7 Summer Decorating Ideas to Try

There’s just something about the summer season that inspires us to refresh and reinvigorate our homes. After all that spring cleaning, it can be richly satisfying to change up your color scheme, update your furniture, or get creative with your existing window treatment. Even simple things, like adding some colorful throw pillows to an otherwise neutral couch, can leave your home feeling like a vacation paradise.

Here are 7 decorating ideas that are especially popular this summer:

A Newly Painted Door

Your door is the first thing that guests see when they visit your house, so make sure that it’s as tidy and vibrant as what’s inside your home. Chipped paint or scratches don’t exactly lend themselves to that fresh summertime feeling. Painting your door is an inexpensive way to immediately brighten your home. Choose a trendy summer color, like bright or pastel shades of yellow, blue, or green. Alternatively, go a completely different direction with whatever color evokes the feeling of summer for you.

If you have a front porch or space just outside of your door for potted plants, you might even consider painting your door to match the style of your planters. Southwest style plants and pots, for instance, look great next to rich, vibrantly painted doors (think vivid purple or electric green). Mediterranean style planters, meanwhile, match well with softer, pastel hues, like a matte pastel blue.

Combine your newly accented door with a lush, summery wreath that fits your color and design scheme.

Pops of Color

Bringing sunny days into the home is a trend this year, with bright, sunshine yellows and sky blue colors making homes feel airy and light. Pastels, as well, are proving to be popular, adding to the trend in light, fresh homes. Pastels also pair perfectly with a calming nautical theme, another trend this year.

Get in on the summer color craze by adding little pops of color throughout your home in unique and interesting ways. Think throw pillows and blankets, bright art pieces, a colorful coffee or end table display, or even a brightly painted accent wall.

Beach Themes

This one may seem like a given, but adding beachy or nautical elements to your home is completely on trend this year. You can take this theme as far as you’d like, from adding nautical-themed pillows or ocean scented candles to the home, to going as far as adding wicker furniture pieces or sisal rugs to your house. When thinking of coastal design choices, envision shades of blue, indigo, sandy brown, and white, including striped designs of these shades. This beach house theme also ties into the overall summer trend of adding a lightness to the interior design of homes.

Spaces to Entertain

Summer brings cookouts, parties, gatherings, and more. If you’re looking to host family and friends at your house, a backyard with brightly colored patio furniture and attractive lighting is always a winner. If you have the ability to add a firepit to your backyard, you’ll really be ready for the characteristic bonfire nights of summer.

Classic Florals — and Unique Citrus

Classically summer elements like florals are still as popular as ever. So, too, are pillows, table runners, and other home pieces decorated with citrus fruits. It may seem a risky choice, but adding a little splash of fun with a citrus printed art piece or a lemon wreath (that you can even make yourself, if you’re feeling crafty) is a fantastic way to incorporate the cheer of summer without losing sophistication.

Patriotic Vintage Americana

Vintage has been a growing trend for the past few years, and in 2019, it’s in full force. For summer, vintage Americana is a trendy choice in advance of the Fourth of July — and it’s beautiful. Matte blues and reds alongside faded whites and checkered patterns are quintessentially summer. Vintage shelf blocks and posters, birdhouses, sunflowers, picnic baskets, and patriotic paper fans are easy on the budget without sacrificing the décor of an old school American summer.

Lighten Up — Everything!

Letting the sunlight in is a theme every summer and this year is no exception. The more ways that you can open up your home and create the illusion of a softly sunlit space, the more inviting your home will be this season. This is where you’ll want to take a close look at your windows. White or cream plantation shutters already lend themselves to summer decorating, but stained plantation shutters can actually be paired with breezy  white curtains for summer. You may not have realized that plantation shutters can be paired with curtains, namely because they don’t require them, but many people choose to combine their plantation shutters with a fabric window treatment to add an interesting design element to the home.

The great thing about plantation shutters is that the ambiance that they give exists all year, so you can filter in and out as much light as you please to get just the right ambiance for the summer home of your dreams.

Looking to Transform Your Windows This Summer?

Don’t already have custom, authentically wooden plantation shutters in your home? Invest in them this summer to expand your home’s sunlight potential, add value to your property, and remove the time it takes to clean and care for other window treatments, like drapes and blinds. Plantation shutters are timeless and they completely re-energize a home while providing you with privacy and functionality.

Worried that the particular size or shape of your window is too unique for plantation shutters? Think again! Shenandoah Shutters can handcraft your plantation shutters to fit windows of any size or shape, even French doors, tilt-ins, and casements. We’re locally owned and operated in Richmond and will provide a free in-home design consultation to plan the window treatment that is perfect for your home in any of our service areas. Give us a call today, toll free at 1-800-733-1549, to learn about the different plantation shutter options available to you, or send us a message online for more information.