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Bold and Bright Tropical Summer Tablescape

Do you plan on doing any entertaining this summer? Just in case, I have a bold and bright tropical summer tablescape for you to use as inspiration.

When I think of summer, I think of bright flowers, sand, beach, beautiful blue water and blue sky, and tall icy cold cocktails. I don’t have a beach available, but we do have a pool. I have everything else to create a bold and bright tropical summer tablescape. We can all dream of tropical days, right?

If your weather is as hot as ours is right now, then entertaining indoors becomes the most comfortable option. With a tropical tablescape theme, it feels like you are dining outside by the pool or on the beach.

Let me show you how easy it is to create a tropical summer tablescape that is a delight to dine at.

My bold and bright summer tablescape is inspired by the bright colors I remember from trips to Mexico and the Caribbean with Sweet Shark. We love the beach and the abundance of flowers and lush foliage.

Bold and Bright Tropical Summer Tablescape

So what did I have on hand to create the colors and vibe I wanted?

Bold and Bright Tablecloth

As is often the case, my collection of fabrics provided the right start. I had about 4 yards of fabric left from making the window treatments and bedding for the grandkids’ guest bedroom. I found this fabric when we were designing our home.

It is bright with an overall pattern and wasn’t boy or girl, but one that I thought the little ones would enjoy for several years.

This fabric was one of the first ones I found when shopping for our present home remodel.

tropical tablecloth

Coincidentally, on a trip to Atlanta, I went to the Lewis and Sheron fabric store in the design district with my older daughter. There on the display of bolts was the fabric – at 1/2 the price. Not knowing how much I needed, I bought 10 yards. I carried all that fabric home on the airplane. I used about 6 yards in the bedroom and the rest has been rolled up in a drawer for 10 years.

Keeping my fingers crossed that there was enough left to use as a tablecloth in our dining room, I unrolled it on the table. There was more than enough! All I had to do was iron the fabric and cut off the selvages.

tropical tablecloth

This fabric’s free-form, bright graphic flower design works perfectly for my tropical summer tablescape.

The great thing about this fabric is all the colors. The tropical colors are exactly what pops in my summer tablescape: pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, and taupe. I didn’t realize that it went beautifully with the decorative pillows and the framed fabric art that I made for our dining room makeover.

tropical tablecloth

Now I was ready to add all the decorative elements to the summer tablescape that I envisioned.

Tropical Tablescape Decorations

The first tropical element I added were these bright-colored woven placemats from Pier 1 that I’ve had for years: 2 pink, 2 orange, and 2 green. You can get a great price on these similar ones. You can see here that I did indeed cut off the selvages. For now, I decided not to hem the edges. Tell me that you don’t mind.

tropical tablecloth with colorful placemats

At this point, I knew I needed some additional decorations. It was pouring down rain (which it did almost every day that week), but I put on my rain boots and “paddled” over to Dollar Tree.

It wasn’t hard to find a treasure trove of items to use in my tropical summer tablescape. Japanese paper lanterns (made in China) and tissue-paper pom-poms in pink, green, aqua, and yellow were just the things to create my centerpiece and table decor.

tropical tablescape decorations

I put together the lanterns and a couple of large pom-poms and hung them from our chandelier.

tropical tablescape lanterns and pom-pom

Tropical Centerpiece

For my centerpiece, for a little bit of contrasting shine, I used this silver tray that a cooking class gave to me a few years ago.

silver tray on tropical table

I had some decorative sand that I bought for a (Mamma Mia!) tablescape to fill the tray. I had to have sand for a beachy and tropical feel. After I use it, I just put it back in the jar to use again.

sand on silver tray

Do you save cool bottles to reuse? I have 6 kombucha bottles that I used for my spring tea party. I cleaned them and thought they would be perfect filled with tropical flowers sitting on the sand on the tray. I’ve used those bottles for a kitchen vignette and a 4th of July vignette with a cloche and flags.

Another trip to Trader Joe’s yellow and orange Gerber daisies; they were out of pink Gerbers (They did have 2 which they just gave me.) so I bought another type of small pink flower. I filled 4 bottles with flowers and set them on the silver tray.

bright tropical colors in yellow, orange, and pink

I used the small pom-poms in yellow, green, and pink from Dollar Tree. They were strung together and I just cut 2 off of each string. I set them around the tray. 2 of the small lanterns, 1 in pink and one in aqua found a home at each end of the tray.

tropical tablescape decorations
bright tropical colors in yellow, orange, and pink

The Tropical Place Settings

I had 6 clear glass plates I could use. The clear glass plates would allow the colorful placemats to show. I already had bright-colored napkins, a long-ago purchase from Crate and Barrel, that have served me well on many occasions.  A simple napkin ring with a paper flower and ribbon was the finishing touch.

I cut the flowers out with my Cricut. You could certainly draw a flower and cut it out with scissors.

tropical place setting
tropical place setting
tropical place setting

You might have seen the polka-dot glasses peeking out. The glasses are a set that I bought online from Williams-Sonoma after we moved into our home. They are monogrammed.

I couldn’t find those glasses now, but these tall glasses are perfect for indoors or outside.

You know me – I couldn’t leave them plain. So they got the polka-dot treatment in pink, orange, aqua, and green vinyl. (I’ll show you this easy DIY project in a later post. )

polka dot tropical glass
tropical tablecloth

Tropical Summer Cocktail

Every tropical summer party needs a tropical summer cocktail. This Strawberry Limoncello Spitzer from Erin at DelightfulE Made sounded like the perfect tropical cocktail. We always have a bottle of Limoncello in the freezer and Prosecco in the fridge. All I needed were some strawberries. It was very refreshing.

tropical cocktail

The color of the cocktail added to the festive feel of my tropical summer tablescape.

tropical cocktail

This tropical summer tablescape could be used for any event from April through September. It would definitely look wonderful outdoors.

tropical tablecloth
bright tropical colors in yellow, orange, and pink

The cocktails won’t last, but I’m hoping that the flowers will so we can invite some friends over to enjoy our tropical summer tablescape. I hope that it gave you some inspiration for your own summer parties.

Please PIN and share this post to your boards and social media. You will get a big hug from me.

pin for later graphic in blue
tropical summer tablescape

 

 

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37 Comments

  1. I love your tablescape! It is so festive. It makes me want to dance and do the limbo. Thank you very much.

  2. Such a bright, colorful, and festive table! I love how you take us through the steps of creating a tablescape so your readers feel like they can do it too. The vibrant colored Gerber daisies are beautiful and complement the pretty fabric you chose. The accents from Dollar Tree are so cute! I am so happy to be on this blog hop with you!

  3. Such a fun tablescape, Carol! I love all of your tropical DIYs and can’t wait to see the tutorial on your polka dot glasses. Such a great idea to set it with clear glass dishes to let all of the color show through. Your DIY napkin rings are adorable as well. So fun hopping with you again!

  4. Carol you design the most fun and festive tablescapes! I love your bright colors. The fabric is very beautiful and it could work in a casual or elegant tablescape. The bright flowers in the bottles look so pretty and put in the mood to head to the garden center to look for some Gerbera daisies to plant! The Dollar Tree accents are super fun and summery too!

    So happy to join you this week on the hop. Have a great summer ahead!

    1. Oh, thank you, sweet friend. I’m in love with my kombucha bottles; I think I have 8 now. I actually need to buy some more and drink the stuff.

  5. Sweet friend, your table is wonderful. Filled with colorful reminders of a warmer season soon to be enjoyed by all. The touch of whimsy makes me smile with the rainbow colors of the chargers. You always create a lovely table. It’s a pleasure to be on the tablescape hop with you. Hugs

  6. Carol, I love your table and all of these bold, beautiful colors! So gorgeous!! I like how you used the clear plates so the napkins and placemats would stand out! Hugs!

  7. Carol, what a terrific and happy table! I absolutely adore the fabric print – all my favorite wardrobe colors – and what you did to enhance the overall party theme. The paper lanterns and flowers really fill the space and the flowers in vase ground the table. Great execution of creative ideas!

  8. Carol, I’m always in awe of the crafting and DIY details incorporated into your tablescapes. Today’s had me smiling and craving that spritzer — you had me at limoncello! Can’t wait to see how you made the polka dot glasses.

  9. Anyone having a ho-hum day would immediately perk up around this cheerful setting. Lanterns are a fun way to add a little something extra. Always a pleasure to blog hop with you.

  10. Carol, your table is so vibrant and happy! I love the extra fabric you used as a tablecloth. I’m also planning to use some leftover fabric for my tablescape, and I’m not going to hem mine either 😉 The Dollar Tree decorations add the perfect festive touch. I’m always amazed at the bargains there! Your cocktails in the polka dot glasses look so refreshing…I may have to make some myself as I love Prosecco. It’s a pleasure hopping with you. Happy (almost) Summer!

  11. Carol, I love how colorful your tablescape is–the lanterns and Gerber daisies are my favorites! It’s a pleasure to be joining you for the hop this week! Blessings, Cecilia @My Thrift Store Addiction

  12. This is just the inspiration I needed. I am hosting a luncheon on June 7th, which I so hope can be on the outdoor deck. I already have these colors going and these ideas move me along nicely. Thanks!

  13. Carol, I love all your creative touches and tropical table! So festive with your paper lanterns, flowers and blooming napkins! Your fabric makes a gorgeous tablecloth and I would love to sip on a cocktail at your table. As always it’s a treat to have a virtual seat at your table and blog hop with you. ♥

  14. Carol, what a fun and colorful table. You thought of everything.
    The textures and chosen colors really put me in the mood for a party. Those cocktails look wonderful. Polka dots are always so cute and you embrace them beautifully.
    Any guest would be thrilled to sit at your table.

  15. Carol, You are so creative. I’m glad for you that you had just the right amount of cloth for your tablecloth and no I don’t mind you didn’t hem the edges!
    I love the colors and festive theme. Your centerpiece is so cute with the flowers in the bottles sitting in the sand. Your glasses are adorable for your summer beverage.
    Enjoy having friends over. I’m sure they will be wowed by your table.
    I did pin and created a new summer tablescape board for all the summer tablescapes.

  16. Carol, I love your festive and fun tropical tablescape. Your fabric was the perfect jumping off point for bringing all the colors and textures to your table. I do love your attention to detail. I would be so happy to sit at your table. As always, it is a pleasure to blog hop with you!

  17. Carol I love the colorful, tropical table setting you have put together. The bright colors definitely herald the coming of summer and all the summer activities. I love the use of the tissue paper decor along with the placemats, which coordinate beautifully with your tablecloth. I am so glad the weather finally cooperated with your photo shoot.
    I would love to be sitting at your table sipping on the drink in the polka dot glasses. What a fun table. It is always a pleasure to blog hop with you.

    1. Thanks, Kari. Finding the tissue paper pom~poms was a great part of the tablescape ~ at a great price! iT was wonderful to have the sun come out yesterday and it’s back today! I’ll be sharing at Celebrate Your Story!

  18. What fun Carol and oh how festive! Your $tree paper finds are just the thing to make this really pop! Love the sandy centerpiece and all the bright colors! I can just about taste a fruity cocktail with a paper parasol! We had the same week of rainy weather in Alabama and yesterday afternoon I just about cheered when the sun finally came out! Your table is sunshine itself! It is going to be a fun week!
    Jenna

    1. Jenna, Isn’t Dollar tree the best? I forgot to look for paper parasols! On my list for next trip. I think the rain has finally departed for awhile in the South and we can enjoy May sunshine.

  19. How fun your tablescape is, Carol! This is the wonderful discovering part of these hops, although I was going tropical, our visions are 180 degrees from one another. I just love the inspiration shared by each of the bloggers. The bright colors are perfect for summer and I tend to look at the tissue paper decorations almost like beach balls, beckoning us to come and play. The polka dot glassware mimics the fun and colorful mood you have set! Thank you for once again sharing your talents and vision!

    1. Chloe, one think I love about these tablescape blog hops is one topic, a dozen different interpretations. Love the beach ball analogy. That gives me an idea for the next blog hop. You know I love polka dots!!Thanks for hosting and being such a tablescape guru.