This season, use our best summer decorating ideas to channel the laidback attitude of summertime. With inspiration for breezy color schemes, fresh seasonal accents, and outdoor living upgrades, these summer decorating ideas will give your space a bright and sunny makeover.
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Indoor-Outdoor Decorating Ideas
One of the best ways to decorate for summer is to connect your indoor and outdoor spaces. Mix patio seating and light fixtures with an indoor area rug in a covered sunroom, or add string lights above a farmhouse table on your porch to create a cozy dining space. Bringing the outdoors inside creates a soothing, relaxed vibe synonymous with summer.
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Paint Your Front Door
Consider painting your front door for a simple summer decorating upgrade. Whether you go for a bold shade of yellow or a soft pastel pink, creating contrast between your door and your home's exterior creates a showstopping style statement. Pair your colorful door with a few planters and you are ready for summer guests.
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Update Your Backyard for Entertaining
Whether you are planning for a large backyard barbeque or cocktails with a few friends, an outdoor bar is a must. Look for an inexpensive cabinet at a flea market or secondhand store to decorate for summer on a budget and store party supplies when not in use. Hang light fixtures for nighttime visibility and bring in a pop of color—bright oranges, yellows, and reds are ideal—to set the summer vibe.
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Add Summer Colors
If you are looking for an easy summer decorating idea, bring in a small pop of color. Whether you add a few pastel pillows or opt for a bold area rug, you can easily create cohesion with neutral furnishings to tie it all together. Add a few plants and you'll have an indoor-outdoor oasis, perfect for curling up with a good book or summertime sips.
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Go Nautical
Some of the best summer decorating ideas come from the seashore. Find subtle nautical decor to make your home feel more like a beach house. Navy blue and white stripes should do the trick, or pick up a boat-shaped relic from the flea market.
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Set a Colorful Table
Consider buying accent dishes and a vibrant tablecloth to add splashes of summertime color and pattern to your next dinner party. Mix bright floral, tropical, or nautical-theme dishes with your everyday plates and bowls. To ramp up your summer decorations, clear a small table to create an impromptu bar, and arrange bottles and glassware on a pretty serving tray. Fun elements such as stir sticks and paper umbrellas create a look that is perfectly seasonal.
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Let in Light
If you are in need of summer decorating ideas, change the way you think about your space. Picture your home like a summer rental, and you'll see it in a new light. Throw open the doors and windows, pull back the curtains, and get rid of pieces that are dark, gloomy, or fussy. Stow away heavy accessories, throws, and unnecessary small decor items until it's time to cozy up for fall.
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Create a Photo Gallery
Preserve your vacation photos by printing, framing, and arranging them in a gallery wall. This summer decorating trick will save you money on art and give you a great talking point at parties. Plus, the memories will cure your wanderlust as you start planning your next summer vacation.
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Coastal-Inspired Accents
Another way to decorate for summer is to focus on beachy elements or art pieces. Pair a nautical painting with blue bedding, or maintain a neutral color scheme with a few coastal accessories to create contrast. Swap heavy pillows and blankets for lighter fabrics, like linen and cotton, to quickly make your guest bedroom feel like a seaside resort.
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Outdoor Summer Decorating Ideas
Some of the easiest summer decorating ideas involve your outdoor spaces. If you're big into entertaining outdoors, low tables, floor pillows, and strands of clear outdoor lights will set a merry mood. Winning combos of bright colors, such as turquoise, red, and white, create a festive atmosphere and will keep everyone in a party mindset.
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Front Porch Decorating Ideas
With warm weather and a few extra hours of sunlight, the summer months are perfect for dining on your front porch or having a picnic in your yard. Outdoor summer decorations can be as simple as a few extra planters on the porch or additional seating areas to accommodate more guests. Eating outdoors will help you and your family take advantage of everything summer has to offer.
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Bring In Bold Contrast
While lighter shades definitely connotate the feel of warmer weather, you can easily decorate for summer by creating contrast in your living spaces. Focus on neutral hues for your walls and furniture, but opt for a darker area rug or curtains to ground the look without completely washing everything out. Add pastel pillows and lightweight throw blankets to add a cheery finishing touch.
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Add Succulents and Greenery
Summer decorating is all about the greenery. To add organic appeal to your DIY summer room decor, consider planting succulents in a large shell. The tiny plants last for a long time and require little care, making them the perfect addition to a summery tablescape. The natural elements also add texture and character to this chic end-table display.
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Living Room Decor Ideas
While a fireplace is a great focal point, consider rearranging your furniture away from it during the summer. Rather than huddling around the hearth, shift the focus of the room toward a beautiful window or French doors. Store heavy draperies and hang gossamer sheers that flow with the breezes.
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Patio Decorating Ideas
Summer is as much a state of mind as it is a season, so transform your outdoor spaces with lights, flexible seating, and ample room for gathering. String paper lanterns on tree branches around an outdoor patio to help you entertain well into the night hours. Or, should the weather turn stormy, cozy up by lamplight on a covered porch.
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Incorporate Summery Scents
For a simpler summer decorating idea, think about the smell of your space. To create a summer aesthetic in your home, switch out scents as the seasons change. While gingerbread and evergreen are great smells for winter months, shift to ocean breeze or cucumber-melon in the summer. Plus, candles can stand in for quick, inexpensive summer decorations for coffee tables and shelves.
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Update Old Furniture
Give a tired chair or side table new life using high-gloss spray paint in a summery hue, such as sky blue or grassy green. The glossy paint creates a fun lacquered look and gives an old piece a fresh and modern edge. Make sure to properly prime the furniture to help the paint adhere to the surface and wear longer.
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Less Is More
Summer is all about light, bright, and airy spaces. Consider painting walls a calmer hue and going for a minimalist approach with simple furniture and decor. Finish the breezy look with a few strands of string lights to brighten the space at night.
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Create A Statement Wall
While summer is known for lighter colors and hues, you can easily brighten dark walls with colorful art. Affordable pieces can be found just about anywhere online or at flea markets and resale shops. A large piece or a collection of smaller pieces also provides the perfect blank-wall solution for large, open rooms and can lend to other summer decorating ideas as you match (or contrast) with other elements of the bed, pillows, or rug(s).
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Decorate Your Bedroom For Summer
Bright botanical prints (on bedding or pillows, for example) instantly lift a room's mood—and yours. To let the motif truly shine, keep the wall color neutral and other accessories to a minimum. Seasonal duvet covers are a great way to save money while making a statement when decorating for summer.
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Decorate with Summer Flowers
Interject bright, summery colors in your home with freshly picked flowers. To make the biggest impact, stick to arrangements featuring warm colors—such as bold oranges, radiant yellows, or vibrant pinks—and save rich reds and deep purples for other seasons.
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Create Casual Dining Areas
Summer weather offers ample opportunities for dining—both fancy or less formal. Even if you are hosting something on the casual side, you can find unexpected uses for formal serving pieces. A silver tray can hold pretty glassware, a pitcher can be filled with a delicious summery cocktail, and a champagne bucket makes a great container for an herb plant. Summer party decorations have never looked so good.
FAQs
How do I style my house for summer? ›
...
- Decorate in sunshine shades. ...
- Decorate with Chinoiserie. ...
- Add zest to a kitchen with fruit prints. ...
- Introduce bold florals. ...
- Lay a pretty table. ...
- Style up a sunroom.
- Summer decorating means colorful outdoor entertaining. ...
- Switch to a summer duvet cover. ...
- Get fresh style with macramé and crafty summer accessories. ...
- Turn your porch into a summer gathering space. ...
- Brighten up your patio with an indoor/outdoor rug. ...
- Add outdoor lights for entertaining evenings.
Bright and bold summer decor
Summer is all about flowers, colors and sunshine. Make your home look like a summer-inspired space with some bold and bright hues. A yellow backdrop with some nautical summer room decor, white furniture and lush plants will brighten up your home this summer.
When to Start Decorating for Summer. The best time to begin decorating your space for summer is anytime after the slushy winter season has passed. Breaking out the summer decor ideas is a great way to put those gray winter days and muddy spring days behind you.
How do you refresh your summer space? ›- With summer just around the corner, now it is the perfect time to change your home's decor for a breezier look and make the most of the days between solstice and equinox. ...
- #1 Do a fast cleaning. ...
- #3 Add lighter fabrics. ...
- #5 Show your walls some love. ...
- #7 Bring the outdoors in.
Pale colours keep the room looking fresh even on grey days. A vine provides a decorative element and filters strong light. The mix of external materials, like brick and wood, combined with cushions and soft furnishings, creates an ultra stylish living space. A vine is also used in this bright and open garden room.
How can I decorate my home in Florida? ›Florida is sunny and bright, so dark walls and heavy woods don't feel right. To give your home a lighter feel, be it an opulent decor style, modern, or beachy decorating theme, keep your walls white, off white, or in a pastel color and focus on lighter woods, such as pine or maple.
Is it too early to decorate for 4th of July? ›While there's no established time to start decorating for the 4th of July—after all, the American flag looks good all year round—as the weather gets hot and spring turns into summer, there's really no better time to start getting out your red, white and blue décor.
How do you decorate for each season? ›- ADD SEASONAL ELEMENTS. This is the easiest way to show our love of the season in our home! ...
- ADD SEASONAL COLOR. ...
- BRING THE OUTSIDE IN. ...
- USE SEASONAL PILLOWS. ...
- ADD A SEASONAL WREATH TO YOUR DOOR. ...
- USE SEASONAL TEXTURES. ...
- PLANT SOMETHING SEASONAL. ...
- LAYER SEASONAL DECOR.
Whether you're changing your interior or exterior decor, you can hang fall decor as early as late August and throughout the holiday season. The best option is to put up fall decor in September or October, once the weather starts changing.
What makes a cottage cozy? ›
A cottage styled home is all about cozy features with a warm lived in aesthetic. Think comfy slipcovered furniture, eclectic flea market finds, and a mix of weathered and textural pieces made of timber, painted wood, wicker, and natural fibers.
What is cottage decorating style? ›Cottage design is a culmination of French vintage, shabby chic and rustic, though how much of each style influences your preferred cottage ambiance is up to you. Whether you lean traditional or rustic, it's about creating a natural, vintage-y space — but in the lightest, airiest way possible.
Should every room be a different color? ›You don't have to use the exact same color scheme in every room, but you should connect the colors throughout your house – especially if it has an open floor plan. If you don't, your space may look choppy and smaller than it actually is.
What furniture do you put in a summer house? ›Furniture. Your summerhouse is a place to retreat to, somewhere for you to relax and unwind in and to enjoy the view of your garden. This means that a comfortable chair or sofa are a must for your new building. You may also want to consider a small table and chairs for friends, a coffee table and a footstool.
What furniture do you put in a garden room? ›If you are planning to use your garden room as a yoga studio, consider furnishing your space with minimalist pieces and natural materials, such as rattan lanterns, scatter cushions, bamboo shelves and wicker baskets. The natural tones will help create a peaceful and grounded environment, perfect for yoga practice.
What is the difference between a garden room and a summer house? ›A big difference between a summerhouse and a garden room is that a garden room is, as standard, fully insulated. The various garden room construction systems all have one thing in common. They all feature insulation in the floor, walls and roof structures.
How do I make my house look beachy? ›- Get a statement plant. ...
- Replace your colored linens with whites. ...
- Turn your porch into a tropical oasis. ...
- Splash common rooms with pops of color. ...
- And for bedrooms, pick a beachy print that works year-round. ...
- Go for the hammock.
Store books, games, and blankets in oversized, texture heavy, baskets. Rugs are perfect for creating the illusion of coziness on the typically tiled, Florida floor. Switch over to a warmer upholstery by using velvet on your sofa, armchair, or ottoman. Textured wallpaper can also add warmth to a room.
What is coastal decorating style? ›"Coastal style emphasizes lighter tones in shades of blue, green, beige and white to communicate a relaxed feel. [It also] embraces casual furnishings slipcovered in neutral layers to create a cozy interior while welcoming sisal rugs, sea glass details and gauzy linen drapery."
How can I decorate my home in Florida? ›Florida is sunny and bright, so dark walls and heavy woods don't feel right. To give your home a lighter feel, be it an opulent decor style, modern, or beachy decorating theme, keep your walls white, off white, or in a pastel color and focus on lighter woods, such as pine or maple.
How do you get in the summer mood? ›
- Grow through what you go through. Green up your space! ...
- Supplement with Vitamin D. ...
- Walk it off. ...
- Make a summer song playlist. ...
- Take your meditation outdoors. ...
- Boost your mood with new types of exercise. ...
- Eat the Rainbow. ...
- Enjoy a summery mocktail.