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Summer Decor Tips – 2020 Summer Home Tour

It’s summertime and it’s time to let the sunshine into our homes with fresh decor that reflects the season!   When I change out my decor, I like to go to some of my favorite shops for inspiration.  And, of course, I usually come home with a few new things for my home.  But, this year, that wasn’t possible.  So, I had to “shop my home” and be more creative with what I already had.  So, I thought I would pass along some of my summer decor tips that might help you to freshen up your home for the season!

If you are new here, I’m Doreen and welcome to my home!  Thanks so much to Marty from A Stroll Thru Life for hosting this seasonal event!  And, if you are visiting from Grace in My Space, wasn’t Sarah’s home gorgeous!   And, that leads me to the first of my summer decor tips!  Get inspiration from others.  If you need inspiration for your home decor, check out some of the summer home tours that are being shared this week!  There are 30 homes on this tour with a variety of styles!   Look at the details – how pillows are arranged, how art is hung on a wall, furniture placement, etc.   I also like to browse home decor books, magazines, Pinterest, and Instagram for inspiration.   Now, let’s take a look around my home and how I decorated for summer.  We’ll start in the living room.

*This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience.  Please see my full disclosure statement.

 

Living Room

For me, decorating a space usually begins with one idea and then I build on that.  This year my main inspiration for this space was a set of vintage botanicals by Karl Bossfeldt (1865-1932).  These botanicals are not your traditional botanicals.  Karl Bossfeldt was never formally trained as a photographer, but he used a homemade camera and lens to magnify plant life up to 30 times their natural size.  These vintage botanical macro photographs are from a collection in Archetypes of Art (1928) and are public domain pieces. 

As soon as I saw them, I knew I had to use them in my home.  Now, for framing, I would typically drive to Ikea because you can’t beat their prices for a quality frame with a mat.  But, that wasn’t possible this year.  So, I went to Walmart and found these 16 x 20 large format frames and then purchased mats from JoAnne that had an 11 x 14 opening.  I had the macro photography botanicals printed at Office Max as ledger size (11 x 17) on 110 lb. cardstock.  And, here’s the result!  

 

French country sofa with gallery wall of black and white vintage microphotography plant study - Hymns and Verses Blog

Aren’t these prints amazing!!!  I love how they are vintage, yet are a bit modern looking!  If you’d like to have these prints for your home, you might want to come back next week!  And, those Walmart frames – I love them!!!  They have glass, not thin plastic, and and are well made for the low price point!  As you can see, I brought some bright color into this space with pillows.  I love to change up my decor with pillows!  But, once again, I couldn’t just pop into HomeGoods to pick up a few new pillows.  So, instead, I shopped at JoAnn and other local fabric stores that were open and made my own pillow covers!  It’s so easy to sew a pillow cover!  It’s just straight line sewing!  

Modern farmhouse living room with moody green shiplap accent wall - Hymns and Verses Blog

I first spotted the chartreuse velvet and knew I wanted to use it.  I paired it with mainly black and white prints and one teal velvet.  You need less than one yard of fabric to make a 20″ pillow cover.  So, this is really the most economical way to bring new pillows into your home!  The most expensive fabric I used was $12 a yard.  

Moody green shiplap wall and black fireplace mantel with vintage chartreuse butterfly art - Hymns and Verses Blog

The chartreuse butterfly print is another vintage print that I had enlarged and framed.  I have to be careful with what colors I bring into this space because of the green planked accent wall, but I love how the chartreuse looks against the green.  You can get this vintage butterfly print in my Free Printable Library !  

Gray tufted high back chair with black and white and chartreuse accent pillows - Hymns and Verses Blog

And, chartreuse lumbar pillows continue that color theme around the room.  The larger pillow covers on the chair are from H&M years ago that I had in my collection!  The next of my summer decor tips is to bring in fresh or faux plants!  I picked up this large Kimberly Queen fern at Wegman’s for $12.99!  It’s so lush and full and you can’t beat that price!  Place your plants into a basket or other planter, but keep it in it’s original grow pot.    The plant stand is vintage and I found it on Facebook Marketplace for $5!  Because I haven’t been able to visit my favorite antique shops, I have been looking at Facebook Marketplace and have found a few bargains.  Sellers are accepting online payments and contactless pickups!  It’s been a great way to look for antiques during the shutdown.

Living room with gray tufted chairs and vintage library table and basket of Queen Anne's Lace and vintage Chippendale mirror - Hymns and Verses Blog

Here you can see both chairs with the library table in between.  I also have to be careful with color in this room because of the print on these curtains that I made earlier this year.  I love the Ballard Designs fabric and don’t want to change out the curtains any time soon.   On the library table is a basket of Queen Anne’s Lace from the side of the road!  It’s that time of year when it’s blooming all over Lancaster County, and I love it in a bunch like this!  I used a clear vase with water inside the basket. 

Summer living room with basket of Queen Anne's Lace on the vintage library table - Hymns and Verses Blog

My small entryway, got a little update.  I switched out the coat rack that we made to a vintage style accordion rack.  The vintage hats and bamboo cane were my grandfather’s.  I’ve had this “Goods & Provisions” market tote for a while and it’s perfect for taking to the farmer’s market!   And, the bench is another Facebook Marketplace vintage find!

Entryway with vintage accordion coat rack and vintage hats and cane - Hymns and Verses Blog

Here’s a few more looks at the living room.

Living room with vintage french sofa and black and white microphotography botanical prints - Hymns and Verses Blog

Vintage style summer living room with moody green accent wall and black fireplace mantel - Hymns and Verses Blog

 

Dining Room and Kitchen

In these spaces, I didn’t make any big changes.  I just changed out the accessories to reflect the season.  Let’s take a look.

Green painted antique corner cabinet and black painted dresser in modern farmhouse dining room - Hymns and Verses Blog

My next tip is to shop your yard for fresh greens!!!  I trimmed some Solomon’s Seal for this arrangement!  And, the gold vase is one I’ve had for years.    The black and white ribbon adds some interest and ties into all the other black and white in the space.

Buffet styled for summer with vase of Solomon's Seal branches and distressed concrete bird - Hymns and Verses Blog

All of the accessories you see in my post today are just ones that I had, but hadn’t used in a while.  Although, I do like to bring out this concrete bird in the spring and summer months!   I found it a few years ago at HomeGoods.  When you do shop for decor, think about how a piece will stand the test of time.  

Gold metallic hammered vase with Solomon's Seal branches and distressed concrete bird - Hymns and Verses Blog

I took my dishes out of the corner cabinet and decided to style it with elements found in nature.  Here’s a close up look.  Don’t be afraid of being unconventional!

Antique corner cabinet shelves styled with plants and summer accents - Hymns and Verses Blog

And, here’s a look into my kitchen space.

Black and white modern farmhouse kitchen with plaid accents - Hymns and Verses Blog

I kept the kitchen simple with just a few accessories I picked up at the farmer’s market!

Black and white modern farmhouse kitchen - Hymns and Verses Blog

An ironstone bowl of fresh strawberries and yummy homemade strawberry danish on the countertop says summer to me!!!  Then, I clipped some roses from my Knockout Rose bushes that are full of pink blooms!  Don’t they look pretty in the white pitcher!

Bouquet of bright pink knock out roses in a white pitcher - Hymns and Verses Blog

And, I added this black and white botanical print that I had to the kitchen peg rail shelf that we made.

Peg rail shelf in the kitchen with breadboards, cutting board, and large glass canisters - Hymns and Verses Blog

 

Screen Porch

Now, let’s go out to my favorite space – the screened in porch!  I used more fabrics out here to make pillow covers and a floor pouf!  I’ll be sharing details about how to make the pouf soon!    I do have a new rug in this space that I purchased earlier in the season at Target.  It’s neutral with a pretty floral pattern.  This rug also comes in blue and I was really tempted to get it.  But, let’s be honest, I’m not going to decorate this space in blue and white more than this season.  I like to change this space out differently each season.  So, choosing the neutral color is best for me in the long run!  And, this rug is so pretty that I can see me moving it indoors down the road!

Summer screened porch with vintage metal glider and chairs and vintage porch swing - Hymns and Verses Blog

I left the old scale on the porch!  And, I picked up a wire vine hanging basket at a local nursery and placed it inside this galvanized basket.  As the vine grows, I hope I can train it up and around the top of the scale.

Summer screened porch with vintage scale, vintage metal furniture and chicken crate coffee table - Hymns and Verses Blog

 

Large vintage grocery scale and galvanized basket of wire or angel vine - Hymns and Verses Blog

I hung up my straw hats here!  A actually wear these hats, so I’ll be pulling them down from time to time (ha, ha)!  I treat all of my porch textiles with Scotchguard Water and Sun Shield, and I always make my porch curtains with a sheer fabric that blows with the breeze and is light enough that it dries quickly to reduce mildew!

Summer screen porch with vintage elements and blue and white decor - Hymns and Verses Blog

Vintage metal rocker and vintage chicken crate coffee table - Hymns and Verses Blog

Blue and white is very “on trend” in decor right now!  I don’t typically decorate with blue and white, but do love to see it in other friends’ homes!  But, this year I decided to use it on my porch and I love the different patterns and shades of blue I was able to find for this space.

Vintage porch swing with blue and white pillow and throw - Hymns and Verses blog

I did pick up this inexpensive print at Hobby Lobby at 50% off before everything shut down.  I knew it would be a great piece on the porch!  And, the wire basket was a $2 find on Facebook marketplace!  I planted the purple flowers inside a plastic container with holes and filled in around it with sheet moss that I picked up at Walmart.

Blue and white floral art with wire basket of Concord Blue streptocarpella - Hymns and Verses Blog

I added more plants and some blue glazed pottery on the baker’s rack shelves.  The small piece of pottery on the top shelf is one that one of my boys made in a high school pottery class!

Vintage porch swing and baker's rack with plants and garden tools - Hymns and Verses Blog

Thanks so much for visiting my home today.  I hope you took away some summer decor tips that will help you decorate your home for the summer months!  If you have any questions about something you see, please feel free to ask!  And, don’t forget to visit the other tours this week for more inspiration!  The full schedule is linked below!  But, next up on today’s schedule is Ashley from Modern Glam!  You will love seeing her summer bungalow tour!

Annual Lady's Slipper (streptocarpus) in a vintage galvanized bucket with sea shells - Hymns and Verses Blog

 

30 Summer Home Tours

Monday

    A Stroll Thru Life  , Clean & Scentsible , Far Above Rubies ,  Remodelando La Casa ,  It All Started With Paint , Life On Virginia Street

Tuesday

Setting For Four, Duke Manor Farm, Decor To Adore. House By Hoff , Inspiration For Moms, Pink Peppermint Design

Wednesday

Modern GlamFox Hollow CottageThrifty & Chic 11 Magnolia Lane ,   Grace In My Space ,  Hymns and Verses 

Thursday

Seeking Lavender LaneStoneGableDesigning VibesCITIRINELIVING ,  Our Southern Home  ,  Southern State Of Mind 

Friday
 

The Woodgrain Cottage ,  Life On Cedar Lane,  Thistlewood FarmsWhite Arrows Home,  Follow The Yellow Brick Home  
 

 

Sarah

Monday 7th of June 2021

I love these tips!! From the natural wood to bright decor, your home is so stunning. How do you keep the wood floors looking so nice? I have real wood floors in my home, but I have to get a professional wood floor cleaning like every few months because my dog is always making messes on it!

Tamara

Wednesday 24th of June 2020

Beautiful summer tour! I love that gorgeous touch of chartreuse - it adds so much to the space! Your home is absolutely beautiful!! Happy Summer!

Linda @It All Started With Paint

Tuesday 16th of June 2020

Your summer home is lovely! Those vintage prints are perfection for summer and that screen porch with a porch swing(!) is enviable! Had fun summer home touring with you! :) Linda

Doreen Cagno

Sunday 21st of June 2020

Thanks so much, Linda!!! Hope you and your family have a great summer!

Ashley Stringfellow

Tuesday 16th of June 2020

Your porch is so beautifully decorated but in a way that is inviting and makes me want to come visit. What a great space. And that butterfly print is so fun - the chartreuse looks amazing with the blue wall. Perfect summer tour!

Amber Ferguson

Tuesday 16th of June 2020

I love all of your creative quarantine decor! Everything you used looks perfect for summer and you snatched some great FB Marketplace finds too. I am always smitten by your sun porch, and I love the blue touches you added. I hope you get lots of use out of your porch this summer! Have a great one!