Boulder County Home & Garden Magazine, Summer 2011
Add summer sizzle to your home with these easy and inexpensive décor tips.
#2 Move furniture to take advantage of summer sun, views and breezes. Photo by Yuri Arcurs
By Mary Lynn Bruny
The sun is shining, your nose is sunburned and flip-flops are the official footwear of the season. You’ve spent hours in the garden and your yard looks great. But how summery is the inside of your home? Could it use a little brightening? Here are 10 ways to bring the good things of summer into your home décor.
1. Upgrade the Doormat
Is your entry mat torn and tattered? It may be time to recycle the tired thing and bring in a bright, sturdy replacement. “Your doormat is the first thing you see when you get home,” says Lise Schumann, manager of Boulder’s West End Gardener, “so it’s great to have a fun, colorful, unique one greet you.” Every year seems to bring a wider selection of interesting doormat designs and styles. This year, you’ll find mats and rugs in bright colors with bold geometric designs. Does your entry need extra cheer? Perk it up with a floral door wreath.
2. Change Your (Furniture) Outlook
Is your main living-area furniture oriented toward the fireplace or the TV that you hardly watch in summer? Now’s the time to rearrange furnishings to take advantage of sunshine, foliage and views. Changing a room’s traffic pattern is good for carpets, too.
3. Heave the Heavy Linens
#3 Shiny, silky fabrics are fabulously fun for summer. Pillows Photo by Gina Smith
Those heavy, decorative pillows were great when it was cold outside. But summer’s here, so swap them out for lighter, brighter, sassier ones. Want a more unique look? Layer a silky sarong across the couch. Summer-patterned tablecloths, runners and mats are an easy way to give the kitchen and dining room a makeover. These can be used separately or layered for texture, so choose table mats and runners that look great with the tablecloth. Sheer, billowy drapes on curtain rings also brighten things up. Give the bathroom a summer spruce-up by hanging a bright new shower curtain, and plush beach towels if you like.
4. Whiten, Brighten, Lighten
#4 White is light and bright, just like summer. Photo by newphotoservice
“White definitely adds a fresh look to things,” Schumann notes. “It lightens and brightens and makes things look clean and crisp.” Bright-white sheets and bathroom towels are the simplest ways to add the freshness of white. For serious white-lovers, dining- and living-room furniture slipcovers amp up the summer feel. Other ways to add white: lampshades, throw pillows, frames, candles and large shells.
5. Make the Ceiling a Sky
No one knows how the East Coast seaside tradition of painting porch ceilings blue came to be: to mimic the sky, to deter insects, to ward off evil spirits, to visually extend daylight hours? Perhaps blue paint was cheap! But at some point the practice stuck. “Blue is a calming color,” Schumann notes. “[When we see it] we think of the sea and this just makes us feel good.” You can stick with tradition or take a bolder step and paint your indoor ceilings blue.
6. Display Summer Treasures
#5 Bring an East Coast tradition west - paint the ceiling blue! Porch Photo by Christopher Edwin Nuzzaco
“I think everybody remembers being a kid and picking up shells and stones in summer,” Schumann says. “It’s also nice to have these earthy treasures around your house.” Put your favorite shells, sea glass or rocks in interesting bowls or inside hurricanes around candles. Looking for a brighter alternative? A bowl of lemons or limes adds a zippy zing of color.
7. Freshen Up the Paint
Are your walls and trim a little splotchy? You don’t have to repaint everything to get that “just-painted” look. Bright summer days are ideal for touching up nicks. White baseboards benefit greatly from minor touch-ups that usually blend in well; wall paint is trickier, depending on how much the color has faded and its surface sheen. Start by testing in a hidden place.
8. Get the Bloomin’ Green Stuff
#8 Succulents are cool looking and easy to care for. Succulents Photo by Katarzyna Krawiec
Bring the outside in with easy-care foliage like succulents. “They come in so many unique shapes, and the leaves are so interesting,” Schumann says. These plants’ low water needs are a natural fit for Colorado’s dry homes. A wonderful common variety found at nurseries, grocery stores and big-box home stores is kalanchoe. This long-blooming plant now comes in vibrant flower colors (bright red, yellow and pink) and double blooms. Not a houseplant person? Add fresh flowers in almost every room for instant summer zing. Great choices are sunflowers, Gerbera daisies, gladioluses and zinnias.
9. Cuddle by Candlelight
Summer’s long days and warm nights naturally lead to romantic candlelit evenings, and candle lovers have a range of summery color choices: hot pinks, limey greens, bright yellows, spunky oranges and icy blues. “These bright colors put out a beautiful glow,” Schumann notes. Another option—and a safer one given our dry, windy climate—is electric candles that are nearly indiscernible from the real thing.
10. Go for Fun and Flair
It’s summertime and the livin’ is easy. Keep cards and dominoes on the coffee table for instant family fun. Put binoculars within easy reach for bird-watching, and a telescope in a protected spot for stargazing. When cocktail hour arrives, liven it up with summery glassware with bright patterns and colors. Then toast this glorious season!
