Simple Summer Home Decorating Ideas for a Home Refresh

In the summer I like to keep things simple and easy, and my summer home decorating reflects that relaxed state of mind.  Inspired by the colors and textures of nature, I love to bring the outdoors in as much as possible with fresh flowers, plants, branches, and even rocks!  

By sticking with a color scheme that reflects nature–crisp blues, fresh greens and bright whites– everything goes together.  This means I can move pillows, decorative items and rugs from room to room and they’ll usually work in any space.

That doesn’t mean I don’t also love a pop of color–in fact, one of my favorite decorating ideas year round is using fresh flowers.  They make every space look more beautiful.  This year, our peony bushes produced more blooms than ever, gracing just about every surface in the house!

However, summer decorating doesn’t have to consist of adding flowers to every room (although I love that idea).  Here are several summer home decorating ideas to freshen all your spaces for the warmer months ahead.

Easy Summer Home Decorating Ideas

1. Start with plenty of white

White walls (Benjamin Moore White Dove) and lighter tones and textures add a touch of summer to our living room. 

And a soft, easy-care rug in indigo helps ground the light-colored furniture.  You can find similar botanical prints here.

Last summer, I replaced the indigo rug with a dark navy and white striped jute rug and borrowed the slipcovered sectional from our family room. 

I love white slipcovers for summer.  When they get dirty, I just throw them in the washing machine with detergent and a little bleach or oxy clean.

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2. Add in a beach house vibe

The area below is the little living room adjacent to our kitchen, where my husband and I love to relax and watch TV.  In the summer, I like to incorporate a bit of a beach house look in here.  

With an English bulldog, slipcovers that can be easily removed and thrown in the washing machine are my best friends.  The rug is no longer available, but here’s a similar style.

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3. Bring on the color

My home office is the one space where I depart from my blue and white color scheme. A happy pop of yellow gets me going when I need some Monday morning motivation! 

I recently added a natural jute rug to this space, which adds a lighter, more casual look to this space for summer.

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4. Display vacation memories

Every time I see the seashell displayed in our entryway, below, it reminds me of last summer’s trip to Charleston.  On a boating day, we found a treasure trove of beautiful shells on a little deserted island and brought several home with us.

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5. Sneak in some stripes

Calming tones of blue and white help create a cool and serene atmosphere in our master bedroom.  I also love adding a few crisp stripes for a fresh, summery feeling.

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6.  Keep it fresh

Since we eat most of our meals out on the patio, our dining room stays pretty quiet in summer.  But I still try to keep this space looking fresh since it’s the first room people see when they visit our home. 

A few lilacs snipped from my little lilac bush are the perfect way to add a touch of the season to this space.

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7. Take it outdoors

Don’t forget to beautify your outdoor dining area, too.  By adding a few pretty touches to your patio table, you can easily make your al fresco dining experiences feel truly special. 

Below, I added a white tablecloth, some natural woven place mats, and touches of blue and white to create a simple summer table setting.

 

Our outdoor covered patio is our backyard oasis in summer.  With flowy outdoor curtains and glowing string lights, we love hanging out here in the evenings.

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Adding blue and white rugs, chair cushions, planters, and flowers made our backyard retreat feel like an extension of our home.  And, as far as I’m concerned, you can never go wrong by decorating with blue and white in summer–it’s the epitome of easy and breezy!

Thank you so much for stopping by.  I hope you found some helpful summer home decorating ideas in this post.  Wishing you a wonderful summer!  xo jane

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For more on coastal grandmother style, modern coastal decor, beach house interior design, Nancy Meyers style, or California casual style, you might be interested in these related posts from the blog:

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