening, before I get home most times. Which means, I’m often setting the table as the sun’s starting to go down.

I’ve learned to set my tables pretty fast, so that there’s still enough light to get some pictures. (It’s a fun challenge to see if I can do it, though it’s always easier in the summer of course!)

Especially if I’m outside, my usual process is to put on the tablecloth, then gather everything else up and bring it out on a tray so I don’t have to make so many trips. Here’s what I gathered up for this one.

I love to see it all stacked up and ready to go!

In the Meadow

Our backyard is really tiny. (Well, our whole yard is really tiny, but before we moved here, I was used to pretty large suburban yards, so coming to terms with this bitty city lot has been quite a “mindset shift.”) But after all these years, I think I’m becoming resigned, and am finally getting around to doing some landscaping back here to make it more useable.

My wonderful husband threw some wildflower seeds out into what you might call a lawn a few years ago, and what with them and the wood hyacinths, we’ve got a lovely little meadow going on this time of year. With any luck, it’ll all be different by next year, but until then, we’re enjoying the flowers while we may – they’ll be mowed very soon!

Using What You Have

If you’re like me, you’re not above buying yourself some fun new table pieces every so often. But I set a lot of tables, and I can’t go buying new things all the time. Even inexpensive ones like I did in this video. Plus, if you’re still like me, you probably have a reasonably large stash of tableware already!

So you might have seen each and every piece that’s on this table before. But I don’t know that I’ve ever used this exact same combination in just this way before. That’s the fun of tablescaping, right? Mixing what you have and sprinkling in some new things when you just can’t resist. (Actually, I might not have used the blue goblets before. They were a Goodwill find several years ago, and they’ve just been waiting for their time. Which was now!)

The Summer Blue Tablescape Place Setting

So let’s talk about the table. First, we have our blue tablecloth. This is just an easy cotton one from Target, with the matching napkins. I love using a rectangular tablecloth on a round table for a little elegant drapey effect. Especially al fresco, it’s so unexpected.

For the place setting itself, I started with some cobalt blue glass charger plates a dear friend gave me. As far as I can tell, they’re not in production anymore, but you can still find them out there. I’ve linked some in the Boutique Recommendations below.

Then the dinner plate is Noritake Blue Hill, also out of production, but available online. The set was a gift from my lovely cousin.

The salad plate is one of my newer acquisitions, and we’re still in the honeymoon stage. I love these!! They’re Williams Sonoma, and are starting to be hard to get, so if you like them, you might want to grab them up soon. Isn’t that a beautiful pattern? (It’s one of four they have in a set, and the other patterns are lovely too.) So fun, and such a contrast to the delicate vintage of the Blue Hill.

The flatware is the guest favorite in gold, to match the rim of the salad plate. As I’ve said possibly literally 25 times, they’re such a fun shape, and so solid to hold and use. My dinner party guests always love them!

And the napkin rings are from old spoons and forks that are made by a guy at the Portland Saturday Market.

I haven’t seen any gold ones down there for a long time, though. I’ll link to some other lovely gold napkin rings instead. (I’ve had my eye on the linked ones for a long time, and I might treat myself to those before fall comes around!)

A Final Look at Our Summer Blue Tablescape

And just to underscore the difference a lovely centerpiece can make, I took a picture of the table all set up, but without the flowers. It’s still pretty, but it needs something, don’t you think?

But with the flowers, ahhhh, just right!

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing the summer blue tablescape, and gotten some inspiration for a lovely blue table – or any other color – of your own!

Thanks so much for sharing it with me!

Barbara’s Boutique Recommendations

Click on the pictures of the pieces I used in this post. If the exact item isn’t available any more, I chose a similar option.

* This post includes affiliate links for your shopping convenience. If you click on a link and buy anything from that site during your visit, I get a small commission and there’s no extra charge for you! It really helps toward the cost of publishing Mantel and Table, and I seriously appreciate it. (You can read the whole disclosure policy here.) Thanks so much for shopping with me!

And remember, a portion of anything you buy from MANTELandTABLE.com goes to Habitat for Humanity and Proud Ground. With our purchases, we get to help people build homes for their own mantels and tables!

Special Touches for Special Events

Even though this is a spring or summer al fresco tablescape for a regular dinner party, you could always dress it up for a special occasion. It would be perfect for any outdoor entertaining – a birthday or graduation – even Easter, Mother’s, or Father’s Day. Here’s some inspiration for easy ways to honor those special occasions, just by switching the vase or napkin rings, or adding a couple fun touches.

(Be sure to doublecheck the actual sizes – sometimes the pictures aren’t exact.)

Birthday

Father’s Day

Easter

Mother’s Day

Graduation

Pin the Summer Blue Tablescape For Later

This Post Shared With

• Tablescape Thursday 05.29.25 – Hosted by Between Naps on the Porch