Nature Inspired Beach Table Setting

Hey there, Friends!! Today we experienced the sobering reality that we are not at the beach anymore 🙁 ( otherwise known as “beach hangover!” ) Our family just got back from our annual St. George Island, Florida beach trip.We had a wonderful time with really great weather & enjoyed alot of R & R as a family playing in the surf, riding bikes, eating fresh seafood, deep sea fishing, & reading ( that would be me, reading some fine Chic Lit & my magazines with no schedule…and it will probably take me all Summer to finish that one book….haha! ) More of that on my Instagram page.

 We have loved & enjoyed SGI for about 11 years now ( the boys were just itty bitty when we started going there! ) & it’s  always so good to recharge & rejuvenate our creative juices by changing the scenery for a bit, isn’t it?! The beach is one of my favorite places  on Earth &  is a place where I gain new insight & motivation in my life. I just love it ALL.

Last year, for my son,Wesley’s, 18th birthday, I did this beach table setting, using a King flat sheet & the beach homeowner’s Williams Sonoma plates as the background. This was completely an impromptu dinner table setting because I had forgotten to bring any party decor on our trip. I gathered all the items from the landscape around the beach house or in the house. It was so much fun creating this table last year out of necessity, that I did it again this year purely for fun. This year, I brought some beautiful Calvin Klein cloth napkins that I found at T.J. Maxx. They were perfect for a table setting at this particular beach house with colors like watery pale blues, sage greens, and creamy whites with a botanical print to compliment the Williams Sonoma dishes.

Here is the process I used for this nature inspired beach table setting starting with the King flat sheet that I pretty much just casually draped over the table, then moved it around until it looked casually elegant ( and not perfect by any means…after all, it’s the beach, right?! ) Next, I folded the napkins length wise by bringing the two edges in towards the middle, and allowing the edges to hang over the table edge. That gave some color and background to the white “tablecloth.” Then I added dinner plates in blue gray, sage green, and cream tones, alternating those colors on top with salad plates so that each setting had different colored plates.

The next layer ( pretend I took a separate pic of this! ) was adding the flatware, 2 different sizes of glasses, wooden salad bowls, & candles. Finally, I collected seashells from the homeowner’s landscape, then clipped some ( poisonous) pink oleander & palms from the surrounding beach flora & fauna. ( On a side note, Florida’s Forgotten Coast has THE most beautiful natural surroundings including palm trees and pine trees. It’s very uncommercialized & unique- one of the reasons we chose to come here years ago, but they do have some wicked mean mosquitoes & yellow flies! ) My boys were like, “Why are you setting that table so fancy,Mom?!”  Then they chuckle to themselves & mutter something about it probably being for a blogpost! BOYS!!! :0 

Here are some more beach table images…..    

It was fun creating another beach table setting, and I love the addition of pink this year ( albeit POISONOUS flowers on a dinner table! Children, do NOT eat the flowers! ) Maybe you will try using a flat sheet this Summer for a casual elegance sort of table setting while in a pinch, or even while entertaining at home?! Imagine the possibilities!

Hope y’all are enjoying your Summer! Thanks for stopping by 🙂 xoxo