Let’s spend some time taking a Summer home tour and talking about summer decorating!
I had originally just planned on incorporating summer decor into a few small spots in my house and calling it good for the season, but as I started with that, I was inspired and decided to do more!
You’ve probably noticed that I’ve slowed down on the Styling Thrifted Finds posts that I had been sharing throughout earlier this year and last, and to be honest, it’s because I was getting a little overwhelmed by the amount of things I was bringing home with me! I knew I needed to limit myself, so I’ve stepped back from weekly thrifting trips, and will be hitting a few garage sales this summer instead.
I do however have a few recent thrifted finds to show you, and some I’ve been holding on to from past scores to show you as part of summer styling.
In addition to my newer pieces, I pulled out my two Rubbermaid storage tote bins of Summer decor (you can learn all about how I store my seasonal decorations in this post from last year.) and made a goal of using it all up around the house!
I just love being able to work with both new pieces and those I’m familiar with, but in a fresh new way each year.
*This post contains affiliate links to products I know &/or love.
Summer Home Tour Collaboration
Before I jump in I wanted to share that over on my YouTube channel I did a collaboration for this post with four great ladies that I think you’ll enjoy getting to know!
- Andrea from Pine and Prospect Home shared a Summer Lilac Tour. You can find more about her HERE on her Blog!
- Sarah from Grace in my Space shared her Organic Modern Summer Decor Ideas and her blog can be found HERE.
- Amy from her self titled channel Amy Fritz shared her Cozy Cottage Bedroom Ideas. You can also find her on Instagram HERE.
- Rachel Stone of Cottage Home shared 7 Ways to Add Cottage Style to your Patio, and her blog is HERE.
These 4 ladies each bring their own design thoughts to simple summer decor, and as a bonus, they’re also DIY’ers and enjoy thrifting. Make sure you check them out once you’re finished here!
And now that everyone has been introduced, let’s get started on this Summer home tour!
Thrifted Finds
First, I found this great set of 10 envelopes with red and blue stripes around the entire outer edge. They’re also from Seattle, which isn’t too far from me!
I used a little bit of red and white bakers twine and some pretty gold paperclips and turned them into bunting!
You can find similar vintage air mail envelopes on Etsy.
Next I found two more baseballs to add to my growing collection. One of them had blue laces, which I had never seen before, but really loved!
These were $1 and $0.50 each.
Vintage baseballs are one of the things I’ll always pick up if I see them when I’m out thrifting. They make the perfect summer accent.
I also found this pretty white tablecloth for $4.
You can see it here used as a runner in my kitchen. My favorite part about it was that the woven jacquard pattern was blackberry stems! At least around our part of the country, blackberries are a summer staple!
I love adding that subtle nod.
This next find I’ve actually had for a few years but it was originally found at an antique store.
It’s a painting of the American flag by Fred Tripp. This is one of my favorite flag pictures, and when you look into the history of it, you’ll see it’s actually one of the most popular paintings of the flag across the whole country!
You can sometimes find copies on Etsy, and on Ebay if you’re on the search! I’ll also be sharing a fun DIY project with this print in the coming weeks.
When I was at IKEA last month you might remember I picked up 2 shell prints (IKEA BILD) for $5, and two simple gold Frames (IKEA SILVERHOJDEN) for $13 each.
Simple Summer Decor Focus Areas
I knew, even with my two bins of Summer decorations that I wouldn’t be able to completely transform my entire home, so I decided to stick with a few of my higher visibility areas and make those over as highlights to the rooms as a whole.
We’ll look at each of those areas in a bit more detail now!
Living Room
My two favorite spots to decorate in the living room are my coffee table and my piano!
For the coffee table I used a simple gold tray to hold the galvanized bucket of baseballs, and a white vase to hold my collection of vintage silk flags. I got these flags off ebay years ago and they’re one of my favorite summer pieces to bring out each year.
You can often find them on Ebay, but they are a little pricey. When I bought my lot, they were $70 – just for a reference.
You’ll notice it with the bucket here and with some of the other accents through this Summer home tour, but I love adding in beachy, nautical elements as well as playful outdoor sports with my more standard patriotic red white and blue flare.
I think the three things work together so well because so many of us have memories of playing outside during summer and family vacations to the beach.
For the piano I used one of my two red and blue striped IKEA curtains that I found on clearance last year as a draped runner across the top.
In front of that in the place of honor I set my flag picture.
On top I added a collection of blue and red books, flanked on either side by driftwood sailboats that I made a few years ago with driftwood from my parent’s beach property and hand-me-down handkerchiefs from my Grandma.
I have a tutorial on how to make the sailboats that you can find HERE.
On the wall above the piano I added one of my DIY vintage wall hangings made out of a piece of Cavallini wrapping paper. I love the blue and white and the schematics of a bicycle.
In our Fireside Room
I chose to decorate our one small set of shelves near the kitchen.
You can see I hung my envelope bunting up along the counter here.
And in the shelves I highlighted my different pieces of blue and white transferware and ironstone.
I added the vintage tennis racket as an interesting element that offered a lot of contrast with the otherwise more subdued display. Plus it carried through the feeling of summer sports that I had included in the other areas.
Over in the kitchen
There’s one high traffic corner that I always like to decorate. This time I added my tall crochet trim patio umbrella in the corner for some great depth and height.
I put my new IKEA shell prints in the golden frames and hung them on that wall.
On the sewing cabinet below I added my $4 blue chalk board calendar find from last year, and three pretty containers holding my collection of shells.
A tall lidded jar, another galvanized sand bucket, and a pretty glass and gold trimmed jewelry box topped off with another driftwood sailboat.
The Chicken Porch
This small porch is off our kitchen and faces the area where our chickens live (hence the name). It’s really quiet and picturesque out there and brings me lots of peace when I sit there.
I don’t usually decorate it for the seasons, but thought this would be a fun opportunity to bring some of the summer charm to a spot I already love.
Our pedestal table is currently sitting out here to be used, and it made a great base to work with.
I used the second curtain from my clearance IKEA set to create another red and blue runner for this space.
On top of that I placed a glass cup with a handful of tea-stained grocery store flags, (I did a Facebook live of this technique which you can find HERE.) and one of my faux plants from IKEA.
Next to the table is one of the chairs from my IKEA bistro set, and on top of that a DIY pillow I made a few years ago from a thrifted pillowcase.
I love the coordinating colors in the “runner” and the pillow, and how it so closely resembles the envelopes I used inside. The stripes feel very French to me.
And that is it for this year’s Summer Home Decor Tour! I hope you’ve enjoyed it, and that you are able to create little spaces like this in your own home. My children and my husband have noticed and mentioned how they enjoy seeing these places change through the seasons to create a celebratory feel in our home.
I wish that for you as well!
Happy Early Independence Day to all of the She Holds Dearly Community!
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