Pinterest Challenge

Creating a Mid-Summer Breakfast Tablescape in the Garden

French Ethereal
A picturesque breakfast setup in a mid-summer garden featuring a cup of tea, delicate china, and floral arrangements.

Happy Tuesday, y’all! Welcome to this month’s Design Challenge where our host Cindy from County Road 407 has chosen a stunning Summer Tablescape for our inspiration. Let’s check it out plus my mid-summer table styling and its accoutrements…

I am Barbara Chapman and I’d love it if you’d follow me here on my blog and on any of my other social media sites, too.  Thank you!💜 

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First off, I want to say thank you to Cindy for hosting and coming up with all of these wonderful challenge ideas each month. If you are just coming over from Rachel’s blog, The Ponds Farmhouse, didn’t you love how she used a botanical theme for her table? Such a perfect idea for decorating a summer table… Today, we have nine ladies sharing their summer table ideas for you!

A circular green graphic featuring the text 'Design Challenge' and 'One Inspirational Image, Various Distinct Styles', with an illustration of a gazebo and floral designs in the background. Hosted by countyroad407.com.

Summer’s soft inspiration

A beautifully set outdoor dining table featuring a floral tablecloth, elegant dishware, and a large pink and white flower arrangement in a glass vase, surrounded by greenery.

This beautiful outdoor tablescape was created by Pam over at Everyday Living. I have been reading Pam’s blog for years now, and if you haven’t been over to Pam’s blog before, she and her husband Butch share their wonderful garden, garden cottage and life from their homet in Alabama. Butch writes their Spirit-lead Sunday posts and their hearts are definitely full of faith in Jesus! Pam loves creating beautiful tables and she often hosts tea parties for their grandchildren. 🙂

Let’s dissect this table a bit:

Pam has chosen a lovely square tablecloth topper by April Cornell full of summery roses and cottage garden flowers in bright pinks and blues. The pink and cream hydrangeas lend just the right touch as a soft-as-cotton-candy centerpiece with its puffball blooms… Lovely!

  • Two tablecloths layered with the pink-with-small-white-flowered tablecloth acting as a skirt to the April Cornell cloth on top.
  • Sweet round woven “sunflower” placemats for chargers, continuing the floral theme.
  • A floral dinner plate with bright sky blue as its main color is the bottom plate.
  • Layered next is a soft butter-yellow napkin with…
  • A dessert/first course chintzware plate stacked on top.
  • Finally, a simple large clear stemware glass completes the tablescape.
A tranquil garden setting featuring a small round table with a white tablecloth and two chairs, surrounded by lush green grass and plants, with a wooden fence in the background.

Our garden breakfast table

Here in July, not much is really blooming in my garden as plants are quietly waiting for fall and cooler temps to return. However, we do have lots of greenery as in the background of our inspiration photograph.

A close-up image of a white flower with multiple petals surrounded by green leaves and small, leafy plants.

The climbing rose at the very back along the fence IS in bloom, oddly enough. It lost most of its leaves in an earlier hot spell. They are just beginning to grow back. 🙂

We do have a bunch of caladiums growing happily in the heat over by our garden shed! Costco had these corms available in a package of 12 or 18 for $20.00 in early spring, which I thought was a good deal, so I bought one package. They were just in their bags, sitting on the ground, all spring into early summer and were rooting into the ground. Definitely recommend them for your garden. They are such performers!!!

A beautifully set outdoor table with a white tablecloth, featuring vintage tea cups, a teapot, and plates with baked goods, surrounded by greenery.

Our tiled outdoor table is the base for this summertime breakfast table today, and I have layered two cloths like in our inspiration photo. The under-cloth is a Battenburg lace cloth I have had for 30 years or more. The top cloth is a 1940’s/1950’s embroidered piece I picked up at an antique mall back during my tea society days (early 2000’s).

I tried a couple of different round placemats for added texture but they weren’t working. On a smaller table like this, less is more, which keeps everything light and breezy for our summer breakfast table! 🙂

A beautifully set outdoor table with floral dishes, a teacup, and a plate of heart-shaped cookies. A vase with hydrangeas is placed nearby.

All of the colors in the embroidery are represented in our table:

  • soft green in the new luncheon plates I found at HomeGoods while in California.
  • sky blues in the flowers on the ruffled dessert plates
  • light and deeper pinks in the Redouté-style roses on the Royal Kirkham teacups
  • creamy whites in the flatware, teacups and the small footed cakeplate
  • Oh, and of course, in the hydrangeas cut right off our bushes!
A close-up view of a white ceramic vase filled with green and pink hydrangeas, placed on a lace tablecloth beside freshly baked scones on a decorative plate, with a lush green background.

What’s on the menu?

Today we are having cream scones with a raspberry jam mix and mock Devonshire cream, plus simple English Breakfast tea.

A kitchen countertop with a jar of ice cream mix, two small bowls with different toppings, and a container of vanilla ice cream, all on a patterned granite surface.
A charming outdoor tea setting on a round table with a white tablecloth, featuring floral-patterned plates and a teapot, accompanied by cups of tea and a basket of baked goods. A wicker chair beside the table adds to the relaxed ambiance, surrounded by greenery.

I had an “oops”… I forgot to add napkins in most of our photographs, but they made it here… 😉

A charming outdoor table set for tea with a white tablecloth and colorful floral patterns, featuring a teapot, cups, scones on a plate, a small vase with flowers, and utensils, surrounded by a lush green garden.
A beautifully set outdoor tea table featuring heart-shaped cookies on delicate plates, surrounded by teacups and a teapot, with greenery in the background.

Let’s eat, friends!

A beautifully arranged outdoor table set for tea featuring a white tablecloth with floral embroidery, delicate china plates, shortbread cookies, a cup of tea, and a vase of green hydrangeas, with a serene garden backdrop.

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope you have enjoyed this little mid-summer breakfast outdoors in our backyard garden. I look forward to reading your comments! Michelle from Thistle Key Lane is up next and her French-Country table is gorgeous! As always, everyone’s links are just below.

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Enjoy the tour,

A smiling woman with long dark hair resting her chin on her hand, sitting next to a teapot and a cup decorated with floral patterns, along with cookies on a plate.

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Published by French Ethereal

French Ethereal is a lifestyle blog sharing tips on decorating, table settings, crafts, gardening, DIY and travel. I love an elegant Shabby Chic/Old World French decor all decorated with Faith. <3

21 thoughts on “Creating a Mid-Summer Breakfast Tablescape in the Garden”

    1. Thank you, Laura! Well, I quickly went inside. The mosquitoes began biting… Otherwise, it was lovely out there at 6:30-7:00am, lol! 😉

      Glad you enjoyed my breakfast tea,
      Hugs,
      Barb 🙂

      Reply

    1. Wendy, come on over! I’m baking a gluten-free banana muffin mix this morning. Tea is inside today, lol! Glad you enjoyed my breakfast tea in the garden post. <3

      Hugs,
      Barb 🙂

      Reply

  3. Yes, love caladiums, Barb! You’ll see them on my step in my post, too:) This is such a pretty setting. I have not heard the word Battenburg lace for so many years; thanks for the flashback. Think I got a Battenburg table cloth as a wedding gift oh so many years ago!

    Reply

    1. Lora, I’m glad you enjoyed my post. I DID see your caladiums!! Aren’t they fun?! I will happily dig these guys up and overwinter them in the shed. I can’t remember how I got my first Battenburg lace tablecloth but I have long ones for the big table and would add two with all four leaves in at our old house (seating 8-10 people). I still love them, though they take some ironing!

      I hope you pull yours out to use soon,
      Hugs,
      Barb 🙂

      Reply

    1. Thank you, Michelle! I do enjoy setting up a lovely table now and then that the garden structure is complete. This was fun to create!

      Thank you for your kind thoughts and happy tea to you,
      Barb 🙂

      Reply

  5. Oh my goodness, Barbara, this little garden space looks so inviting and beautiful. I can’t believe you’d even attempt to have tea and scones out there but hat’s off to ya! You go girl. I’d be very tempted myself. Thanks for joining in. pinned

    Reply

    1. Hi Cindy! I wasn’t out there too long, sadly. It wasn’t the heat or humidity which drove me in. It’s the mosquitoes… This year, for some reason, they really like to stab me, lol! I did leave the table and chairs out there as it looks so nice. As we head into fall I’ll try again for a little breakfast out in the garden. Sunrise is very nice out there…

      Thanks for pinning! I try and pin at least one from everyone’s posts. Makes for very interesting boards on Pinterest!!

      Happy summer hugs to you,
      Barb 🙂

      Reply

    1. Thank you so much, Rachel! I do love vintage tablecloths and used to go with my tea buddies from our groups in the early 2000’s when we’d go antiquing. Always fun to find something beautiful to bring home!

      Glad you enjoyed my post, hugs!
      Barb 🙂

      Reply

    1. Hi Laura! Thank you for your sweet thoughts!! If you lived close by, I’d say, “Come on over!” 🙂 We’d be swatting mosquitoes but it’d be fun to have tea together. Glad you enjoyed this post…

      Happy summer hugs,
      Barb 🙂

      Reply

  8. Could you have tea without scones? Maybe — but I’m not sure it would be quite the same. Your table is just beautiful. It’s simple and elegant and I love your china.

    Reply

    1. Jeanie, yes! You could have just tea, which is perfect in late fall when it is chilly out, but tea with goodies is always more fun! 😉 Glad you enjoyed this!!! Come on over…

      Happy summer hugs to you,
      Barb 🙂

      Reply

    1. Thank you, Missy! I haven’t used either of those little tablecloths in a while. Always fun to find something beautiful hiding in the depths of the closet!! Glad you enjoyed this little garden breakfast…

      Happy summer hugs, my friend,
      Barb 🙂

      Reply
  10. Pingback: Share Your Style #507

  11. Barb, your breakfast table is beautiful and I would love to join you for tea and scones. The embroidered cloth is gorgeous and I love anything vintage or antique that can be on a tabletop. I must confess that your sweet words made me tear up, my friend. Thank you for your kindness always. Many Blessings, Pam

    Reply

    1. You are sooo sweet, Pam! Thank you. <3 I'm glad you enjoyed my little summer breakfast tea. The embroidered tablecloth was a lovely find.

      Stay cool and happy tea to you,
      Barb 🙂

      Reply

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