A Fall Table with Pastel Hues & Pretty Chintz

Set a memorable fall table with pastel hues and pretty chintz for an autumn celebration that gathers loved ones near and reminds us all how important the dinner table is to family connection and civility!

The dinner table is the center for the teaching and practicing not just of table manners, but of conversation, consideration, tolerance, family feeling, and all the other accomplishments of polite society except the minuet.

~ Judith Martin, Miss Manners

I’ve been thinking a lot about this statement from Martin over the past few days as I created this fall table and planned my usual entertaining content for the upcoming months. Months that are likely to see an uptick in illness and continued uncertainty given COVID-19 and the presidential election. Our traditional entertaining plans have to change and evolve. The guest list may be smaller, tensions may be higher, and virtual dinner parties may even be a new norm.

So maybe you’re thinking…why bother with the fancy recipes and specialty cocktails, the flowers and the place settings, the linens and the candles?

And my answer is that quote above! The dinner table is still the foundation of civility!

It is still the place we come to feel like family… to feel connection.

We need that more than ever right now!

So I offer you this fall table with pastel hues and pretty chintz as a motivation to dig deep this year in spite of everything going on and create special moments around the dinner table. If like me you think a beautifully laid table helps create those moments, than this tablescape is for you!

How to Set a Fall Table

Enjoy this little video I created showing the process of setting this tablescape.

If you read my Fall-spiration post, you know that my inspiration this year came from this vintage chintz fabric I found in a thrift shop. It is a large scale chintz with bold yet sophisticated florals in the most perfect color palette. I just knew once I saw this fabric that I could create a beautiful tablescape with it!

All I could find out about the fabric is that it was made by Interior Fabric Designs Inc. C. 1985 from the selvage label and that the company was based in N.C.

Learn how I turned this fabric into a tablecloth with bullion fringe in this post!

Pastel Hues & Vintage Tableware

The chintz dictated the colors for everything else on the table from the florals to the vintage tableware. Pastel hues are the main colors, but to make the table feel like autumn I paired the pastels with deeper accents of teal, orange, and sage green. The deeper autumn colors really ground the pale pink, French blue, and lavender, allowing them to pop even more. This is a design technique I’ve really only mastered in the last few months, and I think it makes a huge difference to decor.

For the tableware, I choose elegant pieces that have timeless appeal like the silver tray and Revere bowl; the blue Canton tureens; and the vintage china. The rose garland gilt rimmed bread and butter plates are available in the Curio Shop.

Candlelight is always a must, but I kept it simple by using white tapered candles in these gorgeous silver and glass hurricanes. The teal wafer stem goblets add a touch of playful fun to the setting and bring out this color in the chintz.

Join me for my fall table sale on September 24, 2020 over on Instagram to shop the tableware!

Included in the sale:

Blue Lenox Scalloped Edge Plates

Rose Garland Bread & Butter Plates available in the shop!

Blue Canton Tureens – sold to Curio Wish List Member. Learn more and join here!

Glass & Silver Hurricanes

Teal Goblets

3.5 Yards Chintz Fabric

& Lots of Vintage Silver

Monogrammed napkins available here.

A Lush Floral Centerpiece with Pumpkins

To keep up with the extravagant pattern of the floral chintz my floral centerpiece had to be lush and over the top. I chose a variety of blooms from orange roses, lavender mums, golden tulips, green hydrangea, and white canterbury bells all mixed in with seeded eucalyptus. The flowers are arranged in a silver-plate Paul Revere bowl and set inside a silver tray with a variety of faux pumpkins nestled all around.

To learn how to create this floral arrangement watch the video tutorial here!

You can shop the mini velvet pumpkins here; the larger velvet pumpkins here; and the white pumpkins here.

Yes, our autumn celebrations will look and feel different this year, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be joyous and special. Decorating your table for fall and gathering those around it you can is vital. After all, the dinner table is central to developing conversation, consideration, tolerance, and family feeling!

Happy Autumn!