July 14, 2009

$ummer Decorating

Other than flags, summer tends to be the most 'undecorated' season in my home. This year I decided to lighten things up. What says summer more than some sand and shells? I thought about buying the pretty white sand, but even at Walmart, it was $3 a bag. So I opted for the slightly darker, FREE, straight from the shore kind. I purchased the two largest shells at .99 each. The others were from previous beach trips.

Another way to summer-fy my home is to incorporate summery photos.
Below is a "BEFORE" picture. Aside from the obvious paint changes, notice the difference in the dark photos on the left, compared to the beachy pictures in the next picture in the same spot.
BEFORE


AFTER

The wicker chair is a hand-me-down gift from my parents. The wicker table next to it is a little treasure I'll share in my next post.

Remember these candlesticks? $2 of flat spray paint and they look completely different for summer. At that price, I can change them back to black for winter.
I love the simplicity of white starfish (.99 each). The word art came from Uppercase Living (which I earned for hosting a party.) I just applied it to an extra kitchen cabinet door, turned sideways.

Total summer makeover: $8

12 comments:

Carpool Queen said...

Why are we friends? I am totally in awe of how easy that was and how you just painted stuff you had instead of buying new stuff - which is what I totally would have done.

My house is still decorated for fall.

Of last year.

Or I'm early for this year - take your pick.

Annie said...

How summer-ific! I'm working on doing some of the same things in our home... I guess I'd better hurry since summer IS almost over {school starts AUG 27th!}

Chris said...

Wow! It looks wonderful! I love the paint you chose! So summery!

Shell in your Pocket said...

I love that sign..so very cute!
sandy toe

Samantha said...

Wow so very creative. It looks so bright, fresh, and fun!!! Ready for a road trip to Canada to do mine?

Unknown said...

I'm a friend of CPQ. She was telling me last night how amazing you are! SHe was right!

Kristin said...

This is great! The white candlesticks seem so summery!

Anonymous said...

pls tell me you don't paint your LR every season!!!???

i'm w/ SS -- at our house you'll see plenty of remnants from our last staging (w/ was in the winter!), but even more signs that show it's clearly NOT staged anymore. (what SCC calls signs of life, though, right?) ;)

- TZ

Gretchen said...

Umm... YEAH!!!
I do NOT paint for the season.
We painted this in the spring. I tried to choose a color that was soothing (the Tuscan yellow was fun, but just too busy for the room we like to relax in), that would compliment the other colors in the house, and that would be more neutral. It just so happens to be a color that will work for all the seasons :)

Anonymous said...

* big, long sighs of relief *

- TZ ;)

Joy said...

Your summer make-over looks so pretty and fresh!

Unknown said...

What a difference. I love how light and bright it all looks. Like the beach!!

I just recently painted over my dark red focal wall and made it light green. And I painted the black entertainment center against the wall white. Immediately I felt happier.

You did a great job. I want to come sit and sip iced tea with you in that room.