Transform your late summer dinner table in minutes: Martha Stewart’s easy, colorful decor tips that anyone can recreate

Martha shows us that a stunning tablescape simply requires a mix of old and new pieces and some color for a truly inviting spread

Martha Stewart
(Image credit: Gregg DeGuire / WireImage via GettyImages)

We still have a month of summer (officially) left, which means there is plenty of time to up your table setting game. Lucky for us, Martha Stewart has brought forward some table setting tips that are apropriate for this season and beyond, as seen on the Martha Moments Instagram page.

'One of the creative aspects of summertime entertaining is trying to come up with new ways to set the table, make a welcoming table,' Martha states in the clip. 'It seems so complicated, but really it's very simple, if you can mix old with new, fancy with plain.'

Her essential summer table decor ideas? Mixing bright colors with table staples, in this case, bright green table settings and dishes with classic white dinnerware and silver cutlery.

Shop Martha's summer tablescape essentials

As a base, Martha uses a cheap and cheerful tablecloth to lay the color foundation of the table.

'Today we are actually covering our table with an oilcloth,' she states in the clip. 'This oilcloth used to be a very heavy canvas or cotton fabric, rendered waterproof with a coating of linseed oil. Nowadays, it's a very lightweight, very malleable fabric. It's made of plastic or vinyl, woven with cotton. It's waterproof, it's colorful. It's so inexpensive, too.'

She opts for a slightly monochromatic look with some green dinner plates, topped off by white fiestaware to neutralize.

'Fiestaware used to be very inexpensive clay pottery, it was popular in the '30s, '40s, and '50s,' she explains. 'It's Art Deco design, just this very nice simplicity of form and smooth lines.'

She then goes on to explain that she mixes and matches different glasses – a decision made out of necessity, but one that works well to diversify the table with heavy, pressed glasses alongside thinner glasses.

Finally, the linen napkins are a true essential, and Martha says they are multipurpose.

'These very simple, green striped dish towels – I call these lapkins because they are large enough to fit across your lap – I find these all the time at garage sales, and I just buy them every time I see something with a different color stripe.'

Simple yet impactful, we will definitely be taking these ideas into your fall decor and far beyond.



Hannah Ziegler
News Editor

Hannah is Homes & Gardens’ News Editor, with a focus on celebrity style and entertainment content. She got her start in media as a digital editorial assistant at ELLE Canada, and has since written about lifestyle and culture for publications such as Nylon and i-D.

Her love of film is rivaled only by one with a great soundtrack, and she hopes to someday decorate a Nancy Meyers-worthy kitchen.

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