Budget Blue & White Chinoiserie Tablescape: Easy DIY Ideas

Creating a stylish and sophisticated table setting doesn’t have to be expensive. Check out these creative ideas for a stunning blue and white Chinoiserie tablescape that won’t break the bank. Learn how to combine budget-friendly, DIY blue & white Chinoiserie decor with unique thrifted finds for a touch of authentic charm. Create a rustic but elegant dinner party setting that your guests will swoon over.

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What is Chinoiserie Design?

Chinoiserie design refers to decor, art, accessories, and furniture with Chinese influence. East Asian architecture, florals, etc., will be featured in the design—many associate blue and white porcelain with Chinoiserie. However, you will find many color options when working with this design aesthetic.

Supper Club Series

Today’s tablescape is a Chinoiserie-inspired Chinese dinner party theme and part of our Supper Club Series.

If you are joining us for the first time, we are a group of friends who love to entertain, and when entertaining in person wasn’t recommended, we started a virtual supper club in January 2021.

We are from different areas of the country, and it’s always fun to see each person’s interpretation of the monthly theme. Meet the Supper Club Hosts.

• Stacy Ling, Bricks N Blooms from New Jersey
• Michele, Vintage Home Designs from Texas
• Jennifer, Midwest Life & Style from Nebraska
• Anne & AnnMarie, Simply 2 Mom’s from North Carolina
• I’m also from North Carolina.

Thrifting For Chinoiserie

When this month’s Supper Club theme was announced, I began searching for inexpensive items to decorate the table setting.

While thrifting in Wilmington, NC, I found these blue and white paper lanterns and decided immediately that would be my color choice for this fun table setting.

My next stop was a thrift store in Asheboro, where I found a unique Asian teapot, some woven basket plates, and some wooden napkin rings. I paid less than $5.00 for all of them.

Then, I hopped over to our Christian United Outreach Center thrift store and found a cheap (not-so-pretty) ginger jar. And then I got busy.

Chinoiserie Wall Decorations

First, the wall behind the dining table would need an update. The cow paintings would not work with the Chinese dinner party theme. LOL! However, I didn’t want to spend a lot of money, so here’s what I did.

I began with a wooden crate piece I purchased at a barn sale to create a Chinoiserie wall. It’s a rustic element that I used during the holidays to hold a wreath.

Then, I added five woven basket plates on and around the crate. Two rustic old brackets were pulled from the greenhouse to replace the wall sconces and were perfect for hanging the two Chinese paper lanterns.

At this point, the wall needed more color, so some napkin decoupage was added to styrofoam balls. They were then added in, and amongst the woven plates, a couple of blue and white plates were added to the rack above.

In addition, one of my DIY topiaries was pulled from the porch and added to a blue and white Chinoiserie planter.

DIY Chinoiserie Tablescape Centerpiece

Once the wall was complete, it was time to create a Chinoiserie Tablescape Centerpiece. Remember the (less-than-pretty) thrifted ginger jar? Well, it only took a few minutes to add a napkin decoupage and transform it into an amazing Chinoiserie work of art. You can see a link for the full tutorial under resources at the end of this article.

The ginger jar was placed on a vintage rustic wood cheese board and filled with wispy greens and florals from Hobby Lobby to create a centerpiece. The thrifted Asian teapot, salt and pepper shakers, and chopsticks complete the vignette.

Instead of a table runner, a few faux greenery stems are tucked under the centerpiece riser. You can see them peeking out and wrapping around the thrifted black candlesticks.

Isn’t the Chinoiserie decor teapot just the cutest? The vintage cheese board and chippy church pew add a rustic element to the otherwise elegant table setting.

Budget-Friendly Blue & White Chinoiserie Place Setting

Last but not least is the creative place setting. I went the creative route because I wanted to keep the tablescape budget-friendly.

DIY Paper Placemats

I recently discovered the wide array of beautiful paper available at Hobby Lobby. So off I went to find some blue and white Chinoiserie-inspired paper. And guess what, they had two, and I couldn’t decide which I liked best, so I bought both. It was 40% off the already low price.

If you put two sheets together, it’s the perfect size for a placemat, and don’t they look adorable?

Thrifted Dishes

Instead of purchasing new dishes, I recommend being creative with what you already own.

An excellent investment is white dishes. These are a thrifted ironstone set and I use them all the time.

I topped them with some inexpensive HomeGoods blue and white salad plates to add color. The bamboo cutlery is a recent Amazon deal and pairs well with the Chinoiserie decor.

DIY Chinoiserie Napkin Rings

To complete the Chinese tablescape theme, the thrift store wooden napkin rings were painted white and then covered with the napkin decoupage. Add chopsticks and a white napkin, and you have a perfectly stunning Chinoiserie place setting.

Chinoiserie Tablescape

The Chinoiserie tablescape completely transformed my dining area. It was so fun to put together and cost less than $20.00, except for the new faux florals. Those will be used around the house all spring and summer, so it’s a win-win.

Resources

Here are the DIY Tutorial resources used to create this Blue and White Chinoiserie Tablescape. Click the highlighted links.

• The DIY Napkin Decoupage Ginger Jar
• Blue and White Napkin Rings
• The Blue and White Styrofoam Balls are covered with Napkin Decoupage like this DIY Decoupage Easter Egg tutorial.
• The styrofoam balls are hung with S Hooks on the wooden rack.
• Easy DIY topiary tutorial.
• The DIY Paper Placemats are two sheets of decorative paper taped together on the backside to form a placemat.

Click Images to Shop Resources

Chinese Dinner Party Recipes

Don’t miss this weeks Supper Club Chinese Dinner Party Menu and recipes. It includes these delicious, crunchy, Chinese Pickled Cucumbers.

Video

Up next, check out all the other Chinese Dinner Party Inspiration. You are going to love how AnnMarie styled her Chic East Meets Elegance Tablescape.

AnnMarie – Chic East Meets Elegance Tablescape / Jen – Expert Tips for A Chinese Dinner Party

Michele – Ideas to Host A Chinese Dinner Party / Stacy – Casually Elegant Chinese Table Setting

Thanks for stopping by, and I look forward to sharing my next adventure with you.

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