Tips to keep summer décor all year long
The sun-drenched colours and inviting textures of summer provide plenty of decorating ideas. The trick is doing it right: A summer-inspired interior can become a tacky, tropical disaster if it’s done with too heavy a hand.
But with a light touch and strategic choices, your home can be brightened all year long by the fleeting beauty of summer.
Above all, “do not be literal with summer,” says Los Angeles-based designer Betsy Burnham. Avoid putting up a sign that says “Gone Fishin’” or displaying a collection of seashells on a table, she says.
Instead, try examining the colours inside a handful of shells, then decorating a room in those shades. Or upholster one piece of furniture in crisp, summery linen, rather than slip-covering an entire room.
Designer Joe Lucas of Lucas Studio in West Hollywood, Calif., agrees: A mix of sandcoloured paint and ocean blue fabrics can be a tasteful reminder of the shore.
Here, Burnham, Lucas and Decordemon.com founder Brian Patrick Flynn offer tips on successfully using summer as your design inspiration. Summer is relaxation: “Summery interiors are best described as relaxed,” Flynn says. “Summery spaces are super-light, unstructured and pretty darn casual.”
Flynn uses deliberate contrast to point up that casual feeling: “I like to juxtapose super-relaxed elements such as slipcovers or bedding made from washed linen with super-tailored elements such as tailored tartan or pinstripe accents. The result is preppy, but still casual.” Summer is distinctive colours: One option is a palette of muted summer colours (sandy beiges, soft driftwood greys, nautical blues), which can be used throughout a room without overpowering it.
Lucas is a fan of very palegrey wall colours that include just a hint of green or blue. They look great alongside natural, pale, wood furniture.
Flynn recommends “washedout blue” wall colours. “Blues with the perfect amount of grey in them tend to be timeless and also work as ‘new neutrals’ — colours with tons of personality which tend to work well with almost every other hue out there.”
These muted blues pair beautifully with white, he says: “The mix of blue and white together is totally timeless, plus it can be mixed up in many different ways to update the look. Almost all colours accent blue and white well.”
The other summery option is to go vivid, using grassy greens, geranium reds, deep corals and the teal of tropical waters. Done right, these colours can elevate the look of a room.