I don’t know about you, but the arrival of spring/summer makes me want to change everything in my home. It’s a time of renewal, deep cleans and summer decor.
A pop of colour here and a slight tweak there could give your home a dramatic facelift. Not only this, people tend to feel a sense of well-being when their home is connected with the season. Perhaps, the poet, Bryan Procter, was correct when he said – “Oh, the summer night has a smile of light, and she sits on a sapphire throne.”
Instead of moping about the sticky and sweaty season, why not take a few steps to make this season less agonising and more pleasant?
Below, you can find my top 12 ways to brighten the look of your space for the warm months and prep for the holiday vibes coming ahead!
1. Create Cool Outdoor Spaces
The idea of sitting outside in soaring temperatures isn’t appealing at all. However, the light spells of rain and breeze are pretty tempting at night-time.
To make the most of sitting outdoors in summer, you could try to create an amazing setup in your garden with comfy chairs and cushions. A cosy corner can be created using some fairy lights and lanterns, and apply colour through the various plants and shrubs around you.
2. Go For Classic Summer Florals
Floral decor never runs out of fashion. If you have been looking to add some floral patterns to your home, summer is the best time to leap on it. Be it a bold wallpaper mural or a throw pillow, you will find various options to incorporate a floral theme. If you need some wall mural ideas, then look no further than my blog post on the topic 🙂
Bonus: There is no need to fret about watering these flowers!
3. Splash Colour With Canvas Prints
Decorating your walls with panoramic canvas prints is a fantastic idea. Using pictures of your favourite memories on the canvas can take you back to a specific moment or invoke certain emotions. Or you can use the canvas to showcase landscapes, scenery, motivational quote, and just about anything.
But it is essential to ensure that the canvas blends well with the season and the decor theme you wish to create in your home. You should also opt for happy and multi-coloured tones to prepare your home for the sunny season ahead.
4. Hang Billowy Curtains
One of the proven ways to transform a cosy winter room into a warm haven is to replace heavy curtains with soft layers of linen. The right window treatment can help us make the most out of natural light.
The comfort of sunlight striking your skin is beyond words. If you prefer privacy at night, you can choose a roller blinder that doesn’t block the natural light when rolled up during the day.
5. Freshen up With Green
We usually take natural blessings for granted, but summer is the time to add some green energy to your home. The colour evokes freshness, even if present in one corner of the room.
You can use green in soft furnishings, wall colours and more. Alternatively, you can add lots of houseplants that will help to moderate the temperature in the room and purify the air.
Once you do, you will feel like you are trekking in summery hills throughout the season.
6. Use Rattan
Incorporating muted colors of stone and pebble grey along the green plants will make your space feel summer-ready.
Things like a rattan basket and wooden furniture will bring a calm seaside vibe.
7. Replace Candlesticks With White Lanterns
This season calls for a slight change in the lights. Some people toss their candlesticks in cabinets and place white lanterns to enhance the summer feel.
White lanterns are a good change and work with multiple decor ideas. You won’t regret investing in one if you keep using it season after season.
You can even place these lanterns to uplift your outdoor setup. Nothing says summertime than hanging a string of white lanterns across your garden.
8. Create an Indoor Vertical Garden
Hanging planters and modular planting systems make vertical indoor gardening an easy task.
You can create a small indoor space by allowing a vine to crawl over the wall. These gardens will insulate your home from air pollution and heat. They are planted to create a curtain that regulates humidity and produces fresh oxygen.
9. Change Your Bedspreads With Linen
Linen is a wonderful material that is breathable and regulates temperature. No wonder most brands feature this fabric in their summer collection.
This stuff gets softer with time. Also, it doesn’t retain moisture, so the bed feels warm in winter and cool in summer. Let’s not forget that the linen spreads have a casual vibe and are relatively easy to look after.
10. Get Striped Furniture And Accessories
Stripes can bring a modern touch to a dull space. Even a single sofa with a zebra print changes the overall vibe of a room. Check out the nearest furniture and home accessories stores for a retro or free-flowing striped design.
Make sure that you don’t go overboard and maintain a balance. Learn how to find the best sofa and furnishings aligning with the house’s overall theme.
For instance, if you find a couple of striped accessories, like wall hangings, you should make sure that other shades in the room are neutral.
11. Use Summer Scents
If you miss the beach, summer scents are a cure to your woes. Go for light, rustic fragrances that remind you of a beach house decor.
Beautiful blends of amber, aquatic, and citrus notes are available in the market. Make sure you find a scent that doesn’t spike the allergies of any family member. Together you can inhale the calming scent, forget the frantic life out there, and spend quality time!
12. Add a Few Beachy Elements
Even if you don’t live near the beach, having many beachy elements in the house will prep your home to greet summer. Adding seashells in a glass vase or driftwood in chamber pots are a few examples of placing beachy stuff in the house.
Again, don’t go overboard when placing beachy elements. One or two items are enough to show your love for the sand!
Parting Notes
The key to a summer home makeover is to maintain everything subtle – except a few colour pops. You can make little changes, like new cushion covers and fragrances, or you can go heavy and replace the whole wallpaper.
If you are as crazy about decor as me, I suggest you play with textures and accessories until you create a space that matches your dream summer house.
Sarah is the creator and founder of Dream of Home, a website that began during Sarah’s first home renovation project. Since then, the site has grown and Sarah produces content around all things home, including home decor, DIY projects, renovation tips, inspiration and more. In her spare time, she loves to read and garden.
Some wonderful ideas here, and all fairly easy to implement, thanks! I like to make use of the outdoor spaces where possible, that pergola setup would be a dream! Do you have any thoughts on any other exterior projects for the summer, like landscaping?
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There’s always the option to create a new seating area/patio too, or if you want to focus more on the gardening aspect, you can create a rockery and plant some more shrubs into it, or create an insect hotel.