Set Your Table for Fall

This week on Ask the Designer: Join me as I walk you through how to: Set Your Table for Fall, with flare!

Hi Everyone I hope you are having a great fall! This season during my Fall Transitional Home Tour  last week, my home took a cue from nature, with a primary focus on leaves and botanical elements. The same is true here in my dining room as I show you a few easy tricks on how to set your table for fall. My table incorporates a lot of leaves and natural elements. I find that the foliage is how I tired all the areas of my home together. I enjoyed playing up the stark contrast on the complementary colors of Navy and Burnt Orange. I call this out as complementary color design since the two colors will appear opposite or opposing each other on the color wheel. I also used a monochromatic theme within each of the the two focal colors by using an ombre’ effect of the the colors through the table.  You will notice various shades of blue with the focal being navy.  This is a very important tip to keep in mind as you set your table for fall.
The navy is the main background color in our Williams Sonoma table runner. Which also has the burnt orange and traces of the metallic accent colors of copper and silver. You can see the placemats, while providing a nice texture, are also in the blue and navy range, and the light denim napkins continue to carry the blue theme on to the tops of the plates. Our secondary focal color of the Burnt Orange is then replicated by a secondary napkin adding to the layered linen effect. This is seen throughout the room with the shades of leaves and the lovely Orange Unique Roses.  Orange Uniques are the actual name of this particular rose, just in case you think I was insinuating that these roses were rare or unique in a specific way.The Orange Unique rose is a hybrid mixture of two quite different roses. In the 1900s a great deal of work was put into cross breeding yellow and red roses. It is said that Gardeners in this era needed a rose that combined the “unruliness” of the wild yellow rose and the “imperialism” of the red. Now one of the most preferred color ranges of the 20th century is orange-red and orange roses. Announced in 1951 and was originally named the Independence, it has had a few rendition like the Tropicana (more Vermillion)  and Marmalade Skies (more Tangerine).So this would be an overall look into my dining room from the hallway drop zone area. As you can see two out four felines are approving the current table set and design concept. Honestly, I have just decided it is easier these days to do the photoshoots around them. They are a part of our home, and our lives. So why upset our daily routine of them watching my every move, just to get the perfect shot? This one maybe a little bit more magazine worthy, but it really shows how the natural light plays so nicely with the leaves and the colors in this space. I added the vintage amber bottles on a whim, mainly because I needed height but I love the way light streams through colored glass bottles.

The amber glass when lit up almost takes on an orange color, adding yet another layer of our ombre orange tones to the table. I also like the idea of mixing metallic metals, and since the main layout of mercury glass pumpkins leans in the direction of silver, I really wanted to add in just a touch of copper with the mule mugs to offset the abundance of silver on the table.The perfect drink to fill these copper mules and go with this navy table is my Blackberry Sage Moscow Mule. I created for Thanksgiving last year. It is such a savory cocktail,  a fresh blackberry puree’ paired with ginger beer, garnished with candied ginger and fresh sage. This is such an elegant drink but so easy to make, so be sure to check out the link above.Another area I felt like needed a little sprucing was the sideboard. Normally I would have this piled high with food if it is a seat and serve verses a buffet that I would run through the kitchen. I wanted to address the huge mercury glass pumpkin patch that was in the middle of the table so I found this cute rustic sign, added a tray and few other seasonal accessories. One of the items is a blessed picture frame but I thought it would make a cute recipe card holder or even menu holder during the fall season. Currently I have a few of my mom’s and grandma’s recipes on display.  They are hand written  which gives the space a more personal touch, instead of looking too sterile like a  magazine or catalogue.  You should always keep in mind, this is your home and it should reflect you, your family, your values and your story. If it all looks too store bought and impersonal, it will feel that way and in essence be that way. Another fun little vintage piece I added to table are the original 1950 Aluminum Jello molds.  Even though I am not serving Jello, I thought they looked like little silver pumpkins on each place setting.  Plus they are a fun conversation starter over dinner.I also chose a natural wood grain charger to continue the botanical feeling of trees to go with all of our leaves. I considered a set of tree ring bases I have but they were just a little too rustic for the mercury glass pumpkins this time, but soon they are going to make an appearance on my table, since I have used them all over town, but not for myself yet.You may also notice that I have some sterling silver mint julep cups with candles. I will be the first to tell you that these candles are unscented. Rule number one for a dining table is to never use a scented candle. It will ruin your dinner because you have a tendency to taste what you smell, so you always, always, always want unscented candles on your dining table, end of story. This tip comes from years of working at one of the largest wedding event facilities in Atlanta, so I am not making this stuff up. Honestly, even a heavily scented flower like a lily or possible a rose could over power your meal. So keep you fragrances to the savory food kind when hosting a dinner or gathering. Well I think that concluded all my best advice and tips for Fall Table Setting 101, and how to entertain with style all mashed up into one. I am excited to hop on over to my all friends posts throughout the week and see all the lovely creations they have come up with this season. We hope you enjoyed this little fall gem from our cocktail idea from the recipe box. Sign up for future recipe cards for your recipe box, just sign up for our Email updates at this link!

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I hope you all have  a safe and happy holiday season. If you loved this post check out some of our other great Fall Idea posts:

Transitioning Your Home for Fall Home Tour

Setting A Traditional Tablescape

Hosting A Friendsgiving Recipe Swap

The Tale of Table Decorated 3 Ways for Fall

Fall Home Tour, Falling In Love with Rose Gold

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