Spring Table Decorating Ideas

A beautiful festive table is as much a treat to your guests as the meal served on it. It takes creativity, time and effort to achieve, but the end result conveys love and care for those special people gathered around!  Today I’ll share step by step how I layered the elements for a garden-inspired Easter tablescape. Here are some Spring Table Decorating Ideas to get your creative juices flowing!

Use Burlap As a Rustic Tablecloth

Despite the fact that I own a bazillion vintage tablecloths, I chose to go the non-iron route and drape the table with 2 lengths of burlap, seamed down the middle. I love the rustic burlap as a backdrop for all the frilly. It makes a perfect masculine/feminine contrast. Kind of like flowers blooming in the dirt;)

Here’s my thought process: I’m going to have a lot of busy patterned, bright colors on this table so I need a neutral, calm background as a backdrop. I’m also going to have a lot of feminine, frilly items and want to temper them with the rustic, more masculine burlap as a foundation. The bonus to this rustic look is you don’t have to iron a tablecloth!

Layer Your Centerpiece Elements

The centerpiece I’m using for this spring table {“Divided Drawer: From Workbench to Centerpiece”} has character-rich wood along with junky metal texture. It’s rustic beauty contrasts with the pretty vintage fabric eggs it contains.  A square of fake grass underneath sets it off from the burlap tablecloth. Both the grass and the pretty pansy pots  provide the fresh texture of foliage {“Add Some Pretty to Your Pansy Pots”}.

Use Leafy Placemats for Something Different

Leafy placemats set off each place setting and give the plates, glasses and other items a foundation to build upon. They’re a fresh, more modern and organic look than classic fabric placemats. You can purchase them, or make your own {“Leafy Placemats”}.

Layer Each Place Setting With Vintage and New

Floral plates and rosy thumbprint vintage glasses provide garden-like freshness with the leafy backdrop. The flatware is tucked into my  “Swedish Huck Utensil Pockets” , easily crafted from a vintage towel. A pretty aqua and white plaid linen napkin is folded behind, adding yet another layer and texture. You could use a store-bought pretty paper napkin as well.

Add Some Real Foliage

For some real foliage and texture, place a Pansy Pot with some extra prettiness at each place setting.This is a wonderful spot for a name tag and could  even be your guest’s gift. A stamped piece of vintage flatware could add a personal touch, too. For a great how-to, check out my friend, Diana’s post, Here. For an after dinner treat, each setting has a “Tart Mold Pedestal” with a yummy butterscotch, chocolate nest tucked in. (These are my favorites; they’re the dessert before the dessert!)

Add Some Flicker

I like each tablescape to have a little flicker of special-ness. I grabbed a couple antique, handled glass baskets and placed a simple votive candle in them. Their ruffled edges echo the leafy placemats. See what I meant about all the frilly elements?

Do you see how all the colors in the floral plates are represented on the table? The rustic burlap and the character-rich wood centerpiece balances out all the pretty elements.

Use Garden-Inspired Serving Pieces

To add to the garden-inspired theme, use serving pieces with a leafy motif, like these vintage pottery pieces. They can readily be found at Thrift Stores, Church Sales and Estate Sales. Many have the initials of the maker on the bottom, when pottery-making was in fashion. This leafy bowl and pea dish were made by my husband’s mother and aunt. I love bringing them out in the spring!

This garden inspired table could be enjoyed just as much for a Mother’s Day brunch or a garden club party if the eggs in the drawer centerpiece were swapped out for some vintage garden tools! Spring table decorating ideas can span several months by swapping up a couple elements.

Continue Your Table Theme to the Rest of the Room

Mr. Bunny looked over the whole scene from his perch in the bay window and was pleased at the Mr. MacGregor garden-inspired scene:

Instead of placing fresh tulips in a vase, I tucked them in floral tubes of water and poked them into galvanized pots of fresh parsley. A couple of snipped lilac branches added some sticky texture.

I hope you have seen that the most special table settings develop over time and contain vintage, new, and handcrafted items. The Swedish Huck Utensil Pockets’ design reminded me of Easter Egg decorations. The towel’s bright, pastel colors inspired me to decoupage some large styro eggs with pretty vintage fabrics and trims, which led me to refresh the Divided Drawer to display them in! I dug the burlap tablecloth out of my store leftovers pile and picked up the leafy placemats just the other day. I potted up the pansies in clay pots to further the potting shed theme and add some fresh foliage to the table.

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Luscious Layers…that’s how I describe a beautifully layered table setting. Once you create your theme, you can craft some uniqueness with vintage items, and then layer the prettiness. Your guests will feel the love even before the wonderful food gets served! I hope this step-by-step process of Spring Table Decorating Ideas inspires you to create a beautifully unique table for you next special occasion!

Linking up with these lovely parties:

Wall to Wall DIY Wednesdays

Talk of the Town

Feathered Nest Friday

Thursday Favorite Things

Farmhouse Friday