SUMMER HOUSE TOUR GUIDE AND IDEAS

Ahhhh, Summer.

You’ve been treating us very well so far.

We’ve absolutely loved lazy afternoons on the porch, sprinklers in the yard, juicy watermelon, fun-filled summer camps, roasted hot dogs, and beautiful weather.

I’ve enjoyed you so much, that I decided to spruce up our outdoor spaces and simplify our decor so we could make the most of you.

But then again – we haven’t hit the 100+ temperatures yet.  At that point, I may not like you as much . . . just keep that in mind.  😉

How’s summer treating you so far? I’ll admit to being more of a Spring and Fall kind of person, but, we are soaking in every moment this year and enjoying all the fresh flowers we see.

Anyway, I’ve been hanging on to the edge of my seat to join in on the “Simply Summer Home Tour” series, hosted by Nina Hendrick Blog and supported by none other than Birch Lane and Country Living.  

Truly honored and humbled to be a part of this crew, and thrilled to show you our home! There is a complete listing of home decor ideas in the tour at the end of this post.

I’ll be showing you what a simple summer decor looks like for me, and then I hope you’ll join me again for what I am calling my “Summer Child Home Tour”. To me, there is nothing more beautiful than a home filled with laughter and joy from the carefree Summer child – and I had a blast capturing that through my lens.

Now, let me take you on a summer tour of my home and hopefully give you plenty of summer home ideas!

My biggest priority was to spruce up our front porch. I wanted it to not only look pretty but to function for afternoon tea parties and evening chats during the warm weather.

We have a wide, but not very long porch. That gives me 2 sides to play with, which is fun. On one side, I borrowed our Joss and Main Lauren End Table from our living room and used it as a quaint little coffee table out here for now. The inexpensive little stools I found at Homegoods.

This fun white paint color metal shelving I also found at Homegoods and used as a plant stand for all my white-washed Terracotta pots just gives me that beautiful summer touch.

And I kept it true TIDBITS fashion and mostly used white flowers. I like it that way 😉

We have a lot of wasps around here, so I was excited to find this adorable wasp catcher at World Market.

We’ve already enjoyed many, many snack times around this little table and I’m sure it’ll look great outside your beach house as well.

The other side of our porch is where you can find me watching the wee ones play and frolic.

It’s simple and as uncluttered as I could manage it.

My husband made the swing last year, out of scrap wood.

I made this pillow, which you can find the tutorial for HERE.

This cute little stool I found while on my junkin’ trails. It was all red at one point, and I sanded it down, white-washed the top, and milk painted the bottom.

The rug is a super grand discovery I made on Amazon. It is called a Mad Mat, and it is made entirely out of plastic woven together. That means it is easily sprayed off, won’t stain or mold and is super cute, and feels great on your feet. I was nervous ordering it because I had never seen one, but I like it!

I also bought a plant from Walmart for 12$ and some hanging ferns. I’m eager for our little hanging ferns to grow full and large . . . provided I don’t kill them first.

That’s a wrap on the porch, now come on in through the door and I’ll show you what we have done inside.

This tiny entryway has to function big for us. I’m able to add decor because of this slim entryway table my husband built. Some simple clippings freshen it up and tie in with my preserved tranquility wreath from Joss and Main.  

I also discovered this $30.00 woven circle rug on Amazon. It was supposed to go on the floor, but you get the quality you pay for with the 30.00 bucks and I was afraid it wouldn’t hold up under kids. But I was pleased with it when I slapped it up on my wall! Such a fun pop of texture that you can also bring it to your family room if you’d like to.

I found this little old cubby at an antique store and thought it was perfect for my kids to throw in their flip-flops. They think it is fun too and have practiced keeping their shoes put away – for now.

Then I used this small space on the wall for a little summer organization with 4 kids . . . if there is such a thing.

Before you look at that schedule and dub me “Summer Mom of the Year”, just know it has yet to happen. I’m sure July will be better 😉 I would hate to give you any pretenses.

What I do love about Summer time is the lack of coats and backpacks.  That frees up my hooks for more important things.

Like plants that the florist said I surely can’t kill.

Now I’d love to show you a few minor changes we made in the Living Room.

You should know by now I love my Felicity slipcovered sofa from Joss and Main, and the best thing about it is that I don’t have to have a monster mommy fit when my kids put their dirty little Summer feet on the couch. I only have an itty bitty mommy fit 😉. But it is always good to know I can take off the covers and wash them.  

However, I thought it was an even more genius idea to toss in a blanket because it is a whole lot easier to wash a blanket each week than a slipcover.

This Sharon Striped Throw from Birch Lane had me in love at first sight.  The linen-like texture is irresistible and you know I love my worn grain sack stripes, which this imitates very well.

It does get rustled around with kids, but easy to fix a couple of times a day and it is protecting the couch covers as I had hoped.

I love throwing in dried lavender from our backyard here and there.

As well as some daisies from the backyard.

I pulled our blue chair cover off to wash and decided to use the extra white one I had, to freshen up the Summer look.

And we keep our library books close and handy for those perfect snuggle moments.

This other knit blue striped throw I picked up at Old Navy.  All other sources for the Living Room can be found in my previous room reveal post.

Lastly, I’ll show you my personal favorite space – the place I go to calm my stressed-out, Type A personality soul.

The master bathroom. I did some very simple swaps in here to make it, even more, relaxing after a day of feeding and entertaining 4 small children – all. day. long.

Some soft pink roses from my sister’s yard were about all it needed. But I also found that adorable stool at a clearance furniture place and thought it was perfect.

And I wish I could preserve the beauty in these roses forever.

All details on this room remodel can be seen HERE.

I also swapped out my all-white towels for these lovely, aqua, and lightweight striped Turkish towels from Birch Lane.

They had me at Hello.

I found an old scrap of white chippy wood in my husband’s wood pile and had him drill holes and insert ropes for handles. It’s the perfect tub tray.

Other than that, the bathroom just got a good scrub down and feels light and fresh.

Thank you for joining the tour of our summer home! I hope you enjoyed the tour, and feel free to click over to my own personal “Summer Child Home Tour”  to see our home come to life!

You can subscribe in the form below so you get all my post updates in your inbox.

Don’t miss the rest of the Summer Home Tour series with Birch Lane and Country Living, listed below.

*Disclosure:  I did receive a gift card from Birch Lane for the select Birch Lane items in this post.  But that doesn’t change how much I loved them!  I always strive to give you my true and honest opinion of products I use in my home and I hope that is helpful.

Visit Country Living Magazine to see more summer decorating ideas!

Monday

Nina Hendrick | Maison de Pax | Cherished Bliss | AKA Design | A Burst of Beautiful | Liz Marie Blog

Tuesday

Migonis Home | So Much Better With Age | Zevy Joy | Just a Girl and Her Blog | Shades of Blue Interiors | Making Home Base

Wednesday

Rooms FOR Rent | The Wicker House | Bless’er House | Love Grows Wild | Finding Silver Pennies | Design, Dining + Diapers

Thursday

Craftberry Bush | Jennifer Rizzo | The Wood Grain Cottage | Ella Claire | Tidbits | City Farmhouse

Friday

Kindred Vintage & Co | The Blissful Bee | The Happy Housie | House By Hoff | Nesting With Grace | Life on Virginia Street