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How to Create a Beautiful Fall Tablescape

Learn how to create a simple but pretty fall tablescape and celebrate this season with an autumn inspired dining space.

Don’t you just love fall?

The pretty colors outside your home and the coziness inside.

I mean they do say it’s the best time of the year.

Not really sure who they are…but they must know something…am I right?!

Even all the home décor stores sell signs that read “But I Think I Love Fall Most of All” and “Hello, Fall” and “Happy Fall Y’all”.

But my favorite sign I saw this year “Autumn Shows Us How Beautiful It Is To Let Things Go”.

Isn’t that such a great quote?

I think I may need one!

We’re joining our blogging friends again this month to bring you some gorgeous fall tablescape ideas you’re going to just FALL in love with!

See what I did there?

We’ve been having an awesome time thinking of new ideas for you to host parties and gatherings each month.

Be sure to read all the way to the end of this post so you don’t miss out on the other beautiful fall inspired tablescape ideas!

If you were here last month for our Football Tailgate party we started having a guest host join us.

So exciting to now have 6 amazing bloggers sharing our creative décor ideas for you.

We also have a fantastic fall dinner party menu!

It’s gonna be delicious!!

If you’re visiting us from our friend Stacy from Bricks ‘n Blooms or if you’re new to our blog, Hey there and welcome!

two women standing beside eachother smiling at camera on dock with lake behind them

Thanks so much for stopping by our blog to check it out!

We’re AnnMarie (wearing tan) and Anne (wearing green), the two moms behind this blog.

We work together to share simple and budget-friendly ideas for decoratingrecipesDIY projects, and tips for life with older teens (and beyond!).

You can read more about us here.

So enough about us…let’s talk more about this month’s theme… and my simple but beautiful fall tablescape!

How to Decide on a Color Scheme for a Tablescape

area rug in middle of dining room on hardwood floors with table and six chairs on rug

If you’ve been around a while you know my style is fairly neutral.

I love the clean look of a modern farmhouse style…not too cluttered but not too contemporary….somewhere in the middle.

Lately, I’ve been drawn to a little more color…especially the golden yellow and burnt orange tones in fall.

I even found some cute little yarn pumpkins in the Target dollar spot I thought were perfect for this tablescape but when I laid them out on the table in my dining room the autumn colors just didn’t look right in the space.

Although the table and hutch are painted white and my buffet tables are black I have a rug that’s got more color than I usually add in our house.

And colors that I don’t really decorate with.

But the rug works in this room since everything else is black, white and gray.

The background of the rug is black and white but the pinks and blues in the rug are a bit brighter in person.

And it’s the pink and blue that were throwing off the warm colors of the gold and orange tablescape I had envisioned.

No worries…I came up with another plan!

Just pulled out my DIY sweater pumpkins from my fall décor bins and got to work putting a centerpiece together using what I had here at home.

I wanted to use these sweater pumpkins in a different area of my house than I did last year anyway so it was a win-win.

You can check out how Anne and I both style our homes with these easy to make no-sew pumpkins here.

How to Create a Simple Fall Centerpiece

diy sweater pumpkins on garland of leaves and twigs in middle of dining room table with candles

I like to create simple centerpieces that are neutral so I can leave it out for the a while.

Or a least until next month when I style my Thanksgiving tablescape.

Last year I styled a super easy table with pampas grass and pinecones.

The neural creams and grays of the sweater pumpkins coordinated much better in the room with the gray walls and the rug colors.

sweater pumpkins on wood tray with linen table runner and garland of leaves and twigs

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The first thing I did was grab my trusty long wood tray that I always seem to use when styling tablescapes on my painted white table.

I love that the tray is long and narrow and fills the middle of my table but leaves plenty of room for place settings too.

Next, I added my two skinny table runners that Diane from South House Design gave me when I met her in Atlanta this summer at the Haven Conference.

She’s was super sweet to bring them for me so now I don’t need to borrow Anne’s

I’m telling you these skinny table runners are the bomb for styling tablescapes and so much more!

Then, I added a leaf and twig garland I’ve had for several years and a bunch of sweater pumpkins.

candlesticks lit in middle of table with chandelier above and china hutch behind table

And no centerpiece is complete without candles, so I added 5 of my upcycled painted white candlesticks to the middle of the arrangement.

I love how the centerpiece came together.

Simple but beautiful!

How to Set Each Place for a Dinner Party

It’s so fun to set a pretty table for a dinner party but I also like to keep it simple so that you’ll be able to recreate the look for your home too.

And I try to use things I already have on hand so that I’m not spending a ton of money every time I entertain.

I’m so glad I got these simple white dishes years ago because they’re pretty perfect for most of my tablescape designs.

However, I did buy new seagrass chargers.

I’ve been using the same natural water hyacinth chargers for a while but the color was just a little too light & summery for my fall tablescape.

I found the same style charger but in a darker blackwash color at World Market.

close up of striped napkin in between two plates on black seagrass charger on fall table

The darker color place mat looks so good in my dining room and I think I’ll get a lot of use out of them.

And the gray and white striped napkins laid between the white plates adds a little more neutral color to each place setting.

I found these chambray cloth napkins at Home Goods but here is a similar style.

view of end of table looking across with mini sweater pumpkins on each place setting and the window at the back of the room

Adding a small sweater pumpkin to the middle of each plate adds a bit of fun whimsy to the place settings and matches the centerpiece.

Then the pumpkin can be easily moved out of the way when you’re ready to serve your meal.

And the best part I already had them…so free décor…gotta love that!

overhead view of fall tablescape on dining room table with pumpkins and other neutral decor

Since I didn’t have 6 of the same style sweater pumpkins I used 2 of each and spaced them around the table.

You can add any faux or real pumpkins to each table setting to get the same look.

I’ve also used grapevine pumpkins for an easy Thanksgiving tablescape that looked great too.

dining room decorated for fall with neutral colors and pieces table in middle of room window at far end and hutch to left

I hope I gave you some simple ideas to style your table for fall.

Now let’s take a look at our friend’s amazing fall tables…

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Meet Our Guest Host

Not only is Robyn a wife, mom, teacher, decorator, vintage hunter and blogger, she’s also the queen of stunning tablescape designs.

You definitely want to click this link to see not only this beautiful harvest tablescape but the others she’s created too!

We’ll be sharing a guest host each month, in addition to our permanent hosts below, so be sure to come back every month to meet our next special guest.

If you’re a blogger and you’d like to join our virtual dinner club for a month leave us a comment below or contact us here.

More Fall Tablescape Ideas from Our Friends

If you’ve missed any of our previous tablescape ideas just click the link for even more inspiration:

If you have any questions or suggestions, contact me or leave a comment!

Don’t miss any of our tips, tricks, or stories! We’d love for you to follow us on social media! You can find us on TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook.

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 Pinterest graphic Fall Tablescapes - tour 6 beautiful homes