Setting Your Outdoor Summer Table

Great weather begs us to move our activities outside. Outdoor dining doesn't have to be paper plates and plastic ware. Setting an outdoor table can be a nice way to think differently about styling and gives you an excuse to use unconventional materials as your inspiration.

Allow nature to direct you.
Forage for moss, river rocks, foliage and interesting lichens to create a woodland feel on your table. These found objects can look great arranged in low wooden plates or bowls, in glass terrariums or the moss used to line trays for serving platters to sit on. If you are vacationing near the ocean, sand in glass jars or juice glasses make wonderful votive holders. Cut seagrass or sea oat fronds and put the stems in mismatched bottles. Wild flowers or cut blossoms and branches from your garden are great for seasonal color.

Follow the "hi-low" approach.
Interior and fashion stylists alike love mixing really luxe items with vintage or antique pieces. A weather worn outdoor wooden table draped with fine linen makes a gorgeous mix and sets the tone as a chic base. Wooden chargers look beautiful when mixed with china plates.. Antique silver that has been used beyond polishing finds its perfect home on the outdoor table. Use mixed up patterns of silver and china to give an upscale and meaningful vintage feel to dinner al fresco. The same treatment works for beloved crystal and glassware. When pieces from your family heirlooms are lost, leaving you with an incomplete set, or those great one-of-a-kind pieces you found at a flea market don't find their way to a formal table, use them when entertaining outside.

Choose menu items and beverages that are weather appropriate.

Late summer temperatures can vary. When planning an outdoor meal, take the temperature and humidity into account. Fragile salad greens, sauces and desserts won't hold up in weather that is too hot or humid. Use larger bowls filled with ice to nest smaller bowls of volatile sauces or salads into. Galvanized buckets filled with ice look great when they are bobbing with beautiful glass bottles of wine and water. The liquid will stay frosty and the sound of a bottle being pulled from ice is appetizing. Choose menu items and recipes that are nice when served at room temperature. If the weather may turn cool once the sun goes down, have a basket of soft shawls or throw blankets available for guests to snuggle up in.

Angie Mosier, Stylist