Close your eyes and imagine your perfect summer day.
This is what you want your home to communicate when you’re decorating for summer!
Decorating for the summer season means adding in elements that engage all of your senses! You want to decorate with pieces that channel the feel of those warm breezes and lazy porch days. Think of the smells of summer: the sand, the ocean, fresh flowers, newly mown grass… Imagine your spaces looking lush and exotic with greenery, vases of flowers, or ocean-colored glass and trinkets. Set a summery table and plan to invite friends and family over to enjoy the bounty of the season al fresco.
Here are 7 ideas to get you started on decorating your home to channel that laid-back, sunny Summer vibe!
1. Weave Your Summer Story
Woven, natural materials like wicker, rattan, seagrass, raffia, or jute channel that easy-going summer attitude. Go all out with furniture, or add a few accents into a room with baskets, area rugs, lamp shades, or coasters.
2. Make Simple Swaps: throw pillows, decor objects, art, rugs
It’s an Art Deco Summer via Modsy
How’s this for a funky-fresh take on Summer?! I LOVE all things Art Deco, and this room in any season would be fantastic (can’t you just imagine a dark jazz club scene on the wall, russet pillows, and a furry rug for fall?!). The tropical summer elements are few but the impact is undeniable. It’s also showcasing one of my fave design trends for 2022: rounded furniture! The only thing missing from this summer scene is a few friends, some salsa music, and a pitcher of pineapple jalapeño margaritas.
3. Channel the Tropics
Commit to the year-round sultry tropical vibe with wallpaper, paint, and a woven coffee table.
Or just punch up the summer vibe with your throw pillows and plant choices.
Either way, you’re bound to create a space you’ll love to lounge in when you’re decorating for summer and leaning into the tropical look.
Embrace the jungle feels with a LOT of plants, or just pop a few into your space to give off the tropical summer vibe.
It’s all about what brings you joy!
If you’re new to plant parenting, start with three plants to gauge your ability and patience level. Some lower-maintenance choices I have had continued success with: Majesty Palm trees, Bird of Paradise, Burgundy Rubber Plant, Chinese Evergreen (Aglaonema: this one hardly needs water, or light!), Money Tree, Pothos, Aloe.
4. Go for Breezy Boho style
Think neutral colors, gauzy fabrics, pale warm wood tones, wood beaded light fixtures.
I love sheer curtains but I’m also into privacy, so I tend to go for double rods that allow me to have sheers for day and thermal light blocking curtains to pull once the sun goes down. Sheer fabrics like voile or chiffon resists wrinkles and has fluid movement.
Lace is ultra-romantic and creates beautiful patterns when the sun shines through!
Bonus Boho Points for lace with fringe.
European flax linen also lends more texture while still feeling lightweight.
Bring those summer vibes to the bedroom with relaxed fabrics and lighter layers
Just because it’s summer doesn’t mean you get to make the bed with a sheet and that’s all. Keep it looking luxe and inviting–but still warm-weather friendly–with lighter weight fabrics! I haven’t tried them yet, but I think my next bedding purchase is gonna be from Parachute. Has anyone tried out their linen sheets?? They’re some of the best prices I’ve seen, and any company that spends as much of their website educating as selling has got to have legit products. . .right? Anyways. Linen is a great bedding option because it keeps you cool when temps heat up, it gets softer with each wash, and it has that easy-going, wrinkled-but-in-a-good-way look. Doesn’t that sound like a summer vibe?
Add a lighter weight throw blanket (cashmere or a cashmere blend is temperature regulating and oh-so luxurious)Toss on a few throw pillows in light creamy tones with woven, tufted, tasseled texture and it’s a cozy summer retreat.
Wood beaded light fixtures are on-trend so finding something you love in your price range will be easy! These styles can work in lots of different interiors too.
I’ve got an easy DIY for a beaded lampshade and I promise to post it soon!
5. Bring in the Smells of Summer
Whatever your ideal summer looks like–choose a scent that takes you there. For me, it’s that classic New England Summer with grassy sand dunes, chipped paint, faded gray shaker siding, lemonade or a spritz on the porch, seafood boils and kids running around with sparklers in the evenings.
My favorite scents at the moment are from NEST New York. The iconic Bamboo charms in the guest bathrooms. Ocean Mist & Sea Salt filters gently around the house. The reed diffusers are great for long-lasting and steady fragrance, and I control the intensity with the number of reeds in the bottle. I’m also loving the new Driftwood and Chamomile scent from their Wellness collection! I decided to test out the diffuser oil and WOW. A few drops into the misting diffuser and I can *almost* hear the ocean waves hitting the shore and seagulls’ piercing cries rising and falling in the distance. I’ve always found scent to be very transporting.
6. Treat Yo’Self. . Decorate for Summer with Fresh Flowers
Grab a bouquet along with the groceries, cut a few from your garden, or make a call to the florist: however you acquire them, bringing in fresh flowers will add a summery pop of color and scent. Talk about a mood booster!
7. Set a Table that Transports You to Amalfi
Decorating for summer is easy and fun in the dining room or in the backyard-or heck, both.
But nothing says Summer Vibes like dining al fresco!
Send the point home with some fresh lemons and greenery on the table, woven placemats, and FUN plates. Plates can be paper, melamine, or porcelain. Napkins can be paper or linen. Flatware can be plastic or metal. Your summer table setting can be ephemeral as a summer breeze or perennial as the season itself! Work with your personal parameters and get ready to impress your friends and family before they’ve even tried your scialatielli ai fruity di mare.
If you haven’t decorated for summer yet, I hope these 7 ideas give you some inspiration for your own home!
