Happy almost spring!
If you are new here, welcome. If you are a longtime reader, thanks for stopping by again.
If you are money-conscious-yet-creative and you want to set a pretty spring or Easter table, but you don't want to use your credit card to decorate, (please don't!), stick with me kid, because I've been creating dollarwise tables and meals for years. And years. Today I will share a few of my affordable tricks with you so you can use your own creativity for your tables too. None of my ideas are anything dramatic, but maybe you will find one or two ideas you have never thought of, so here we go ...
As in the photo above, my favorite way to set a table, whether it's just the two of you, you are a single, or you're feeding a crowd is what I call my Sunday trays. I guess they would be my version of a charcuterie board, if you will. All I did above was use a tablecloth and napkins I found on Amazon, set some nibbles dishes on top of white melamine trays and arrange them so the food colors popped, put little appetizer forks in a small pitcher I had long ago purchased at TJMaxx, and I set two small lighted orchids on the table. Festive. Fun. Easy cleanup. Affordable.
This was a simple table I created about 20 years ago at our California condo. I tied the tablecloth with pink ribbon I had on hand. The antique chairs we bought at an Omaha antique store. The green folding chairs are very vintage and were purchased from a store in La Jolla, CA that used to repurpose and repaint old funiture.
And here are some other easy things I did another time for our same table of four ...
I used a blue teapot that was stored in my curio cabinet as my vase. Someone gave me this as a gift so it brought back that nice memory too. And the bright blue added some great color contrast to the pink daisies. Daisies are the ultimate dollarwise flower in my opinion. We had them for our wedding nearly 44 years ago and I still love them. The water goblets were from an antique mall when we lived in Omaha, NE and at that time in our young lives we were scouting antique malls and estate sales and thrift stores to furnish our home affordably. The pink flowered china Steve and I found on a day trip in a little dusty antique shop in a small town in Iowa. We still laugh that there was one plate missing in the set of 12 so they gave us the whole box for $3.00 and since we have never had 12 people to dinner, it was not a big deal. In fact, we had extra plates in case one broke. :)
Look around your home beyond your kitchen and dining rooms ... I would imagine that you have things that could be pulled from other rooms in your home to set your table. Look at your things with new eyes and see what you come up with! You don't have to use matching plates or glasses etc. either. Some of the most interesting tables I have ever seen are when the hostess mixed and matched colors and patterns for a "chic boho" look.
This was our Easter table at one of our former San Diego, CA apartments. The same pink floral china and goblets. The floral placemats and charger plates were from Marshalls. I like to reuse things, and since I stick to a floral theme with a lot of my home decor it can easily be used over and over and it really never dates as it can be freshened up easily with some more modern touches over time. Steve recovered the chair seats with a matelassé bedspread we no longer used on the bed. To me, pretty fabric is pretty fabric and not to be wasted, no matter the original purpose of it, like a bedspread. Here's what I did for my fresh flower arrangement that was easy and fun ...
I sliced some limes for a little interest. Fun, and I don't remember it killing the flower or anything. :)
This was another table I set out on our apartment terrace when we lived in San Diego, CA. The vintage lace tablecloth was from a thrift store and I will show you a little trick I used below for that. Again, same china and placemats. I liked back then to use goblets for fruit and desserts. (I have since banned glassware from my home now that I am in my 60s and my hands ache and I don't want to keep cleaning up dropped glasses, so I prefer pretty stainless wine-sized tumblers now.) The candleholders were on a clearance shelf at my neighborhood grocery store, amazingly. Grocery store floral departments also have great containers for both beauty and organizing. This was an anniversary table for us, so I tied festive gold ribbons around the water goblets to go with the gold candleholders. The roses are in a white pitcher I bought at Home Goods. I love to use pitchers as vases. When decorating, I always look on the clearance racks in stores and now shopping online, for coupons and discounts.
The corner of this vintage tablecloth had a quarter-size hole in it, and since mending and sewing are not my thing, I tied a knot to hide it. Done! The napkins were vintage linens from a thrift store. The chair was a clearance find at a garden center and Steve spray painted it for me. The cute cushion was found at an antique store. The white privacy screen behind the table was from Burlington, and Steve painted it white for me since it came brown which did not go with our decor. I don't let less-than-perfect things deter me when I decorate a table or anything else in my home; I just find a way around them. And paint is my number one go-to for transforming almost anything in my home.
This was a super duper easy and simple Easter table I did long ago. I wrapped a cross necklace around a vase, stacked a cake stand on a plate, and stacked a lidded dish on top of that where I put Jordan almonds that looked like Easter eggs. Steve and I gave each other an Easter card and called it a quiet and peaceful day. I bought the white table at a La Jolla, CA consignment store that is no longer there. The owner told me at the time it was designed by a famous tennis star's sister. Who knows if that's an urban legend or not! I liked it because it was made of heavy metal that was bent to look like twisted vines with roses on it, so it went with my love of garden elements in my home.
This was a dinner table in CA that I did on our tiny apartment terrace. The tablecloth is originally a huge scarf from Goodwill. I loved the roses pattern. (I always wash and sanitize secondhand finds, even before the pandemic.) Look through your own linen drawers and even clothes closet. You might find the perfect "table touch" item. I have often used shawls to cover up chair backs, for instance. Again, washed before use. The water goblets were also Goodwill finds. The bistro set was from Amazon.
On this table, the silver tray was found at Goodwill and the candle holders from another Goodwill store when we were out and about on a day trip. Steve and I like to stop at antique and thrift stores on day trips and when on vacation. When we tire of something or it no longer fits our current home since we have moved a lot, we re-consign it or donate it to Goodwill as we don't want things to end up in landfills.
Above, I took the green center faux plant from elsewhere in our apartment and borrowed it for the table. The glass fruit cups were found at Goodwill too and by their bottom design I recognized them as very old. I like decorating with vintage things sometimes. But I like adding touches of something fresh and modern in too sometimes as well for an interesting mix.
BTW, I don't care about "pedigree" nor who a famous dinnerware designer is, because just like I don't want to pay for a designer's name on the rear end of my jeans, I don't see the need to have them on my table either. :) I just buy what I like and for a dollarwise price to me.
Side note: Yes, I have endured rolled eyes and condescending remarks about my thrifty decorating ways from "friends" with huge homes and (seemingly) very affluent lives. I ignore them with a smile, knowing that my dollarwise decorating and efficient and organized home management helped us retire three years ago with zero debt, including no mortgage, and a peaceful and pretty yet modest lifestyle which we prefer instead of living like this.
This was one of my favorite tables I ever set because I LOVE the colors in the scarf I found at Goodwill. It had a sailboat on the pattern and palm trees so since we lived in San Diego at the time it was perfect. I matched the roses on the table to it. The white tablecloth was another thrift store find and was in perfect condition. I brought our terrace tables and chairs inside just for fun.
I hope this gave you at least one dollarwise idea for your spring or Easter table. Look in every room in your home. I know you can find something pretty to repurpose and move to your table, both to save you money and fuel your creativity.
I wish you simple beauty on your table and the grace of Easter in your soul.
Kathryn :)
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