Warmer Weather Ahead: Is Your Home Summer Ready?

Here are a few steps you can take now to make your space more comfortable during the warm weather ahead.The change of seasons offers an opportunity to make changes of your own. Not just in the way you dress, but in the way you dress the rooms you live in.

Looking for the perfect summer knit? Linen, hand-knitted and even polyester is perfect for light layering and major texture all year long. Toss it on an Adirondack during sunnier months, then take it inside when temps start to drop. Look for beautiful colors, bold trim and top-quality materials that make for a summer staple.

Switch Out Pillows & Throws

One of the easiest ways to change the appearance of a room is to switch out decorative textiles. Start by changing out the pillows. That’s a very simple solution. In the winter, you might have heaps of heavy pillows, covered in velvet or chunky wool, that provide warmth. In the summer, lightweight linen or cotton is a sensible choice. Aside from the material, consider the visual warmth of your color choices. The same holds true for throws. Summer is the time to put away any sheepskins or thick wool blankets hanging over the arms of sofas and chairs, and to bring out gauzy cotton and linen blankets or lightweight throws in fresh colors.

With multiple hanging options to suit any style, sheer curtains are soft and subtly textured and lets in just the right light. With a translucent drape, it brings both casual warmth and refined style to the room.

Change The Curtains

For a major transformation, changing the curtains and drapes. In the summer, we like it to feel airier.” So she temporarily replaces the wool with cotton or linen curtains in ticking stripes or a solid, light color. It makes a big difference and you feel like you’re in a whole new room. If your curtains have hooks that hang from rings, changing them is relatively easy. It’s not that laborious, especially if you get the whole family involved.

Lightly textured and cool to the touch, natural-fiber fabric is prized for its durability, breathability and lived-in look.

Make a Cool Bed

As the weather warms up, it’s time to swap out those downy duvets and woolly blankets. To dress a bed for warmer nights, start with simple bed linens such as plain white sheets, or ones with a subtle floral pattern, and top them with a light, breathable blanket made of cotton pique or matelassé. That’s just a practical thing, it’s not even a design thing. But it’s still nice to keep a throw or thin blanket at the foot of the bed, so if you’re taking a nap, you don’t have to get under the covers.

Brighten up your table with the rustic textures and playful colors. Naturally durable materials woven by hand, bringing coordinated style to both daily dining and celebratory meals. The subtle variations in weave and tonality give casual, contemporary appeal that’s both familiar and fresh.

Decorate The Dining Table

Much like putting a slipcover over a sofa, covering a dining table with a tablecloth can give it a new expression. Summer is also an opportunity to change her flatware, dinnerware and glassware. Such as bamboo-handled flatware, playfully patterned plates and colorful drinking glasses. Storing things that you love, and rotating them with the seasons, freshens everything up and allows you to enjoy your favorite accessories all over again.

Meant for decorative display, vases and decorative bowls adds a rich, artisanal element anywhere it’s placed. Fill them with natural flowers and decorative fruit.

Fill Your Vases and Bowls

Of course, one of the best ways to make your home feel summery is to take advantage of nature’s bounty. Whether you buy them in bunches at the green market or pick them in your garden, vibrant peonies, dahlias and other summer flowers will add a blast of color anywhere you may have displayed evergreen branches, magnolia leaves or dried flowers in the winter. Even leafy tree branches will do the trick. Such as cutting them from trees in her yard to stuff into vases. Bowls filled with in-season fruit, like peaches and pears, are similarly effective at bringing nature’s beauty indoors. Just don’t overthink it, because a truly summery interior should feel relaxed. Bringing an informality to the formal is a really nice thing to do in summer.