Late Summer Tablescape: A Stone Fruit Sunday Lunch at The Willows
This month’s Sunday lunch theme was late summer fruits, a celebration of the stone fruit season and one of my favourite approaches to seasonal entertaining. I love everything about stone fruits — the colours, fragrances and flavours — and the fact that their season is fleeting makes them all the more precious.
A bowl of luscious plums, strawberries and grapes set the scene for a meal based on late Summer’s bounty.
It was another Sunday when it was just the four of us, which makes it very special in its own way. As I have previously, guiltily, admitted, we generally eat in front of the TV, so setting a proper summer table for the ones I love most felt like a small act of intention; a way to really connect. Judging by their reaction, the effort was appreciated.
Recently I encountered the sentiment that convenience doesn’t build memories, effort does — and I think that is at the heart of Sunday lunch at The Willows. Playing dress-ups with our environment, creating a thoughtful table setting, is one of the things that brings my creativity to life. My eyes sparkle, and I don’t find it any effort at all. My mother reminded me that my grandmother was a window dresser in London, Oxford Street no less, so maybe this is where I get the deep love of staging these tables from. I rather like that idea.
Again, the challenge was to use what I already own, but in a new and interesting way — a reminder that beautiful table styling ideas don’t require endless new purchases.
When the family came to the table, they were gratifyingly generous in their praise. The bold colours created a visual punch alongside the peach salad and mixed tomato galette, each dish echoing the tones of the setting. The menu reflected the abundance of tomatoes, herbs and peaches at this time of year, while remaining blissfully simple to prepare — for me, the true hallmark of a happy evening.
Styling Notes
This table is a reminder that fruit is a stylist’s best friend. If you are working with bold colours — like red plates and dusky pink linen — using an accent colour, this time gold, the scheme felt confident, unapologetic and composed, rather than chaotic. The charger plates added warmth and structure, while the fruit itself softened the overall look and gave sense to the colour choice.
I adhere rather loosely to the 60-30-10 principle, so 60% main colour, 30% of the secondary, and 10% accent colour. I use it as a guide, rather than a hard and fast rule.
A hot tip is that an artist’s colour wheel can be a handy resource when you want to get bold with colour pairing.
To recreate this mood using what you already own:
Choose one dominant colour (in this case, red).
Add one tone to complement (dusky pink or blush).
Introduce warmth through metallics or timber. This time it was using plastic gold charger plates and my Amazon cutlery
Finish with something living — fruit, herbs, or garden flowers.
Abundance is my calling card; my joy. It means that I have enough to enjoy and to share, and, for me, that is true luxury.
Late summer abundance at The Willows — ruby glassware, gold chargers, blush roses and a bowl of peaches, plums, strawberries and grapes creating a vibrant Sunday lunch tablescape.
Late summer has its own energy — lush, sun-warmed, generous — but it also carries the faintest whisper of change. The fruit is at its peak, but not for long, the days are beginning to shorten. Perhaps that is why I love it so much. It asks us to notice. To appreciate.
Next month, as the light begins to shift and evenings draw in earlier, our table will follow suit. There will be candles, deeper tones, and a different kind of glow — less sun-drenched, more golden-hour. A nod to the equinox, and to the quiet turning of the season.
Until then, I am content with peach-stained fingers and the lingering scent of strawberries in the warm evening air.
