Fall into a New Beginning

by elyn_ryn

Setting a fall table seems to turn the page on summer. I suppose it is because of the new school year, but sometimes I feel as though fall is more like the start of a new year than the month of January! It’s a fresh start and full of the promise of what we can accomplish.

For this table, I started with a neutral base and added color on top. This tablescape has a gray and gold throw for a tablecloth. Black dinner plates, chargers, napkins, flatware, and stemware set the neutral base. Then I chose copper colors for the centerpiece by placing peaches and an artificial vine on the centerpiece arrangement. If peaches were not available, I could have used tomatoes for the centerpiece. Use what you have!

Salad plates with colorful feathers top the black dinner plates. Copper mugs coordinate with this table, but the table also looks fine without them. Put things together that you have never considered using together. It is surprising how things work together that were not made for each other.

Any solid-colored dinner plate can be considered neutral because you can always put a pattern with it. As I did for the post The Beauty of Red, White, & Blue, I placed crisscrossing ribbons on the table to define each place setting. I used a contrasting ribbon so it was very visible against the table throw. It is a good way to give your table color without too much fuss. Ribbons can also define a place setting and serve as placemats when you don’t have any that match.

If you need to use place cards, pin a name card with a clothespin. I pinned one to the charger but could have pinned it to the napkin instead. Alternative ideas include gluing name cards to acorns or writing names on fresh leaves picked from outside. Once I used a gold marker to write names on sticks for place cards!

Fresh veggies and fruits (as shown below) are always good for creating a centerpiece. I used an old vine to top the centerpiece. However, leaves from outdoors could have been placed between the items in the centerpiece and worked well too. Green leaves or vines would have provided a nice contrast with the orange hues.