To me there are two things that can turn a house {or apartment} into a space that feels like home– a made bed and a set table {can I get an Amen?!}! There is nothing I love more than setting the table for any occasion: a dinner party, brunch, lunch or date night. One of the things I love most about setting the table is it is easy to change it up and transform the mood of the occasion. Today, I am sharing two of my go-to summer table settings. One is fun and full of color, while the other is calm and elegant.
Must have {for me at least}… fresh flowers! Flowers come in all shapes, sizes and colors and make for the perfect accent {or focal point} to any dressed table.
When Daniel and I got married and were picking out our everyday dish ware, I went back and forth over whether we should do a neutral pallet or go colorful. Well, as you can see we went with white and I am SO glad! With neutral dish ware, you have a lot more room to play & change up colors in your table setting. It is much easier to switch out the placemats and napkins than it is to switch out your plates and bowls. And since I love collecting linens of all colors, white plates were the best choice for us! {see here where Daniel surprised me with new napkins for our anniversary}
Please excuse the Zebra dog toy!
I always love to put out a wine glass {whether there is wine or not}. You can use it for any beverage, such as water, tea or lemonade. It is a fun way to dress things up, even for the simplest meals. 
I typically have some {furry} visitors when I am setting the table, so I laughed when they assumed their usual positions and just had to snap a picture! They always think there is going to be food involved for them…
Here is a great tip from, none other than the queen of etiquette herself, Emily Post.
When you have two forks: The forks are placed to the left of the plate. The dinner fork (the larger of the two) is used for the main course, the smaller fork for a salad or appetizer. When an appetizer or salad is served before the main course, the smaller fork is place on the outside of the dinner fork. If the salad is served after the main course, place it to the inside of the dinner fork, next to the dinner plate. This follows the “outside-in” rule. 
The colorful placemats are from Pottery Barn, along with the red napkin rings {which I got on sale for $5!}. The neutral placemats are Linen Me and the gold napkin rings are from Stein Mart. My everyday dish ware is Vietri Bellezza White and the flatware is Lenox Pearl Platinum {which is on sale now}