#projectdesign Archives - Northern California Style

Today I’m joining a fun group of bloggers for Project Design.. and today’s subject is Summer Decor Refresh. Having a deadline to share ideas here got me into gear getting the house freshened up. There have been a few things laying around, piles of winter blankets, wool pillow and a lot of clutter we just don’t need.

Summer has come upon us so fast. I noticed our local schools are out and everyone seems to be breathing a sort of collective sigh. Kids are playing in sprinklers, people are taking late evening strolls and lining up for ice cream in the evenings. This time of year goes fast, so why not make our homes have that happy vacation vibe too? Have some fun with this and think of it as ‘staging’ your home, but for your enjoyment… some ideas I’ll share.

Ways to bring a summer vibe to your home..

Bring the outside in. Get some pretty woven baskets ( I like these from Target) and drop in a snake plants or a monstera which are low care and look fantastic. I just added both of those plants. Think beach house. On my coffee table where plants tend to die, I added a faux green branch and a driftwood stick we treasure in a modern glass vase. The natural stick with the faux looks richer and gives a fresh pop to the table.

I also just got this Beaufort Tray I’ve been coveting from Serena & Lily and it was just what I needed here to lighten it and give it a California feel. I added a coral on top of these books and have some of my favorite shells scattered about. Pottery Barn also has these lovely real shells that you can add to vases or bowls.

Lighten up. Clear the floors and put away extra rugs. I love the feel of bare floor underfoot in the summer and rolled my extra throw rugs away until colder months. My faux fur throws and wool blankets got stored and we now have our linen and cotton throws by the sectional and in our basket. I love this PB throw which is perfect for a summer chair or sofa.. My wool and heavy pillows are replaced with some lighter block print and linen ones.

In my dining room I changes out a darker rug with a light colored cotton/wool Kilim style rug I’ve been saving for… which just arrived! I love as it lightens the whole house. Nice that this is a two-sided rug that I hope will last a long time!

Soften your bedding. This is a nice time to change out your duvet or heavy comforter with a cotton matelasse quilt and crisp white sheets. I’ve just taken all my older white sets out of storage and washed them with oxyclean to brighten them up. I tie them with a ribbon and place lavender sachets with them. I love white sheets in the summer. This Celeste Cotton quilt is my summer bed cover and in the winter I layer it with my duvet. Love this and it feels like a cloud.

Declutter. Go through the house and see what items can be put away for the season. Too often we live with ‘stuff’ because it’s just always there. If you walk through your home and try and put away one or two things on each surface. Summer is all about breathing room. If you must have stuff out, try basketizing things. A pretty basket can help corral mail, papers, keys and things and and looks calmer. I also switch up my books and put any summer themed books front and center.

Add in natural materials. Think island living type of materials, which give a vacation vibe. This is a good time to pull out baskets, rattan pieces, cane anything, and things with a woven feel or natural wood. I have my market baskets and hats by the door with my linen pillows I have collected over the years from Patine in Santa Cruz. I find the coolest baskets can be found at thrift and second hand stores, so keep your eyes open for those unique pieces.

I moved a floral print and a rope basket by the door. I have a faux air plant here and a chunk of coral on my books here. If you style your home as you would a vacation getaway, it will have that feel!

Don’t forget the kitchen. I love my black dishes and things, but for summer they go in the drawer and I pull out my Italian pottery bowls from Positano. Also helping with the holiday home feel are my travel souvenir tea towels, summer themed cookbooks, and a couple new plants with trailing vines. Don’t discount the produce section for decor. I love big bowls of summer peaches and apricots and baskets of tomatoes and pots of basil. They also make the kitchen smell amazing.

Give a summer welcome. Add fresh plants to your porch or entry to set the tone for your home. An easy care geranium or asparagus fern needs almost no effort and feels summertime pretty. I like extra baskets for your delivery packages or flip flops. If you need a mat, I love the look of a braided grass coir mat. You might consider adding a lantern or two with an automatic candle for that evening flicker.

I find if your treat you home like a holiday house, your summer days can feel like a vacation!

Summer home things I love…

Please go hop on over to these fab blogs and see what spring refresh ideas they have for your home. All of these women have such great ideas and style…

CARLA ASTON DESIGNED

CINDY HATTERSLEY DESIGN

CLASSIC CASUAL HOME

MOST LOVELY THINGS

Kim

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The day is here and I’m revealing what I did for the Project Design challenge. I loved my entry, but knew it needed some color to give it a little oomph and I went with yellow. See my before pics on my previous post. I feel like yellow is such a California color and being blonde I love it in my wardrobe, so why not in the home? My entry feels even more me now.

I also chose a yellow since our entry is small and quite dark. There is no light source really and as much as I contemplated doing a grey or navy wall, I felt a green or yellow would brighten it and also complement my mix of botanical and bird prints I have collected over the years. I never realized how many bird prints we had until I decided to try a gallery wall in here. The vintage Garden Society sign goes with it all as does the C’est LaVie on glass, a sweet gift from a friend.

The entryway is small, but painting just the one wall, made it seem much larger. The gallery wall was something I just did by accident and it kind of grew organically. I’d try a few, move them around and try others until it really filled the space and made it appear much taller, wider and a lot better than it just a single print could ever do.

I wasn’t sure it would work with my little row of hooks left on the wall, but I think it worked out nicely and I like using the hooks to hang other cool seasonal bags and things. We also have a mudroom/pantry situation and enter the house through there most times so these hooks are really for guests.

The best way to do this is to start with one large picture and then work around that until it feels right. It is okay to have your prints a bit off center from each other here and there. Having it all too symmetrical and perfect though lacks the gallery feel and fun of it. You may have a few holes from moving nails around, but I find I can usually cover that with strategic hanging of things. You could also lay them out on a floor first or tack up papers in the same size as the items you are hanging. I usually don’t have the patience for that though!

Our entry is small, narrow and has zero architectural interest. It’s amazing how much bigger it looks filled up horizontally and vertically. Way more impressive. Like lipstick on a pig you know?

The color I went with was Mulholland Yellow by Benjamin Moore. Okay I have to be honest as I was a bit suckered in by the name. I’ve always wanted to live in the Hollywood Hills. 😀

I wanted a yellow that had some depth to it, not a buttercup color nor too lemon chiffonish, with a bit of green and black to it and this fit the bill. Once on the wall though I wasn’t so sure. However, it dried down to something that worked just right with all the greens in my pictures, so I decided to keep the same prints and add in some gold with a leafy print.

The layout of my art isn’t right yet, as I was a bit rushed yesterday with appointments and a school concert. I will probably move them around still, but I had to keep the leaf print on the lower left where it is to cover an awkward outlet. I might also add in a small vintage oval gold mirror I have.

The great thing about these collected walls is you can change as you feel like it and I personally love to change things up frequently, though it drives my family bananas.

I was lucky to have this beautiful Trina Turk linen pillow I had yet to find a perfect spot for which had yellows and grey. I think the combination of yellows and golds plus the grey tones of the pillow and rug compliment each other. The black in the frames, hooks and prints ground it all. I threw my Golden State tote and a scarf and army jacket on the hooks for more of those colors. A little more fiddling with it all and I will have it just right.

A special thanks to Cindy Hattersley of Rough Luxe Lifestyle and Mary Ann of Classic Casual Home who were the hosts. I was glad to be asked to join this as it proved to me what a little paint and a effort can do to make your home more updated and chic in a few days, or in my case two!

I can’t wait to see what the others in this challenge did to their entryways. For more inspiration you can visit these lovely blogs: