Summer Changes In Our Greatroom

 

I had so much fun this week changing out my great room with it's summer look. Here are the steps I took to get my summer look..........

1. DE-CLUTTER

The first thing I do is to take away all my accessories so I will have a clean palette to work with. It is so much easier to create when there is nothing in the room to distract you.

2. Keep it simple let your rooms breathe! 
 Less is more for a summer look.

3.Add more whites, creams or ecru. 

I added a white garden stool and a white ceramic planter beside my chair.

BEFORE.....

After.....

 

4. Bring in your summer pillows

Next I bring in the summer pillows which is part of a rooms base pieces, and they can set the mood and color scheme for the room. 

This is where you can have some fun with colors and textures. You can keep them cool and serene, fun and tropical, or neutral and textural like the sand on the beaches. 

For my own personal home I keep it cool and serene with blues, a touch of aqua, and whites. 

 (fabric by Pindler and Pindler called Nebula)

In my chairs I us a large scale print in blue, white, and black. 

Using a nice large scale pattern makes a nice statement in a room.

On my sofa I add ONE pillow. Yes you heard me right! It is a nice long lumbar pillow in a simple fabric that coordinates with my sofa's ticking stripe, and the  larger scale patterned pillow on my chair. 

 (Lumbar pillow measures 44in. X 14in with self cord welting.)

The fabric on this pillow comes from England it is made by Ian Makin. They make gorgeous fabrics if you like stripes and checks. They are my go-to place for good quality stripes and checks. They are quite easy to deal with as well, great customer service.

5. Change out accessories

 I start by bringing in the larger pieces I want to work with first. I like to add more clear glass pieces and things that make me think of the coolness of water.

The first place I added my summer element was on my mantel.

 (Beach glass bottles are  16in. high, purchased many years ago)

These bottles actually came from our bedroom,  they usually sit on top of our armoire. Don't be reluctant to shop your own home, move things from other rooms if they will work for you in the room you are tweaking.

The bubble balls and two large pillar candles were moved to the zinc tray under the TV.......

The glass bubble balls vary in size. I have had these for years as well. Originally purchased at Homegoods. They are very heavy and they absolutely fascinate me.

Here is a close-up of one of the bubble balls.....

6. Try to not get too thematic with beachy, or kitschy objects in your room.

Next I moved onto the coffee table always keeping in mind my color scheme, the season, and making sure I keep it simple. This was my last area to address in this room.

7. Take a look at your room at this point and make a list of elements that you would like to add to your room

Here is a picture of how it looked before. This is when I made a list of a few elements I felt I needed to add to the room.

The very next day I took my list to Homegoods. Here is my list......

1. Coral piece for coffee table

2. Book about the ocean or in beachy colors.

3. Navy blue lampshades

I was shocked to find two navy lampshades which is exactly what I needed to change out my two lamps. However!! I did find a new lamp for the great room which is perfect for the room.

It has a white wavy ceramic base and a clean lined navy drum shade.......

  

I also found my coral piece......

AND my book.......

 I was pretty excited to find this book, it couldn't be any more perfect in color, or theme.

I used one of the lampshades in the kitchen area. This area still needs tweaking. I plan on finding a clear beach glass bottle and using some monstera leaves for a more beachy look.....

Back to the coffee table and my new piece of coral and book.

I normally use a tray to corral elements as seen here......

Since I am going for a more open look I removed the tray......

8. Time to stand back and look at your room to evaluate any changes you might want to make.

I am pretty happy with my room so far, however I do want one more piece of coral to use on the coffee table, something a little higher than the other piece.

You will notice I added a beach glass vase on the coffee table to pull the soft aqua color from the mantel to this side of the room. 

Also notice the books on my basket are all in blues as well. Books make great color spots and conversation pieces in a room. Every room needs books IMHO. 

You can always find books at thrift stores with the color of spines you are working with if needed....

I now have three things to add to my room....

1. Beach glass vase for mirror table.

2. Taller piece of coral

3. Monstera leaves for vase on mirror table.

I hope this post helps you all in your own process of changing things out for any season!

Happy Summer!!