Summer is finally here and I’m so excited for the long summer days spent outdoors in the fresh air! Is your home ready? Are thick heavy blankets and furry pillows still on the sofa? Boots, jackets and mittens still sitting out by the front entry hall? If so, it’s time to put away all the heavy blankets and winter items and lighten things up! Not sure where to start?
Summer is all about warm evenings, fun, and outdoor enjoyment spent with family and friends. Outdoor concerts in the park, lazy days spent at the lake, camping trips along the coast or in the mountains, backyard barbecues, swimming and dining al fresco while watching the sun sink slowly into the horizon. What is your favorite summertime activity?
Summer is my favorite season. I love being outdoors enjoying the warm summer evenings after a long day at work. No homework or school, sleeping in, and long lazy relaxed evenings with family and friends to enjoy.
Now that summer is here it’s time to get our homes ready for the season. You may think it will be expensive to makeover your home for summer but the truth is that you don’t have to spend a lot to update your home for the warmer summer months.
Updating your home for summer is easier than you might think. You just have to be creative and use your imagination. Summer is all about light and bright with an easy relaxed vibe. Less is more for summer!
You want to keep things simple and not overdo a theme, a little goes a long way. Editing what you already have out is the best way to lighten up your indoor spaces. Clear off counter tops and horizontal surfaces for an open uncluttered look for summer.
I love a coastal beach vibe for the summer, but it’s easy to go overboard. Too many coastal accents will create a tacky overdone nautical look instead of a relaxed, light summertime atmosphere. I struggle with this, if one seashell looks good a dozen will look even better. I have to restrain my impulse to overdecorate.
Instead of filling your home with anchors, lighthouses and all things nautical, try setting out just a few natural beach inspired items. A clear glass cylinder filled with seashells collected from the beach, a candle in a glass votive with some beach sand, or a silver pitcher filled with grasses. It will impart a subtle coastal vibe that isn’t over the top beach themed, but just enough to lighten your space and give it a relaxed beach vibe without going over the top.
Switch out your throw pillows and bedding for softer colors that you find at the beach, soft beiges and off white colors that mimic the colors of beach sand, will give a subtle nod to a coastal vibe. If you are looking for more color, add soft shades of turquoise and blue to mimic the colors of the sea and sky. White harkens to canvas sail boat sails, sun bleached sea shells and starfish.
Use a simple light airy color pallet for summer. Put away all the heavy quilts and blankets. It’s time to stash the furry pillows until the colder weather returns in the fall.
If color makes your summer sizzle, add bright pops of color throughout your home with fresh cut flowers from your garden. If you don’t have anything blooming in your garden to bring inside, pick up some flowers on your next trip to the grocery store.
Summer is all about bringing the beautiful bounty of the outside into your home. Cut stems of herbs and place them in small vases. Any greenery you clip from your garden and bring inside will be a beautiful addition to your home for summer.
TIP: Double duty – when you are trimming your hedges, save a few stems for inside.
Summer is all about lightening and brightening your living spaces. Add just a few of the items on the list below for an instant infusion of summer.
- Change out your throw pillows.
- Change out dish towels.
- Change out bed linens with lighter weight fabrics.
- Bring the outdoors in with flowers and cuttings from your garden, or purchase fresh cut flowers at the grocery store.
- Hang a summer inspired wreath on your front door.
- Create summer inspired vignettes in your home.
- Lighten and brighten up your home, put away the heavy blankets, and furry pillows until it’s time to cozy up for fall.
- Add some coastal elements, but be subtle and don’t go overboard with anchors, boat wheels and lighthouses everywhere.
- Throw a summer barbeque party and set a pretty summer inspired table.
- Have a picnic in your yard. Eating outdoors will allow you and your family to take advantage of everything summer has to offer.
- Summer is as much a state of mind as it is a season. String paper lanterns on tree branches for gatherings that last well into the night, or sting up outdoor strands of lights.
- Light up the night with candles in lighter citrus or fresh ocean breeze scents.
- Use your formal serving pieces in unexpected ways. Use a silver tray to carry your favorite drinks outside to the garden.
- Fill a silver pitcher with fresh flowers or grasses.
- Add summer candle holders – fill glass cylinders with sand and pop in a candle. Pair with a glass cylinder filled with seashells for an instant summer vibe.
By combining some neutral accents with some colorful decor, you can creatively give a contemporary and vibrant summer look to your home.
Whether you try just a couple of ideas on the list or get more ambitious and try several. Whatever you decide to add to your home it will make your summer so much more enjoyable.
Now get outside and enjoy the season! What’s your favorite summertime activity?