Rustic Purple & Green Hydrangea Fall Tablescape

A simple, rustic fall tablescape that combines classic white china with texture and glorious purple-green fall hydrangeas. This is a use-what-you-have and thrifted table that is easy to put together!

While I was going through past fall decor photos to share our porch garden decor through the years, I found photos of this fall tablescape buried so far down in a different article that even I wouldn’t know where to find it, let alone any of you. I was struck again at it’s beauty – and uniqueness for fall – that I just had to share it with you and give this table an article of it’s own, not only because it’s pretty, but because it illustrates simple ways to create seasonal table settings easily and inexpensively. (This also explains why you’ll see some older decor in the photo below!)

I remember that I saw the rich, deep purple and green colors of the hydrangea blossoms in September and decided to create a fall table using them as the starting point (you are probably not surprised that I would go for a non-traditional color for a fall tablescape, right?). I was able to find some fabric in my scrap basket that coordinated perfectly (love it when that happens!) which I used to cut out napkins – and didn’t even bother to hem! To these I added our everyday dishes and glasses, some thrifted finds, and old DIY, and some inherited silver and pewter. Nothing fancy, but it all comes together, nicely.

How Create A Simple Fall Tablescape

The things I like most about this table setting are also what you can use in your home, putting your own spin on it for your decor and for the season – all with low-to-no extra cost:

Flowers from the yard set the tone. Here I used hydrangeas, but you could use another flower or branches from your garden – then use it to set the colors for the rest of the table.
Use what you have. Classic white dishes. Fabric cut up for napkins (you don’t even need to hem them – just call it ‘rustic!’). Inherited candlesticks. Everyday water goblets.
Add texture. Linen, rustic wood, basket-weave chargers.
Add metal. Silver, gold, brass, or copper, tarnished or not.
Candles always work. Always.
Nothing has to be “fine.” The goblets are thrifted, as are the chargers. The plates are our everyday plates and while the silverware is our silver plate, our everyday stainless would’ve worked, too.

Think you’re not good at flower arranging? Me, either! That’s why one of my favorite ways to make a floral centerpiece is to use a single type of flower. It’s easy and looks great. I mean, look at those hydrangeas? Isn’t that color amazing? Bring them indoors, stick them in a pitcher, vase, or whatever, and listen to people ooh-and-ahh over it.

Really, this was so easy to do – I combined white and pewter-like silver with brown texture added from the rustic board centerpiece, burlap runner, and basket weave chargers (which were .75 thrift-store finds!).

After adding the hydrangeas to the center, I cut a sprig from an extra blossom for each place setting and added them behind the DIY chalkboard tags that I used to tie the napkins (no room for the full name? just use the first initial!). All that was left was to set the table with silverware and glasses.

OK, and make a meal. Luckily, I think that part’s fun, too!

Let me know if this has been helpful to you – and what your favorite things are to use on tablescapes – thank you so much for stopping by my blog and reading along!