What, When, Where: Picks for Outdoor Dining

By Kara Lashley

To celebrate the start of outdoor dining season, we recently asked three Connecticut designers–Shelly Linder, Patricia Herson and Donna Benedetto–to share pieces they’d love to use for a summer dinner party. You can see all of their selections, including dining sets, tableware and evening lighting, in the upcoming Summer 2012 issue of New England Home’s Connecticut, out in early July. But in the meantime, here are a few additional ideas from them to whet your appetite for outdoor entertaining.

Shelly likes Kim Seybert‘s dramatic Bird of Paradise napkin and capiz charger, which she’d team with simple white dishware.

Photo courtesy of Kim Seybert

The Asta dining set from Gloster caught Patricia‘s eye with its sleek styling and versatility; you can easily swap out the seat colors to suit the mood of your party.

Photo courtesy of Gloster

And Donna is partial to this elegant place setting from Juliska, which marries natural bamboo elements with fresh green accents–a look that would work just as beautifully indoors.

Photo courtesy of Juliska