Your #1 Best Summer Decor Update (No projects needed!)
Summer decor. The first word says it all…”summer”. If you are looking for some complicated projects to update your home for summer, this won’t be the blog post for you! Instead I’m giving you ONE easy idea, so you can spend more time drinking lemonade on the back porch and less time inside. Let’s do this!
The Easiest Summer Decor Update
Summer. Here in my family that means swim team for all three of my kids, summer camps, flip flops, and a break from school. But in our family is also means more time at our family Lakehouse. We just did a giant makeover on our small house so my family of five can enjoy the indoors just as much as swimming in the outdoor lake.
And because this is a seasonal cottage, we mostly use it in these warm Michigan summers. So I wanted our Lakehouse to always have the look of summer decor: light and airy with pops of bright colors.
So whether you live on the water, the desert, or the suburbs, you can use ONE single item to instantly bring summer into your home. I’m talking less than the cost of dinner out, with no long term commitments, and something to bring a smile to your face next time you sit down on your sofa with a glass of rose in your hand.
SUMMER THROW PILLOWS
The One Summer Decor Item You Need…Pillows
I love, love, love using throw pillows to completely change the look of any room. They are inexpensive, easy to swap out, and are a great way to add a pop of color or pattern & summer decor…without any long term commitment. And there is something about hot summer days that make me want to surround myself in COLOR.
So today I want to show you exactly how to choose the right pillow AND I’m giving you my personal Shopping List of all of the pillows and the combination I used in my own Living Room!
In our recent Lakehouse makeover I added color and pattern to our neutral Ikea sectional sofa with an armful of these little pieces of eye candy:
My 7 Tips for Using Summer Throw Pillows:
-Use neutral large pieces of furniture (such as a sofa), and add in color and pattern with accessories like pillows
-Use pillow COVERS: you can take them off to wash or change out with the season
-Use high quality inserts, spend money on these and they will keep their shape over time. Cheap ones will flatten quickly. I like both down and down alternative inserts. Some of the pillows I used came with inserts, some didn’t.
-Use a combo of large pattern, small pattern, and solid fabrics (see more about that below!)
-Use a combo of at least three different size pillows (I like using 18″x18″, 20″x20″ and a “lumbar” pillow (such as 12″x20″). 18″x18″ is considered the most “standard” size of pillow
-Know your audience: If you have children or pets, I would steer away from materials such as wool, silk, or very expensive hand-made pillow covers with beading or tassels. Instead, go for easy-to-wash materials, or you can even use outdoor fabrics such as Sunbrella. My navy and white rope pillows on the sectional sofa are made from out of this outdoor canvas material.
-I really like choosing cute but budget friendly pillow covers. My personal favorite sources for throw pillows are Etsy, Pottery Barn, and Wayfair.
How to Arrange your Summer Throw Pillows
Let’s start off…these are throw pillows, not rock science, so I’m pretty casual about things like this! But if you want some direction of any easy way to arrange pillows here are my two suggestions:
How to Arrange Your Throw Pillows for a Standard Sofa:
(2) 20″x20″ or larger pillows in the outside corners
(2) 18″x18″ pillows in the inside corners
(1) lumbar pillow in the middle
*I’m a symmetrical type girl so I would use the same pillows on either side of the sofa, but you can certainly mix it up as well
How to Arrange Your Throw Pillows for a Sectional Sofa
Place (1) 20″x20″ and (1) 18″x18″ pillow in each end
Place three pillows in the center-if you use a lumbar pillow, uses it here
Want a place to start looking for summer themed throw pillows? Start looking right HERE
Using Summer Decor Throughout Your Home
Of course, you can add a pop of summer decor with a throw pillow on an armchair or even bench like I did below. I placed a simple storage bench by our back slider to store things like sunscreen, bugspray, and extra towels so they kids wouldn’t have to track through the whole house to grab something. (My floors constantly look like they have slug trails…long trails of water tracking in and out of the house!) I added two throw pillows to make it a comfy spot to sit to put on shoes as well.
Other Simple Summer Decor Updates
So now you have your fun, summer throw pillows to give your space a whole new look! You can finish it off with some easy summer decor updates like a new, inexpensive area rug. If you’re on water or are dealing with a lot of sand and dirt, I would suggest using an outdoor rug for extra durability and easy clean-up.
I added these rattan laundry baskets to store blankets in the winter, but also work for toy storage and beach towel storage.
Finally, curtains can tend to look fussy in the summer. You can swap in casual white cotton ones (that’s what I use in my home), or woven shades like these for a clean-lined look.
Going Upstairs….More Summer Decor Updates
Remember how I told you that I REALLY like using throw pillows for a simple room update (especially to bring in some fun colors in your summer decor?). Now we are heading upstairs to our Kid’s Hang Out Bonus Room (and this sofa also pulls out to sleep two extra people in our Lakehouse). I started with this navy slipcovered sofa, then added just two styles of pillows. I went for the classic navy & white stripe (you can never go wrong there) and these fun blue polka dot ones.
Just adding one pillow in each corner can look a little lonely and unfinished, so at minimum I would say at least add four pillows to any sofa-just two on each side like I did here.
And here’s one more peek at our upstairs Bonus Room! Because this is a very small room I am using this coffee table as triple duty. It works as a coffee table, game/play table, AND if we are using the pull-out bed, we slide this coffee table to the side of the bed for a make-shift nightstand. I found these baskets to store under the coffee table where I stash my kid’s toys. These are usually brimming with Legos and craft supplies!
Summer Throw Pillow Shopping List
Okay, so now you know what combo of summer decor inspired pillows to use and how to arrange them. But if you want to be even more efficient…you can just click and buy the pillows from my Lakehouse for your own home! Here is the list of pillows I used for this makeover:
From left to right on the sectional sofa:
Navy Pillow with Dotted White Stripes
Lexington Blue & White Stripe Outdoor Pillow
Navy & White Stripe Pillow with Red Tassels: Target (no longer available)
On the white bench near the back door:
Nautica Knit Navy & White Stripe Pillow
Other Furniture Items from the Living Room:
Grab the Free Shopping List for My Entire Lakehouse Makeover
And if you missed it, I recently shared my 6 Week Makeover of our Lakhouse. I’m sharing the FREE Designs & Shopping Lists for our Living Room, Dining Room, Breakfast Room, Kid’s Bonus Room & Kid’s Shared Bedroom.
You can grab all of the designs in one easy breezy place: my Free Resource Library. You’ll get an email with password and link so you can access it all 24/7…Enjoy!
Need Even More Summer Decor Help?
Have questions about anything you saw here today? Or questions about Postbox Designs? You can check out How It Works and all of my Room Packages & Pricing. Or you can always send me an email at kristin@postboxdesigns.com
And a huge thank-you to Wayfair for sponsoring this post! As you can tell from my own Lakehouse Makeover, I use Wayfair for my clients AND in my own home, I love them! You can also snag some more Summer Decor Room Makeovers, by checking out these projects:
Lakehouse Dining Room Makeover
My 20 Favorite Summer Decor Items
Cheers,
Kristin
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