During the winter, it’s fun to cozy up around the fireplace with throws and lots of pillows, play board games and do puzzles, and create comfort food in your warm kitchen. However, when the weather starts to get warmer, those heavy furnishings, blankets and warm colors can seem confining and oppressive. Why not redesign your living spaces for summer and get a new, cooler vibe in your home? A better vibe and more comfortable surroundings are just two of the many reasons to redesign your home for summer.
Create cooler, more comfortable surroundings
Getting rid of those heavy throws on your couch, those bulky duvets in the bedrooms and those winter colors will give your living spaces a cooler, more summer-like vibe. Considering adding throw pillows on your couch in cool colors like blues and greens and swapping out a few of your “winter-themed” accents for things like shells and flowering plants. You might even revamp your window treatments and exchange your heavy winter drapes for lighter, more airy fabrics that let in more sunlight.
To bring the beauty of summer inside
One of the best ways to enjoy the summer’s many scents and sights is to bring a little of summer’s beauty indoors. You can do this in several ways. You might place bouquets of fresh flowers, like lilacs or sunflowers, in your rooms, add houseplants or a terrarium to your decor or even swap out your dark-colored pillows for more summery items, perhaps with a flower motif. Consider also changing your wall art seasonally and opting for beach scenes, pictures of flowers or boating scenes for the summer.
For easy maintenance
Nobody wants to spend long hours cleaning house when the weather is beautiful and there are a myriad of fun things to do outside. Making a few minor changes in your home’s design can dramatically reduce the time you need to spend cleaning this summer. For example, moving your furniture so that there’s a clear path to the kitchen or the bathroom from outdoors can prevent kids (and adults, too) from tracking in too much dirt from outdoors.
Using slipcovers on your upholstered pieces is a good, affordable way to brighten your rooms for the summer while protecting the upholstery from summer hazards like sand, suntan lotion and perspiration. You can simply toss the slipcovers in the washing machine.
Keeping your energy dollars in check
Minimizing indoor cooking and going in and out of the doors constantly can have a big impact on your summer energy bills. To make this happen, consider installing a small outdoor refrigerator so kids can get drinks and healthy snacks without coming indoors. A fire pit area can also be a fun place to gather after dinner and save energy you’d normally spend cooking dessert. The US Department of Energy offers an interesting list of other small changes you can make to save energy this summer.
Because school’s out
During the school year, you need extra space for your kids to do their homework and get online to do assignments and interact with their teachers and other students. You also need places for winter coats, school books and all the other paraphernalia that comes with going to classes. In the summer, your home decor can relax a bit. You can move the desks out of the main living area and stow those boot racks in the basement out of the way until next winter. This is not only a more efficient use of space, but will give your rooms a less-cluttered, more open feel.
So you can spend more time outside
Another good reason to spend some of your time and money redesigning your living space for summer is so that you can spend more time outside. Creating an inviting and functional living area outdoors with a dining table, a grill and perhaps even an outdoor kitchen will allow your to have family meals and even entertain friends outside where you can enjoy the weather.
Cooking outside will also help avoid heating your home with the oven and stove and thus making your cooling system work harder. You’ll also have less clean-up to worry about with outdoor cooking, allowing you more time to spend with your family.
To make your home more friendly for visitors
Summer is the time of year when family and friends most often come to visit. You can make your home more comfortable for visitors by moving your modular couch to the main living area, so you and your guests can all gather to tell stories, watch a movie or enjoy a before or after dinner drink. If you don’t have one, this is a piece of furniture that you can enjoy year round and that will go seamlessly from winter to summer.
Redesigning your home for summer doesn’t have to cost a lot of time or money. Making the effort at the beginning of warm weather season will help your home be more inviting to visitors, more energy efficient and more comfortable for both you and your friends.
