Home’s décor needs summer vacation
Q: My home décor seems so dark and heavy. How I can brighten things up without doing a complete makeover?
A: Your home's interior probably just needs a summer vacation.
As a kid, I used to count the days until summer vacation. On the last day of school, I tossed my books in the corner, kicked off my shoes and headed out the door looking for adventure. The neighbor kids and I spent our days building our own go-carts, scouting the Missouri River bluffs for arrowheads, forming clubs, assembling forts and engaging in good-natured mud ball warfare.
Perhaps it's time to let your home have the same chance you had as a kid to lighten up and have a little fun during the delicious summer months.
Lighten your linens
Grab a storage box and incarcerate every piece of fabric that's dark and heavy. Replace the paisley blanket tossed over the arm of your sofa with a soft cotton throw. Cover your chenille pillows with linen slipcovers in a delicate floral pattern.
If your dining room table is dressed in a winter-weight tablecloth, trade it out for a floral table runner. Right now I have a darling 54-inch square tablecloth, turned on the diagonal, at the center of my dining room table. I fell in love with the summery print of robin's egg blue crisscrossed with a trellis pattern in apple green.
Pull your duvet off your bed, clean and store the down insert, then fold the empty duvet cover at the bottom of your bed. If you have scads of pillows on your bed, remove a layer or two for a lighter summer look. Then, perk up your bedding ensemble with a new lightweight bedspread, like an inexpensive matelasse coverlet in a complementary summer hue.
Pare down your accents
Since you dress in lighter layers in the summer, so should your home. It's time to go for simpler displays that are less complex but just as powerful.
For instance, in the winter you might create a still life on your coffee table that features a host of intriguing layers, all housed atop a formal silver tray. But in summer, less is more when it comes to accents. Instead of a silver tray, use a bamboo or wicker tray. Then, put just one or two bold accents on top of it, like a piece of garden statuary or an oversized glass compote holding green apples.
Get fresh
Right now, I'm madly in love with big, bold, leafy topiaries. I'm not talking about little, wimpy plants, but 2-foot-tall structures. I have these peppy potted plants strategically placed all over my home.
For example, my vestibule has a built-in bench that I love to decorate for the season. To give it a splash of color for summer, I removed the cozy seat cushion and throw pillows to make room for two extra large topiaries. I adore how fresh, simple and serene the big plants look on the bare wooden bench.
In the summer I also decorate with lots of fresh fruit, like lemons, limes and green apples. When my husband, Dan, started eating my fruit displays, I had to switch to faux fruits, which I actually like better. They look every bit as good in a glass compote, apothecary jar or hurricane, but you don't have to worry about them spoiling.
Bring on the color
If you go ape over sizzling citrus colors, summer is the perfect time to put pops of it throughout your home. How about lime pillows on your porch furniture, tangerine seat cushions on your kitchen chairs or a trio of lemon vases on your mantel?
I have a set of brightly colored glass bottles I love to work into my home décor each summer. I put a long-stemmed gerbera daisy in each of these tall, thin beauties and tuck them into spots that need some pizzazz, like the kitchen windowsill, the kitchen table, the hutch on my screened porch or the guestroom.
Once your home starts to sparkle with summer fun, make sure you take the time to enjoy these lazy, hazy days too.
Mary Carol Garrity owns three home furnishings stores in Atchison, Kan., and wrote several books on home decorating. Write to Mary Carol at nellhills@mail.lvnworth.com. Her column is syndicated by Scripps Howard News Service.
