Thrifty Summer Citrus Tablescape

I'm sharing tips and ideas for decorating a simple summer tablescape with refreshing citrus decor and faux desserts 🍋

Affiliate links may be included for your convenience. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. My full disclosure policy can be found here.

Howdy friend and welcome to the July edition of Thrifty Style Team! We're a group of decor loving bloggers who come together once a month to share thrifty home decor ideas! You'll find all the links at the end of my summer tablescape tips.

Summer is officially upon us and I hope you are enjoying it. We did manage to get away for a week to beautiful, scenic Yellowstone National Park...not the summer trip we'd originally planned but a great substitute! It was so refreshing to enjoy mountain views and cool mountain air...we even got snow!

Before we left, we finished installing our new Barnwood laminate floors and they are gorgeous! They're waterproof which makes them so perfect for the dining room, and they're ideal for bathrooms and kitchens as well! These top quality laminates rival hardwood floors for so much less! You can read more about our new floors here. We're about to rip up all the carpet in our bedrooms and install these floors, that's how much we love them!

But I digress...let's get back to today's thrifty citrus tablescape ideas. 🍋 I love lemons all year long, but they are a great way to decorate for summer with their bright sunny color and refreshing citrus taste!

Easy tips to add summer in the dining room

Tip #1 - Move your furniture around

When we were bringing our furniture back into the dining room after finishing our new floors, I thought it might be fun to change the orientation of the table, so I moved it sideways and brought in a couple white chairs that are usually hanging out in the corners. This was a no cost way to get an entirely new look! Click here to see how it looked before.

The white chairs helped it feel brighter and much more summery.

Tip #2 - Add a summery tablecloth

On one of my {few} recent trips to HomeGoods, I found this beautiful April Cornell tablecloth marked down to $11. If you love florals with the feel of nostalgia, you will love her items! I also picked up a package of lemon beverage napkins that were a perfect match. Yellow is a perfect color to decorate with for summer! Last year I shared an inexpensive way to decorate with yellow and blue in the dining room, as well as how to make handmade bee skeps for under $10.

Bringing it all together

Blue and yellow have always been a favorite combo. I love them so much I chose to decorate a kitchen in a past home with blues and yellows. Back then, my mom and I found some dishes while shopping and she bought them for me specifically for my new kitchen. My sweet mom has since passed on and I rarely use these dishes anymore because I don't want to break any, but I knew they'd look great with the new cotton tablecloth and my citrus theme.

Faux cake centerpiece

Tip #3 - 'Bake' something faux!

I needed something to use as a centerpiece, and loved the idea of displaying some baked treats. Faux baked treats! Yep, I used the faux cake that I made last year, displayed on a white cake stand and accented it with some faux lemon slices that I found on Amazon.

You might think I'm nuts to have faux desserts around the house (actually, my kids do too!!) But here's the deal...when you decorate for a living, you can't also be baking all the time.

Don't feel too sorry for my kids...I do bake, but when I do, it's not like my brownies or banana bread are going to be photogenic after my kids get their hands on them 😃 So having faux baked treats that I can pull out helps me to style a space in no time! They also look good forever, which if you've ever tried to photograph melting ice cream or whip cream, you'll know is a lesson in frustration!

Faux treats

While I was at this whole faux baking thing, I made some faux whip toppers for my milk glass dessert cups. They're citrus flavored 😉 and don't they look refreshing and yummy? And real?!

They look very real until you get right up to them!

I've actually had so much fun making these faux toppers that I've made a bunch more. If you're interested in purchasing them, you can find my toppers for Rae Dunn mugs, faux cupcakes as well as authentic Rae Dunn items (yes I'm parting with some of my Rae Dunn) on Mercari. I'm willing to make custom orders too, just ask!

If you're interested in a tutorial for the faux whip toppers, let me know in the comments below.

Tip #4 - Set the table

We don't actually eat at our dining room table often, but I love to have it set! It always looks like it's ready for a party, and the colorful decor enhances the room, which is one of the first rooms you see upon entering our home.

Tip #5 - Decorate with thrifted finds

To enhance the summer theme, I added some dollar store daisies to a thrifted picnic basket and tucked it on top of my painted grandfather clock (another thrift store find).

I also tucked a metal flower bucket of greenery and faux lemons inside the clock. I had purchased the faux lemons on Amazon with plans to use them on my cake, but they were too big.

I love decorating with a combination of new and old...it adds a collected look that feels homey and comforting.

This thrifty summer tablescape came together in an afternoon and I only spent about $25! What do you think of a citrus theme for summer decor?

Need more summer tablescape ideas?

Thrifty patriotic summer tablescape
French seedling pots with lavender
Mini kitchen refresh with floral curtains
Burlap and lace wrapped candle holders for a summer table

Are you motivated to refresh your dining room for summer?

Pin for later

Let's see what my Thrifty Style Team friends came up with this month. Click on the below links for details.

More Thrifty Decor and DIY Ideas

Redhead Can Decorate - DIY Rainbow Rocks
DIY Beautify - you are here 😍
Postcards From The Ridge - How to Clean and Care for Vintage Wooden Spoons
The How To Home - Shabby Chic Tablecloth Ideas
The Tattered Pew - DIY Cane IKEA Vase
Sweet Pea - DIY Wood Burned Plant Markers
What Meegan Makes - Rock Tower Garden Art
Salvaged Living - Thrift Store Candlestick Makeover
I Should Be Mopping The Floor - Polka Dot No Sew Curtains

The Painted Hinge - Repurposed Oil Lamp Vase

Thrifty Style Team round up July DIY projects

bringing beauty to the ordinary,

Comments

Paula@SweetPeaJuly 10, 2020 at 6:27 AM
I love your lemon themed tablescape! You totally had me fooled with your faux cake and faux desserts. I 100% thought that they were the real thing. That tablecloth was a great find and perfect to enjoy this time of year.
Http://whatmeeganmakes.comJuly 10, 2020 at 12:45 PM
What a beautiful way to bring Summer into any home. I love how you mix the vintage pieces into your tablescape.
But the show stopper is definitely the faux desserts! Absolutely amazing!
RebeccaJuly 11, 2020 at 12:33 PM
I love lemon theme's. Thank you for sharing.
Mary BethJuly 12, 2020 at 11:25 AM
I love the theme of this tablescape, Cindy! I used to have a lot of yellow in my house and then I migrated to more muted tones (farmhouse-y) but now I think I need some yellow. Oh, and those dishes from your Mom are beautiful. xo
Michelle @ The Painted HingeJuly 12, 2020 at 3:50 PM
I love this lemon inspired tablescape - so pretty and fresh! And those faux desserts are the bomb!
Kristi DominguezJuly 13, 2020 at 10:41 PM
This is seriously the cutest tablescape, Cindy! You just can't go wrong with blue and yellow this season. And I love April Cornell linens...they're always so lovely. xoxo
Julie redheadcandecorate.comJuly 15, 2020 at 3:22 PM
Oh my goodness, Cindy! You totally had me fooled. So sweet to use the dishes your mom gave you! You are truly gifted!
Julie redheadcandecorate.comJuly 15, 2020 at 3:22 PM
OMG my comment worked! I finally did it right!

DIY Beautify - Creating Beauty at Home

Thrifty Summer Citrus Tablescape