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!!

 

 

Shopping At Homegoods With Me For Summer Decor!

Yesterday I actually did summerize our great room and in doing so I came up with a little shopping list so I thought it might be fun to take you along with me to Homegoods to see what I can find. 

 This post is picture heavy so grab your favorite beverage and enjoy online shopping with me.

I always start in the dish aisles they have so many white dishes right now, but I only took pictures of a couple of things I liked and would actually use in my own home. 

Remember adding white or ecru to your room can lighten and brighten it up.

 

 These are too cute! Great price points too!

I need to pull the trigger and buy this ceramic basket for a bread basket, it goes with my decor and the way I like to set my table.

They had some interesting glass pieces and vases that I thought were really pretty....

I think this is such an interesting piece, reminds me of ocean waves in it's coloration and its wavy shape.

This was gorgeous and I probably should have picked it up, but I was on the hunt for something else.

 Stripes are always fun!!

I like to add baskets for texture in a room, especially in the summer time, and I think these serving pieces would be fun to use when you entertain.

 Serving trays and trivets. I use trays all the time when I entertain and I know these would work well for me.

I thought this piece was interesting for a kitchen.

These tablecloths came in  some great summer patterns and colors.

Loved this huge float, but to be honest I would take the rope off for my home, it is a bit too thematic for me, but a great piece.

I thought this large very soft blue and white striped bedding would make a beautiful summer bed.

This clear glass lamp actually looked better in person than it does in the picture. I liked the big cork stopper at the top, very beachy looking to me.

This lamp looked like white bamboo and I loved this shade.

Same lamp, different shade. It is fun to have the shadow print of palm fronds inside the shade. Perfect for summer decorating.

This lamp really caught my eye, the base looks like waves and it has such a clean look with the navy lampshade.

This may or may not have come home with me!!

Remember you can change out your lampshades to give your lamps a different look.....

 

I could totally see this mirror being used in a bathroom.

This piece was really pretty interesting in person, it had a heavy texture to the paint, and I always like that look. Simple and makes a big statement.

More contemporary and great color palette for the summer months, nice and cool.

 Another fun contemporary piece.

For those of you that like a big more of a thematic look......

This was a fun piece I could see a group of these used on a wall.

 I thought these outdoor cushions were great looking for a really good price point, you get two cushions in a package.

They had an over abundance of pillows too many to take pictures of , however here are a few that caught my eye. Loved the little tuffet sitting on top of the denim pillows, it is indoor outdoor fabric, really cute.

Loved this pillow, it was a hooked pillow, the entire thing. This is a GREAT looking summer pillow!

This was an interesting fabric and of course I loved the colors.

A nice classic print.

 Silver plated bamboo martini table.

A nice thick acrylic table.

They had 6 of these linen slipcovered parsons chairs....

For shell lovers.........

This was a nice large hurricane candle holder with a shell encrusted base. This would be a nice addition to any summer room.

 Every single time I go to Homegoods I pick this votive holder up. It did not come home with me again. It is so pretty in it's natural shape and the quartz glitters. Why oh why did I leave it again?!

Another touch of white in this nice tall candle holder!

Adding books to your tables is a nice color spot and conversation piece. This little book about ocean waves, may or may not have come home with me.

Next came the coral, this was actually on my shopping list!!

One of these DID come home with me!!

Stay tuned for my next blog post and I will show you all my summer changes!!