white wood candlesticks

Butterfly Kaleidoscope

/ Alycia Nichols / 50 Comments

This week I’d like to share a casual summer tablescape with you that, with just a bit of tweaking, could work well both indoors or out.

Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One - Butterfly Kaleidoscope: Inspiration piece

INSPIRATION: Melamine dinner plate from Target’s 2010 collection in turquoise, citrus green, brown and white. See how it looks like a butterfly…and a kaleidoscope?

I couldn’t decided whether this reminded me more of a butterfly or an image you might see when looking into one of those old-fashioned kaleidoscopes. I also couldn’t decide whether I wanted to show this inside in the dining room or outside on the deck. So I’m going to show you both in a sort of side-by-side comparison! This might be helpful information as you come up with a Plan A for good weather and a “hope we don’t need it, but just in case we do” Plan B to bring it all inside in case of inclement weather conditions.
(Click on any photo to enhance/enlarge it to see details up close.)

Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One - Butterfly Kaleidoscope: Full room in and out collageBoth inside and out, I started with a full-length brown linen. Yes…ye olde brown linen is back in play! Seriously…brown is a great summer neutral. It all depends on how you pair it up!

Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One - Butterfly Kaleidoscope: Full table in and out collage

Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One - Butterfly Kaleidoscope: Multiple place setting in and out collageTop photo – indoors, bottom photo – outdoors. Just look at all that color!!!

Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One - Butterfly Kaleidoscope: Single place setting in and out collageThe elements on the table are a balanced mix of all the colors found in the dinner plate. The charger is a white ceramic from Old Time Pottery. TIP: White chargers may be a little tough to come by, so you might consider buying inexpensive acrylic ones and spray painting them. Great look, great value!

Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One - Butterfly Kaleidoscope: Flatware, rim shot, napkin in and out collageBoth inside and out, a double dose of napkins cascade off the side of the table at each place setting. It’s nice to have two napkins for guests if you’re eating something extra messy like fried chicken or barbecue. One for the lap, one for mouth & fingers. They’ll love you for it! The flatware is a faux bamboo from Home Goods. Notice on the outdoor setting how a butterfly has innocently landed on each salad fork.

Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One - Butterfly Kaleidoscope: Turquoise stemware from Pier 1I LOVE this super chunky turquoise stemware from Pier 1!!! It feels really substantial and holds a lot of whatever beverage is being served.

Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One - Butterfly Kaleidoscope: Full centerpiece in and out collageThe centerpiece indoors is a mix of turned white wood candlesticks from Z Gallerie topped with fun turquoise, green and white striped candles from Pier 1, a trio of florals, and pots of rye grass standing as sentry at each end. The outdoor table loses the rye grass and adds votives to the mix.

Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One - Butterfly Kaleidoscope: Candle collageI get a lot of mileage out of these Z Gallerie candlesticks. Each end of the centerpiece holds a pair in two sizes. Notice the bling on the candle wick. If your dinner party starts early in the evening when the sun is still out, keep the bling on as an added point of interest. When it’s time to light the candles, just snip the wick to about 1/2 inch, pocket the bling, and put it aside for use on something else later.

Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One - Butterfly Kaleidoscope: Floral trio collage

Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One - Butterfly Kaleidoscope: Butterfly collageThe fun floral element comes in a trio of white ceramic canisters filled with acid green roses and rye grass. Fun little turquoise hand-painted butterflies from Beau-coup.com flit about, landing here and there at will.

Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One - Butterfly Kaleidoscope: Deep turquoise square glass votive holder

The outdoor table has an added twist of intermittent votives in deep turquoise blue glass holders.

Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One - Butterfly Kaleidoscope: Buffet table indoors collageThe buffet behind the dining table indoors is smothered with turquoise and citrus green paper lanterns. It’s a simple but effective backdrop to the busy design on the table.

Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One - Butterfly Kaleidoscope: Buffet table outdoors

Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One - Butterfly Kaleidoscope: Outdoor buffet table element collageThe outdoor buffet table is covered from head to toe in a smart fitted white tablecloth from LinenTablecloth.com. The pots of rye grass used on the dining table and around the room indoors have moved to the buffet table to add color there.

Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One - Butterfly Kaleidoscope: Turquoise and citrus green paper lanternsThe sides of the buffet table are festooned with paper lantern “towers” tied to the deck posts. Just loop ribbon through the lanterns to create this fun and colorful look!

Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One - Butterfly Kaleidoscope: Paper lanternsMore paper lantern singles are tied to individual posts around the deck to surround guests in color and movement. If you add lights to the lanterns, just think how pretty that would be at night!!!

Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One - Butterfly Kaleidoscope: Tea cart collageBack inside, a vintage tea cart holds pitchers of ice cold water and lemonade on the bottom and a Ralph Lauren pedestal filled with Granny Smith apples on top.

Tablescapes at Table Twenty-One - Butterfly Kaleidoscope: China cabinet and sconce collageFinally indoors the china cabinet has a complementary treatment of paper lanterns, rye grass and roses. The sconces that flank the buffet are outfitted with pots of rye grass visited by butterflies.

Are ya dizzy now? Sorry ’bout that! My point is that you can use the same elements either indoors or out and achieve a great look that is appropriate to the space. Plan A or Plan B…you decide! 🙂

Other posts on this site using turquoise or blue, green & white:
“Under a Paper Moon”
“Summer Blues & Greens”

Another post on this site using paper lanterns:
“Blue & White 30th Birthday”
“Cupcake Colors”
“Under a Paper Moon”
“Easter Brunch”

I’m joining lots of other talented tablescapers again this week at Cuisine Kathleen’s blog party, “Let’s Dish!” (anytime after 6:00 p.m. CDT Wednesday) and Susan’s party, “Tablescape Thursday” (anytime after 9:00 a.m. CDT Thursday).