Have you ever wanted to switch up your décor…without changing the entire room?  Or have you ever tried to decorate something and just got so frustrated that you gave up and left it the same…again?

I hope you answered yes so I’m not alone in this!!!

Especially in our fast-paced culture with the world at our fingertips, we can easily catch the feeling that we should always be making big changes, doing the next best thing, renovating, improving, even house shopping every few years…you name it.  While I love a good project, I am a huge fan of small, simple changes that help us continue loving our own homes, as imperfect as they are.

.

If you’ve been around for awhile, you have probably heard me talk about this before.  If you are new, (welcome!) and hopefully you’ll quickly find out that I am really passionate about HOME.  But if you’re at all like me, I can get a little tired of looking at the same thing over and over.  Before I know it, I can have myself talked into “maybe we should just look for a “better” home”, when all I really need is to just fall in love again with the home I have.

It’s kind of like marriage…dating your spouse is a real thing!  We are coming up on our 18th wedding anniversary and I’m pretty sure that my hubby “gets tired of seeing the same thing” sometimes.  But you stick with it…you find ways to continue falling in love…right?

But I digress.  Haha!

So what does that have to do with coffee table styling?  Well, sometimes just a simple switch of your coffee table arrangement can help the entire room feel fresh, give you something new to look at, and you might just love that room again!

While I am also a big fan of the concept that home décor should be whatever YOU want it to be for YOUR home, I also understand that sometimes we want to refresh things a little but feel stuck.  My goal for this blog post is to give you the basic tips and ideas for coffee table styling…some rules of thumb, so to speak…and then let you fill in the blanks with what makes you smile!

So let’s get started!

Four Essential Elements of Coffee Table Styling

• Base
• Tall item
• Medium item
• Shorter object

Let’s break this down into details so that you can start hunting for pieces that will definitely work for your coffee table vignette!

​

Coffee Table Styling Essential #1

• Choose a base

This could be a basket, tray, cutting board, large book, crate, dough bowl, or any other piece you might want to use as the foundation for your coffee table vignette.  My coffee tables are both quite large, but you’ll want to choose a scale that feels right for your coffee table.  I like to think of my base as being about one third to one half of the table size.

Having a base for your vignette helps the décor feel grounded and intentional.  I also love the practical reasons of making it easier to move around for cleaning and especially to slide it over for playing family games!  Your home décor should always feel like it enhances your family life, not be in the way of it.

My favorite bases for coffee table vignette styling are vintage cutting boards.  I love that they add a lot of character and patina to my décor.  They are also flat, easy to maneuver, and easy to store.  You can even store them in plain sight by stacking them, leaning them in a corner, or against your kitchen backsplash!

Another thing to keep in mind when choosing your coffee table vignette base is to choose something that contrasts with your coffee table.  If you have a wood-toned coffee table, consider a base that is either an opposite, yet complementary, wood tone or perhaps white or metal.  My family room coffee table is wood with chippy white paint, so with a table like that, you can really use woods or whites!  The important thing is to have a bit of contrast so that it doesn’t seem like you were trying too hard to make them “match”.

Have fun with your coffee table vignette base!  Consider investing in a vintage piece that you really love and that can be used year-round in your décor.  By doing this, you’re sure to love the styling much more for a longer period of time, have less “extra décor” to store away, and can easily switch the smaller décor items that go on the base.

Coffee Table Styling Essential #2

• Choose your tallest item.

Lanterns, buckets, vintage vessels, and tall vases are all natural choices for the first item you’ll choose for your coffee table vignette.  Depending on how you use the space, you’ll want to determine the height for your tallest item.  If you have a TV on the opposite wall, for example, you’ll want to make sure you don’t block the view.  Play around with some different options to settle on a final scale, as the tallest item sets the scale for the rest of your coffee table vignette. 

In our back living room, there is no TV and there are not chairs directly opposite the coffee table.  This gives me a lot of freedom with the height of my vignette.  I love making a dramatic statement with these kinds of vignettes, so taller branches, such as these palm branches, are really fun for that. 

You could even consider if there are ways to rearrange your furniture to give you more freedom with your vignettes.  But if not, don’t worry!  There are lots of fun ways to style smaller vignettes!  For me, the main key is lots of texture and layers!

I often use my taller item to hold some kind of greenery  Greenery (or flowers) is a key essential for me in a coffee table vignette.   It brings a lot of life to the vignette as well as adding an additional texture.  You can use real or faux.  If you choose to put greenery in your tallest item, have some fun with the vessel.  A great pottery piece, basket, or vintage vessel can be another way to add character and interest to your vignette.  Additionally, a simple switch of flowers or greenery can help your vignette transition from season to season…or just switch things up for the fun of it!

Coffee Table Styling Essential #3

• Choose your medium item.

Candlesticks, cloche, pot with plant, ironstone compote, lantern, jar, or vase…they all make great medium items for your vignette.  Often, my tall and medium items might be a tiered pair of something, like candlesticks or lanterns.  If you have two items that you want to use together but they are the same height, put one on a stack of vintage books  to create your tall and medium items.  The books will add even more of a layered, curated look to your vignette, as well as more texture! 

A large book, like this vintage dictionary, standing up also makes a great medium item.  I often use some of my larger books to create the medium item in my grouping.  I think they go with most anything, despite the season, and add a lot of texture and character to a vignette.  You can also do this with nice coffee table books or picture books!  It is a great way to add a personal element to your coffee table vignette!

Smaller architectural items can make perfect medium items for coffee table styling!  Actually, a chippy corbel can be great for your tall item too!  I often use architectural salvage pieces for my vignette base, or layer a salvage piece on my base for extra texture.  You can even use an architectural salvage base to add height to a smaller item in order to make it your medium item! 

Coffee Table Styling Essential #4

• Choose your smallest item.

I like to think of the smallest item as my “seasonal” touch, whether it’s a piece of coral for summer, a little pumpkin in the fall, a reindeer figure in the winter, or a cute cement bunny in the spring!  Keeping those seasonal items in smaller sizes can be super helpful with your storage.  Additionally, if you have a coffee table vignette that you love and don’t want to change, just switch out that seasonal item and you have a brand new look in 1 minute’s time!

Other items that work great for the small item can include:

• Ironstone jelly mold with a baby plant
• Small vintage clock
• Jar with old paintbrushes
• Mortar and pestle
• Vintage brass swan
• Wood or resin chain link
• Favorite candle
• Small vase with fresh flowers
• Small cloche with seasonal object underneath
• Favorite collection item
• Small faux plant
• Little piece of vintage pottery
• Small picture frame with a favorite family snapshot

These are just a few of MANY, many possibilities!  Get creative with your smallest item and look around your vintage collections to see what you could use!  If you decide to do a little shopping for this smaller item, there is good news!  You can usually switch out these smaller pieces with a little less expense, especially if you’re doing so with seasonal items. 

(That’s not to say that you might spend more on a pretty vintage clock or ironstone jelly mold than you do on your tall and medium items combined!)

My main point is that to change your vignette, you don’t always have to change all of the essentials at once!  Remember…we are looking for simple, easy changes that make you smile when you walk through the room!

A Few Other Tips to Consider When Styling Your Coffee Table Vignette

Using Greenery in Your Coffee Table Décor

Almost every coffee table vignette I create will have some kind of greenery or flowers mixed in!  Whether fresh or faux, I think they add so much life to the vignette.  Greenery also helps to soften the edges of your coffee table vignette pieces and help everything blend in.  You can find a couple of my favorite faux greenery HERE and HERE.

Where to Find Vintage Items for Your Coffee Table Décor

I get most of my vintage pieces from favorite vintage shops and vintage markets.  However, I can often find some of the smaller items at thrift stores and flea markets.  And don’t discount some of the big box stores for pieces as well.  While much of my décor is vintage, I definitely mix new pieces in as well.  Seasonal décor is something I specifically look for at places like Target, Homegoods, and Walmart.

You can find my favorite tips for vintage hunting HERE.

How to Get a Cohesive Look for Your Coffee Table Décor

This is not a hard and fast rule because if it were, I break it often!  However, I do like to keep some common elements in each vignette.  In this vignette with the zinc basket, you’ll find that the two bases I layer have a similar wood tone.  The bucket with the olive tree is zinc, tying in with the zinc basket.  While the book is a stand-alone element, the blue-gray tones of the cover and the tan tones of the pages flow nicely with the wood cutting boards and zinc pieces.  The sponge is another unique element, though it’s coloring has a common tone to the bread boards.

Several different elements, yet the colors tie them together.  You could find common elements through material, texture, color, and pattern.

​Use Layering to Add Texture to Your Coffee Table Décor

Layer, layer, layer!  Layering is a great way to add texture and character to your coffee table vignette.  In this summer vignette I created for our back living room, I could have used the zinc basket as my base and put all of the same tall, medium and small items.  However, I used an extra-large bread board under the basket and a small bread board inside the basket. 

Essentially stacking three bases for my vignette, I was able to bring in a contrasting tone (since the coffee table has a zinc top), add a color that would connect with the book pages and sponge, and add some extra patina.  Because of the location of this vignette, I don’t have to worry too much about height, so I could add those layers with no concern of blocking anything.

However, even on a space where you need to keep a direct line of sight to another piece of furniture or TV, you can add layers with thin things such as:

• Sheet of vintage music
• Piece of grain sack or vintage fabric
• Thin, vintage book
• Stacked items, such as a small item stacked on a thin architectural salvage piece
• Faux greenery branch

What Do I Do Next?

Create!   Go have fun with your décor! 

Experiment!  Gather many more items than you could possibly use and try lots of options until you find the one that makes you smile!  Walk away if you get frustrated and come back to it later (works like a charm!)

I hope this has given you lots of ideas to work with simple vignettes throughout your home!  There are so many fun ways to decorate and the possibilities are truly limitless!

​

Blessings,

Robyn

I’d love for you to follow me on social media!  You can find my home decor inspiration on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!  

Blessings,

Robyn

Happy Summer!  If you are hopping over from She Gave It a Go, welcome!  I am so excited that you’ve come to visit!  Wasn’t Brendt’s home tour so inspiring?  I always love to visit people’s homes and see how each one expresses their own, unique style…that’s what home should be! To all my subscribers, welcome back!  I am always so happy to have you join the fun and especially to invite you into our summer home today!

Each season is unique and so fun to decorate for.  To me, summer has an especially unique vibe, with it’s casual, comfortable look.  A little less “fuss”, a little more “lived in”, with low-maintenance and easy being priorities!  I love that summer décor can really be what you want.  You could choose bright, vibrant colors, floral prints, a monochromatic scheme, tropical vibes, a casual, coastal look, gingham, country style, and so much more!  Summer décor can be as simple as adding a few patriotic touches to your everyday décor or you can have fun giving your home a whole new look!

Whatever style you choose and as much or as little as you decorate, I think the key factor to summer décor is having fun with it!  The feeling I want to have in the summer is laid-back, relaxed, and fun!  I love to try and create that feeling with the way I decorate our home for summer, especially with some vintage coastal farmhouse vibes!

So, come on in and let’s get started!

Coastal Farmhouse Entryway

I’ll be the first to admit that our entryway doesn’t always get the attention it deserves.  I do love this tiny, little space in our home, though, and had fun styling it with a vintage coastal look for summer.  I picked up this brown seed cubby last year and by a happy accident, it ended up in the entryway!  I love how it makes a statement in this space but doesn’t take up a lot of physical space (it’s a very small entryway and also a pass-thru from our music room to the family room!). I added a chippy bench and a couple of yard sale finds with the old suitcase and little straw hat.  I think I paid a total of $10 for them!  Gotta love a good thrifted find!

​

Cubbies can be a fun spot to decorate for the seasons and I enjoyed adding a natural, coastal look with coral pieces like these.  To give extra texture and a touch of color, I used vintage books.  They also help give some height variation for more interest!

​

The star of the show in the entryway, for me, is this drapeux (French word for flag) from my friend Kendra @homespuncottage .  She created this from vintage linen and I absolutely love how it makes a big statement in the entryway, but still contributes to a light and airy look.  The drapeux was a great way to get a “soft” element in here as well!

To finish off the entryway, I added three straw hats to the wall.  I love the texture and fun element that they add.

Coastal Farmhouse Family Room

The family room is the next stop, so step on in!  Since our home is so open, I love making a big statement on this gallery wall.  You can see it from the entryway, kitchen, and dining room, so it’s a fun challenge to make it all flow together, yet have unique and designated spaces.  You can get all the details on my summer mantel HERE and find out why it’s the first time I’ve ever decorated my mantel for summer! 

I used the French lavabo as my statement piece and filled it with an arrangement, mixed with fresh palm branches (I tucked a glass of water down in the bottom for the branches!), faux fern bushes from Flower and Home Marketplace, and some sea fans and sponges from our local seashell shop!

My gallery wall consists of some vintage seascape prints that I’ve collected over time.  I always look for great deals on vintage art; thrift stores and flea markets are a great place to look!  This year, I added a small drapeux from @homespuncottage and some framed grain sack remnants from @thecottonshed.  I love the play on words with the “sand” print!  A vintage beach sign from @whiteflowerfarmhouse gives a fun touch to finish off the gallery wall.  I always love to hunt for vintage signs that I can work into my seasonal décor!  You can get my favorite tips for vintage hunting HERE. 

On the mantel, I added some architectural salvage, vintage books, a small mortar and pestle, and an ironstone jelly mold that is just the right fit for a fresh baby plant!

On my sofa, I combined white and cream throw pillows.  Most of mine are made from vintage fabrics, but you can find amazing new throw pillows to immediately freshen your space.  Check HERE and HERE for some neutral ones with texture!  I love using stripes in the summer and these large, vintage-inspired blue stripe pillows from Olde Tyme Marketplace add a fun summer touch.  I picked these up at her store a few years ago in Madison, Indiana!

I kept the coffee table really simple, but a big statement with this huge wooden trough.  I stacked some vintage books inside and added a large mortar and pestle with a fresh plant.  I have been using these little ivy plants a lot this spring and summer and love the unstructured lines they add to a vignette!

Coastal Farmhouse Kitchen

Just around the corner is our grand central station!  While I love for my kitchen to look pretty, I also am really particular about what I use to decorate in this space.  I try to use items that are functional AND pretty for a practical aesthetic.  For example, this old scale is almost always full of fruit and I try to keep my ironstone berry strainer full of grapes…though those don’t last long at all around here!

To give a base to my kitchen vignettes, I love to use pieces from my vintage bread board collection.  I have quite a lot of them and they move around the house.  But you can always find them in my kitchen and I especially love to layer them for extra texture and character. 

One non-functional thing I always try to have in my kitchen is a vessel with fresh flowers or greenery.  In the summer, this is especially easy, since we have so many palm trees around our yard.  In fact, our entire fence line is palm trees, so I have an abundance year round!  I love to cut them and use in my flower arrangements for the summer.  If I don’t have flowers, I cut a few extra and enjoy a fresh greenery bouquet! 

No matter what fresh greenery you can cut for free, one of my favorite ways to make a statement is to use a creative vessel!  I love to find vintage pieces that can work to hold flowers, greenery, and plants, even in unexpected ways!  This vintage French wine barrel is one of my favorites to use and I’m loving it with the fresh palm branches this summer!  It’s an easy and free way to add some immediate vintage coastal vibes to our home!

If you don’t have free palm branches around your yard, I’m linking some beautiful faux branches HERE and HERE! 

I leave my favorite summer candle out on the kitchen island, ready for slow, long summer evenings and add some small plants throughout the space.  But my number one tip for kitchen décor is to use functional items that you LOVE and look pretty also!

Coastal Farmhouse Dining Room

Other than my summer gallery wall, I think my summer dining room is my favorite décor spot in the house!  I shared a lot of details about our dining room apothecary/hutch over on THIS post.  I shared my thought process behind styling dining room shelves along with some ideas that can transfer to other shelving spots throughout your home.

This apothecary is a special piece.  Since we got it in January and refinished it (you can find out how we did that with oven cleaner HERE ), it has become one of my favorite pieces to decorate.  I had a lot of fun using pieces from my vintage collections to give this a coastal farmhouse look!

​

One of my favorite things was adding glass cloches  to stacks of ironstone dishes and butter pats, as well as adding coral to some of my mortar and pestle pieces.  The combination of white, glass, and natural elements gave me the vintage coastal farmhouse look I wanted while keeping the space light, bright, and airy!  I also love how my vintage bottles add the slightest bit of my light blue summer color to my dining room hutch!

​

Other than playing around with some fun, summer tablescapes, I keep the dining room fairly cleared off!  I enjoy adding fresh palm branches to my vintage French zinc pitcher and using my European pickling jars for occasional fresh flowers.  These also make a great spot to add some flags for the summer holidays!

​

Coastal Farmhouse Living Room

Our back living and dining room are such wonderful bonus spaces.  Since this long stretch of square footage is under air, we enjoy having an air conditioned “sun room” and this room is my favorite summer hangout spot!  You can usually find me in the mornings in my favorite chair with a cup of coffee and getting started with my work!  Such a treat for me, since during the school year, it’s a mad dash out of the door each morning!

In this room, I added a lot of summer textures, such as stacked baskets, worn books with a blue patina, vintage coral pieces, and linen pillows.  Last year, we turned this antique library table into a coffee table and I love how the zinc top ties in with my summer décor!  I picked up this zinc bucket and surprisingly, my olive plant is doing pretty well with all the sunlight it gets in this spot!

To add even a little more texture and a slight bit of color, I stacked some French grain sacks on the lidded baskets.  I love the little touch of light blue and the linen is my favorite textile for summer décor! 

One fun addition to this room is this blue-gray cabinet from my friend @velmaolivevintage!  She took this old factory/hardware cabinet, gave it a fresh color and painted the swiss cross on the front.  I love how that detail ties in with the drapeux hanging in the entryway and family room!  Little details like that make me so happy and I love the bit of summer color this piece added! 

I felt like all the elements I wanted to include in my summer styling really came together in this room.  You can find my favorite summer styling tips HERE.  My favorite elements that helped me pull my summer house together are:

• Light woods and lots of white
• Woven textures, through rugs and baskets
• Accents of light blue and gray
• Natural elements, like coral, sponges, and palm branches
• Light textiles with gauzy throw blankets and linen

I hope you’ve enjoyed touring our Summer House, vintage coastal farmhouse style!  I have a wonderful treat for you, as you hop on over to visit Cassie Bustamante!  You’re going to love her take on summer styling, along with loads of décor inspiration for your home!  Make sure to say hello while you’re over there!!

You can find even more inspiration by checking out each of these amazing home bloggers.  I love how every style is unique and creates a beautiful and inviting home!  These talented bloggers are sure to give you great ideas as you create your own Summer Home!

I’d love for you to follow me on social media!  You can find my home decor inspiration on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!  

Blessings,

Robyn

This week I’m joining some of my blogging friend’s for the Bloggers Best Summer Home Tours! All week long we are welcoming you into our homes. You can visit each summer home tour by clicking the links below.

Monday’s Tours

The Tattered Pew / Stonegable / My Wee Abode

White Arrows Home / Fiddle Leaf Blog / Dabbling and Decorating

Tuesday’s Tours

The Flowering Farmhouse / Sanddollar Lane / Cottage In The Mitten

Up To Date Interiors / Bricks ‘n Blooms / Cottage On Bunker Hill

Wednsday’s Tours

Open Doors Open Hearts/ Pasha Is Home / Shiplap and Shells

A Blue Nest / Cloches and Lavender / Simply 2 Moms

Thursday’s Tours

Cassie Bustamante / First Day of Home / Midwest Life and Style

County Road 407 / She Gave It A Go / Robyn’s French Nest

Friday’s Tours

The Ponds Farmhouse / DIY Beautify / Follow The Yellow Brick Home

My Thrift Store Addiction / Tatertots and Jello / Sweet Pea

Are dining room china cabinets or hutches even in style?  In our fast-paced culture where formal dining rooms are no longer a house-hunting must-have, this is a very good question!  I guess it really depends on who you ask, but in my opinion, the general idea of dining room storage still holds a lot of value. 

No matter the style of the home, shelving of some kind is very popular.  So while a more modern farmhouse style home might have floating shelves or another home may have an open concept with open shelving running through the kitchen, the idea of some kind of shelves to hold dishes and décor is still very popular.  And with open concept homes being so common, it is not unlikely to see a pretty shelving unit in a living room or kitchen instead of a formal dining space! 

I think the changing trend is perhaps more in what goes on the dining room hutch or china cabinet rather than discarding any kind of storage. 

So whether your shelves are in the kitchen, dining room, living room, or some other space, I hope this post will inspire you to rethink how you use those shelves and even spark some creativity! 

We purchased this apothecary last winter.  You can find all the details about its history and how we restored the original paint in this post .  I have so much fun styling this piece for the seasons, just as I would any other space in our home. That’s my first tip for dining room or kitchen shelf styling:

Have fun rotating décor on your shelves! 

It’s okay to store certain pieces away, bring others out, add, take away, feature collections, and in general, treat your shelves as you would a mantel or entryway table!

What to Use as a Dining Room Hutch

For the purposes of this post, I’ll call it a hutch, but it could be any kind of shelves or cabinet!  This is a great spot to get creative with your furniture!  A vintage step back cabinet, pie safe, apothecary, floating shelves or open shelving are all great ideas for a dining room!  And those are just a few out of a long list!

In our dining room, we added this antique apothecary.  I love all the drawers for storage (though at the writing of this post, they are basically empty!), so I guess I should say I love the idea of all the drawers for storage!  Maybe at some point, I’ll do some reorganizing in my kitchen and move some of the “dining room” type of things to those drawers.  Whatever piece you use, the first consideration is function.

 If you have lots of storage in your home, this may not need to be a consideration.  But if you need to be conscious of storage space, a dining room hutch or cabinet is a GREAT place to add extra storage for anything from dishes to linens to extra kitchen ware or even pantry items! 

​

As much as possible, I do like to store things in the room or space that they are used in.  But in our first “real” house, I had a big wall in our kitchen where we put a dining room hutch and I kept all of our everyday dishes and flatware on the shelves and down below was my main pantry space!  It looked good in the space but most of all, was a desperately needed storage piece for our odd kitchen!  (Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture!  That was a long time ago!)

Once you have identified how you need the piece to function, have fun choosing just the right piece.  This may take some patience, especially if you are working within a budget or have a really specific style.  I waited a few years before we found this apothecary that fits our space and needs so perfectly!

​

Anyways….

If you are looking for a vintage piece, you can find some of my favorite vintage hunting tips HERE .  The main thing to remember is patience!  It is worth waiting for the piece you LOVE versus settling for a piece that you’re not even going to like in a few months!

Now that you’ve chosen your dining room hutch or storage piece….

What to Put in Your Dining Room Hutch

Here’s the key: If you put things in your hutch that you use often or you rotate things around often enough, you never have to worry about deep cleaning!  Sometimes people worry that dishes sitting out on open shelving will be dirty.  If you are keeping things that you love using, that won’t be a problem!  There may be that special dish or piece that you keep for sentimental reasons, but if it gets a little dusty, no worries.  You’re probably not using it anyway!

On my hutch/apothecary, I use it as a fun spot to decorate with favorite collection pieces or seasonal items.  I like to keep out pieces that I use often for tablescapes, as well as favorite vintage items and seasonal décor.

If you are using your dining room hutch primarily for dishes, consider adding some décor pieces throughout.  A little pot with a fresh plant or a cloche covering a stack of bowls or some terra cotta pots can add a lot of interest to this space and make it more of a décor statement rather than just a storage unit!

Here is a list of things you might consider using in your hutch along with functional items:

• Vintage Collections: Clocks, vases, ironstone, mortar and pestles, pottery, bottles, jars, crocks, and cloches are just a few that come to mind!  If you have a favorite collection, get it out where you can see it!  Consider grouping collection items to make a statement.

• Sentimental Pieces: That pretty jar that belonged to your grandma or those candlesticks you received as a wedding gift?  Dig them out from the recesses of the closet and use them!  Unless it’s some kind of strong color or just cannot blend with your décor, a dining room hutch is a great place to display special pieces!  They can be great conversation starters!

• Everyday items: Especially if every square inch counts, use a dining room hutch or pretty cabinet and make your everyday items decorative!  Choose dishes, flatware, vases, pitchers, and essentials that you really love and let them become your décor.  Neutral colors can really be helpful in this case, as you can’t go wrong with all-white dishes that will look pretty sitting out no matter the season.  But whatever your décor style is, invest in everyday items that enhance your décor rather than needing to be tucked away.  This will double your function and storage!

Once you’ve figured out what to put in your dining room hutch….

How Can I Arrange Items in My Dining Room Hutch?

One thing that gives hutches and china cabinets a bad reputation is that they can quickly become a catch all for “all those little things you didn’t know what to do with.” 

I have a few of those too, mainly some sentimental pieces that no matter how I try, they just don’t go with anything!  You know those awkward spaces above the refrigerator, I use one of those shelves (behind closed doors) to house those items.  But I don’t add to them.  Those are pieces that belonged to grandparents, etc., more heirloom kinds of things.  And there’s only a small box of them.

Clear out and clean out often!

 It is okay to get rid of things.  In case you need permission, CONSIDER IT GRANTED! 

Treat your dining room hutch or shelves as you would a mantel or a console table.  Even if you are decorating with every day, functional items, keep it looking pretty and a style in keeping with the rest of your home.

When arranging décor on shelves, there are three things I consider:

Height

You can add a lot of character and depth to your dining room hutch décor by varying the heights of your pieces.  While it may look nice to have a row of a certain item, like a collection of bottles or bowls, consider adding some unexpected elements like a stack of the bowls at the end of the shelf or varying the heights by adding a stack of little plates under a couple of the bowls.  Use the dishes you have on hand to add height variations!  A little stack of butter pats or a few dessert plates under a fresh plant can add so much texture and character, while still in keeping with the rest of the décor.

Texture

For shelf styling, I like to choose a few elements and repeat variations of those elements in the overall styling.  For my summer dining room hutch styling, I chose to use white, glass, and a few natural, coastal elements.  The glass is repeated on each shelf through the use of vintage bottles, apothecary bottles, and cloches.  The white dishes are repeated on each shelf with stacks of bowls, plates, and some white architectural salvage pieces.  The pieces of coral add a seasonal touch and a bit of an “unexpected” touch as well.

​

In almost every décor space, I add greenery.  Whether nice faux greenery or real, it can really add some movement to the décor as well as breaking up the straight, hard lines of the white and glass pieces.

No matter which elements you choose to use in your dining room hutch, consider paring it down to 3 (or so) elements and then have some fun with a couple of unexpected touches too!

​

Balance

When styling shelves, balance is a really key element.  Style each shelf, but then step back and make sure there is a balance of your elements throughout the entire look.  On my summer dining room apothecary, for example, I wanted to make sure there was a balance of the white and glass pieces.  I wouldn’t want the right side to be all white and the left side be mostly glass.  By considering the space as a whole, I was able to balance the styling.

Symmetry can be a helpful way to style, but I do love to break up the symmetry with some unexpected pieces as well.  Styling with a balanced look, yet not completely symmetrical, can help your dining room hutch to have a more curated look. 

How to Edit Your Dining Room Hutch

Once you have completed your shelf styling, it can be helpful to walk away and take a break!  As you come back to it later, you may see spots that can be tweaked and edited.  I often style a space, leave it alone for awhile, then come back and remove items, move them over a couple inches, switch plants, add a plate to this stack, etc.!  This is all part of making a space “yours”.  Decorating truly is personal preference and expression of YOU!  Getting tips and ideas from other people is always fun and helpful, but as you edit your space, make it a personal reflection of your family and home.

How to Decorate Your Dining Room Hutch for the Seasons

Just as I decorate my mantel for the seasons, I like to do the same with my apothecary cabinet!  I love to switch décor, so while I might change the look of the entire piece, you can decorate for the seasons by simply switching a few items.

When fall rolls around, I could simply switch the coral pieces for a couple of baby white pumpkins!  Where the cool, blue tones of the vintage bottles are for summer, I could replace with some vintage amber bottles for the warm, fall colors.

Consider small and simple seasonal touches that don’t require you to store boxes and boxes of decorations! 

(When Christmas comes to town…that’s a whole different story, right?!) 

I hope this gives you some ideas and inspiration as you’re styling your dining room or kitchen shelves!  There are so many fun ways to use and display your everyday items, collections, and favorite pieces!  I hope this inspires you to put those things where you can see them and where they make you smile!

Blessings,

Robyn

Decorating your summer mantel doesn’t have to be hard! I use color, texture, and vintage items to give that warm summer feel!  Check out my tips and ideas below.

You probably think I’m joking, but I’m actually totally serious!  I’ve never decorated a mantel for summer before, (so I’m really not the expert here) but I did have fun with it and hopefully my experimenting will inspire you as well!

Summer décor, in general, is so fun because of its casual, laid-back nature.  I love the light and bright colors, soft textures, and natural elements!  Most of all, I love that summer is really a time that you can do as much or as little with your décor as you want!  Switching around décor is really my “play time” and I love looking for new ways to get creative with it.  With living in a small, coastal town, I think I especially love bringing in a bit of that coastal vibe to our “summer house”!

Because, let’s be honest…I really don’t follow the Florida rules for decorating…at all!  I pretty much stick with the northern decorating cycles, even when that means decorating with pumpkins in 90 degree weather.  Haha!  Summer is my one chance to be a real Floridian!

And if you don’t live in Florida?  Well, summer is your chance to pretend you live on an island resort and totally get away with it in the décor world!

I love mixing these coastal elements with my vintage and farmhouse décor pieces.  Further proof that chippy white goes with everything!

Speaking of chippy white, let’s move on to the mantel décor!

How do I decorate my summer mantel?

The first thing I do when decorating any space is to completely clear it off and deep clean.  I find that when I clear a space, I can get more creative.  A clean slate is good for my brain!  While most of my décor pieces are things that I use year-round, I still like to get a clean slate, clean it really well, and start fresh.  I also use this as a time to rotate some of my décor around the house.  Shopping my own home is always my go-to!

When I started decorating my mantel for this season, I started with these elements:

Elements of Summer Mantel Décor

Natural Elements

What is found around you in nature?  Or…what do you WISH was around you in nature?  Depending on where you live, this will vary your décor.  If you live in a tropical climate like me, free palm branches are abundant and there are seashell shops in every town.  Or even free seashells from our beach adventures!  If you live in the mountains, this might be more lake-related items or an abundance of wildflowers!

The fun thing with décor is that you can make it what you want, so even if you live in the Midwest, feel free to break out a few natural elements found in a coastal region!  This is your one chance in the year to get away with starfish in Oklahoma!  You also don’t have to create a full-on coastal theme!  Just bringing in a bowl of shells on the coffee table or a fresh palm tree from your local nursery in the corner can add the perfect touch of “summer” to your space!

Other natural elements that I love to use are sea fans, sponges, and coral.  Through the spring, I did a lot of coral hunting around antique shops, knowing I wanted to use these with my cloches and ironstone for summer!

Color

I love that summer colors can range from bright and vibrant to very cool and soft to a monochromatic, neutral palette.  This is another area when you can really make a statement and express your own creativity!  There are no “summer specific” colors, as we think of color for the other seasons.  It’s truly a free-for-all!

Last summer, I brought in more earthy tones with some light rust and tans.  (Think of the inside of a conch shell!).  Even just a few touches of this color made a great statement and set the tone for my summer décor.

This summer, I’ve been loving the light blue and gray tones that I brought in for spring.  So I kept some of those same elements around with throw pillows, vintage books, architectural salvage, and a little bit of vintage art.  Even changing just a few pieces created an entirely different look for my summer décor!

You can find more details about some of my summer styling elements on THIS post.

Texture

Besides the more obvious, seasonal elements, texture is one of my favorite ways to change my décor for the seasons.  During summer, I like to think about elements that would be found in a coastal retreat or beach environment.  Some of my favorite summer textures are:

• Woven items (baskets and jute)
• Linen
• Chippy patina, as if it is naturally worn by the sun and saltwater

What looks good on a summer mantel?

This can vary a lot depending on the size of your fireplace or mantel.  It also depends on whether you have a functioning fireplace that you will use in the summer months or if it is purely decorative.

While some Florida homes do have working fireplaces, this was not a priority for us.  We had one at our previous home and I don’t think we used it once!  We literally run our air conditioning year-round and our current home doesn’t even have heat!  We maybe have a couple of days and/or nights each winter where heat would be nice, but cozy layers are plenty for us!  I know our situation is a far extreme, but necessary to explain why our mantelpiece is purely decorative!

Even if you have a working fireplace, vintage mantels can be great decorative elements to include in other rooms of your home, such as a bedroom or dining room!

We picked up our chippy, vintage mantel on the World’s Longest Yard Sale a couple of years ago.  I love the substantial size and simple design of it, and of course, I love the great patina it has.  I brought it in behind our sofa, really as an architectural salvage element and love it here!  Of course, it was great to decorate for fall and winter, but I had fun transitioning it for our warmer months of spring and summer too!

Because my mantel is really part of a larger gallery wall, I take into account how I want to style the gallery wall as part of my mantel styling.  I centered everything on my gallery wall and mantel styling around this vintage, French lavabo.  Again, something I’d never styled for summer before, but I was picturing the sea fans, sponges, and palms and wanted to give it a try.  I set a glass of water down in the lavabo and was able to arrange fresh palms, along with some faux ferns from Flower and Home Marketplace and coastal elements.

With having larger art pieces and a vintage sign on the wall above the mantel, I kept the mantelpiece décor more simple and a lower profile.

I used vintage books in neutral and light blue tones (HERE and HERE) to bring in some additional texture and color.  The books also provide some height variation for small plants.  On one stack of books, I placed a vintage mortar and pestle from my collection with a piece of coral.  I love how the white of the coral makes such a subtle coastal statement, while adding lots of organic texture.

The other statement piece on my summer mantel is an architectural salvage piece that I found at a vintage market.  It has the perfect shade of light blue-gray with lots of chippy patina.  I love how the curved style reminds me of something that could’ve been on an old boat at some point! (I don’t know that it ever was, more likely from a round window or arch, but I like the idea!)

Architectural salvage is always a favorite way to add texture and character to any room and I use it all over our house!  I rounded up a few pieces of smaller salvage that would make a wonderful addition to any fireplace mantel!  The white and light blue colors work perfectly for summer décor, though they can be used year-round in lots of different spaces.  I’ve linked those up for you at the end of this post.  You can find a couple of favorites HERE and HERE.

To recap, I kept my summer mantel styling simple and light, while still getting a full look with the use of texture.

• Architectural salvage
• Vintage books
• Piece of driftwood
• Ironstone jelly mold with fresh plant
• Vintage mortar and pestle with coral

What else could I use to decorate my summer mantel?

Here are other things that I like to keep on hand for mantel decorating:

• Architectural salvage, corbels, unique salvage pieces
• Vintage art
• Vintage books
• Lanterns
• Bottles or jars for greenery and flowers
• Candle holders (love the texture on these!)
• Vintage wall fountain/lavabo filled with greenery, plants, or coastal elements
• Vintage brass candlesticks

​

Styling a collection on a mantel

No matter the season, a mantel is a great spot to style your favorite collection!  Most any item, grouped with other like items, can make a beautiful statement.  Vintage clocks, milk glass vases with fresh fern stems, mortar and pestles with coral, grouping of favorite candlesticks, a row of vintage bottles with patriotic flags…these are all great ways to style your mantel while showcasing your favorite collection pieces! 

I think “collections” can sometimes get shoved in a corner or stuck on a shelf.  I like to keep my collections moving around the house, sometimes styled together, sometimes split up over a few rooms, which ties the décor together and gives a nice flow to the rooms.  Get creative with how you style those collection pieces and really enjoy them!

Pull out those favorite pieces and use them!  You might be surprised at how much money you save on décor simply by shopping your home and re-thinking how you can use the pieces you already own.  I love how collections tell a story, not only about your home, but also about yourself!  You can count on a styled collection to be a conversation starter!

How do I decorate a hearth for summer?

With having our decorative mantel behind our sofa, I obviously am not decorating a hearth.  However, the décor I use on my sofa has the same effect as if you are decorating a hearth.  I like to use lots of comfy and cozy pillows on our sofa.  They are a great way to bring in lots of texture, pattern, and color.  Some of my favorites are made from vintage fabrics and grain sacks, but there are so many gorgeous options out there for summer pillows.  You can add texture with these and these and some summer color with these.  I also like to add a cozy throw and this gauzy one is my favorite for summer!

If you have a hearth, a vintage basket with summer throw blankets and soft pillows is a great way to soften the hard lines of the fireplace.  It also helps tell the story of a soft place to get cozy after a long day of summer fun!  While you may add a basket of logs for the winter, consider replacing the logs with a lush, green plant for the summer months!

Greenery is another great way to soften the straight and hard edges of a fireplace.  A grouping of lanterns is another great fireplace addition and can be used year-round.  I like to keep some battery-operated candles for the summer months to keep that cozy glow in the evenings.

I hope this gives you some ideas and even better, sparks some creativity for you as you have fun decorating your home and especially your summer mantel!  Just by changing your mantel and fireplace décor…even if you leave everything else exactly the same…you can give an entirely new and fresh feel to your entire room!

I’d love for you to follow me on social media!  You can find my home decor inspiration on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!  

Have fun!

Blessings,

Robyn

It is entirely possible that I love outdoor dining because it’s just way less mess to clean up…but that would be just one of the reasons!  Whether it’s at a restaurant or at home, there’s something about dining al fresco that feels a little more relaxed, invites you to linger a little longer, to have more of a dining experience.  Even when our kids were really little, one of their favorite things was to grill hotdogs, grab paper plates, a bag of chips, and jump in the pool after dinner!

We had a wonderful outdoor dining area at our previous home and even after four years in our current home, I still miss that space!  One of our projects this spring has been to create an outdoor dining area that comfortably seats all five of our little family!

A little DIY, hours of comparing furniture and budget and trying to decide, pulling out some vintage favorites, planting a few flowers…and we finally have our outdoor dining room!

A quick disclaimer and some real life: We are still working on this space!  There are several things we want to add and improve, mainly some additional landscaping, but we don’t have to have perfect landscaping to start using and enjoying this space!

Here are the projects we did and elements we added to create a low-maintenance, comfortable outdoor dining room:

Gazebo

We added this gazebo soon after moving into our home, as we couldn’t pass up a deep, end-of-summer clearance.  The 12×12 concrete pad was already there when we purchased the house; we think it had a shed at one point, so it made a great spot to add this 10×10 gazebo!  We chose the black metal to tie in with the black doors and shutters of our home’s exterior.  While this exact model isn’t available, I found similar ones HERE and HERE.

You certainly do not have to have a gazebo or even a covered area at all to create an outdoor dining space!  With our Florida weather, it’s almost a little pointless to try and have outdoor furniture set ups that stay pretty and are uncovered, unless of course, you have lots and lots of time to clean and maintain it!  It also gets very hot, so having a covered spot just makes it more enjoyable for us!

Wood Privacy Wall

This was a project we finished with a local builder friend.  The narrow slats are nailed to three verticals.  These verticals are then screwed into the metal corners.  With one more vertical in the middle for strength, I just love how it turned out!  It makes the perfect backdrop for so many decorating ideas!

Rug

Outdoor rugs can be a tricky thing, but I cannot say enough good about the outdoor rug collections from Boutique Rugs.  I love the color and texture on this one and it is the perfect complement to the modern farmhouse vibes of our outdoor living space AND the vintage look of the table and bench.

I also love that while it has some white on it, it has a gray base and hides the dirt a little better!  My rug is the Thorntonville outdoor rug in an 8×10 size!  Having a good outdoor rug is a wonderful way to make any outdoor space feel cozy and inviting, much like you would decorate an interior space!

I have a 60% off coupon code for you too!  Use the code FRENCHNEST60 to get 60% your purchase from Boutique Rugs.

Furniture

Table:  It took me weeks…probably close to a couple months…to finally decide on furniture!  Quality, outdoor furniture can be extremely expensive and we were really trying to make this a budget-friendly project.

When we saw this vintage farmhouse table at an antique mall, I fell in love with the wood and white tones.   It is the perfect size for our family and of course, I love that it is vintage and unique!  However, regular wood and Florida weather are not a good combination.  Part the reason that it was taking so long to decide on furniture is that we really need teak or a similar outdoor-friendly wood.

This table is none of those.

After talking to several people who work with furniture, we decided to go ahead and take a chance on this table.  We used 3 coats of polyacrylic in a matte finish.  I’m crossing my fingers and hoping that it holds up well.  The good thing is that if we see it is starting to have effects from being outside…if the polyacrylic isn’t a good enough seal…we can use it somewhere else or sell it. 

For the time being, though, we feel like we will definitely be able to get our money out of it and enjoy it in the process.  So ask me in a couple of years how the table is holding up!  I’ll have to come back and update this blog post!

At the end of this post, I am linking up some other outdoor dining furniture that we were considering, prior to finding this vintage table, in case you’re looking for a great set!

Chairs:  I really wanted to find a chair that would be able to tie together the vintage table and the more “modern farmhouse” style of the exterior of our home.  These chairs have a nice, light coloring that complements the table.  I love the more boho/modern farmhouse vibe of the design and it was just the kind of look I was hoping to find!  They are really comfortable and will be easy to maintain as well!  Win-win!

This particular set was also a budget-friendly option, as it came in the set of four.  Combining it with a bench we already had, made this a great option for our family!

Bench:  Believe it or not, this bench was a FREEBIE!  My husband brought it home for me from a trash pile last summer!  We didn’t have a good spot for it at the time, but I am so glad we held onto it because it’s the perfect combination with our tables and chairs!

Decorations

Whenever I’m decorating in an exterior space, I try to think about function and maintenance FIRST. 

For an everyday look, I added this planter from Lowe’s and a low-maintenance Ponytail Palm.  I love the vintage, pottery look of the planter but it was a fraction of the price of high-end retail stores!  I also added these outdoor “Caleb” lanterns.  I only use lanterns outside that have NO GLASS!  They are a lot easier to maintain and stay looking fresh for much longer!  I included quality, outdoor battery-operated candles.  They are on a timer and I love the inviting feeling when they flicker on in the evenings!

The vintage Cherries sign is such a fun piece and is a great way to add a big statement for wall décor!  It’s also low-maintenance, as it is sturdy, made to be outdoors, and doesn’t require major cleaning to keep it looking great!  Vintage produce signs are a great way to add some character to an outdoor dining room and I love the play-on-words with the fruit and vegetable names!

Outdoor throw pillows are another great way to add a lot of texture, color, and pattern to an outdoor space.  For throw pillows in our outdoor spaces that are NOT under cover and stay out all the time, I highly recommend investing in great quality.  I have had my Sunbrella striped pillows for several years now and they still look great!  Outdoor pillows can be found in all price ranges.  However, I do not spend very much money (more than $25-30) on an outdoor pillow UNLESS it is one of the Sunbrella styles. 

This seat cushion from H&M is becoming one of my favorite finds, and is super affordable!

Otherwise, I can usually plan to get a year or so out of an inexpensive outdoor throw pillow.  Since we use our outdoor spaces year-round, I do not bring our cushions/pillows in or store them.  They stay outside in the elements 24/7, year-round (unless we are getting tropical storm or hurricane warnings!). I do have some seasonal outdoor throw pillows for the front porch that I rotate around.

I’m linking up some of my favorite outdoor throw pillow finds from this year at the end of my post.  Pillows are a relatively inexpensive way to add a quick refresh and update to any outdoor space!

Outdoor Place Settings

To create this outdoor tablescape, I used some recent finds to dress up the table, while still keeping it simple and kid-friendly.  I started with this table runner and jute placemats.  They are inexpensive but have great texture and pattern.  They gave an instant “special” feeling to the table!  Since they were not expensive purchases, I am comfortable with having us dine as a family here without worrying too much about spills.

I added these melamine dishes from Flower and Home Marketplace.  I love the slate gray chargers and striped plates for a casual, outdoor dining pattern!  I also have white bowls that are perfect for an evening treat of watermelon or ice cream!

I added my shop rag napkins, black flatware, and these adorable shell dishes.  I love how they add a little summer, coastal vibe and they were really inexpensive also!  A perfect little summer addition to your table!

I finished off the table by using my European, vintage pickling jars and a few palm branches from the trees in our yard (more free décor!).  The pickling jars have those faint hints of green and blue that fit so beautifully with the light, summer textures!  They are perfect for filling with flowers, greenery, or just looking pretty all by themselves!

Enjoy!

I hope this post inspires you to find a spot around your yard to turn into an outdoor dining area!  Consider even a folding table with a pretty tablecloth for a temporary set up!  Simple, thoughtful touches and a beautiful summer evening are the perfect combination!

Blessings,

Robyn

Summer is here, and it’s time for some summer styling tips! I love to lighten our home with texture, summer objects & touches of glass!

Summer break is just a few, short days away and We.  Cannot.  Wait!  One of the huge blessings of being a teacher is getting to really enjoy the summer months with my own kiddos.  It is not lost on me that the years are FLYING by and the amount of summers that I have left with our oldest at home are quickly shrinking.  It makes me more determined than ever to carve out special moments and those begin right at home.

While we have some amazing memories of summer vacations and trips, I want to beef up our memory deposit bank of special moments at home.  This summer is a bit unusual because we don’t have any big vacations planned (we are planning something special later in the year!).  I decided to work a little harder to help our home have that “summer vacation” vibe and I’m excited to share these summer decorating tips with you!

Whether you’ve started transitioning to summer décor already or are waiting until the holiday weekend, I hope these ideas help you prepare to create a summer vacation home feeling…right at HOME!  For myself, I know I can really be guilty of doing project after project, job after job, waiting for my “vacation moments” to be off in another place.  The reality is that while home certainly has its busy times and requires consistent and diligent work to maintain, it is also supposed to be a place of refuge.  A place to rest.

Maybe it’s just our family, but I imagine we aren’t alone.  Especially after this crazy year.  We need some time to rest at home!

Since school is almost out, I set to work, trying to create a “summer vacation home” vibe in our own house!  Here are a few ideas to help you get started doing the same:

#1: Summer Styling Texture

You may have already started this process through the spring, but summer is the perfect time to continue lightening up those textures around your home!  Here are a few ideas:

• Replace chunky knit blankets with light, gauzy ones.  I purchased this one for an inexpensive touch of summer.
• Replace thick throw pillow covers with light colored, light-weight options, such as linen.  I love THIS budget-friendly one for a summer statement on the sofa!
• Add beach-friendly textures, such as woven baskets and jute rugs.

It is amazing how a cute beach hat thrown over the corner of a chair or a fun woven market basket on a hook can add just that perfect summer vibe to a space.  Remember, simple is the name of the summer game!  One of the fun things about summer décor is that little touches here and there are all it takes.  (Rest up for the fall and Christmas seasons, where it is a full-on décor explosion!!!)

#2: Summer Styling Color

As with any décor, this is an area that you can just make the décor your own!  If you like lots of color, spring and summer are perfect opportunities to sprinkle it everywhere!  If you are more like me and enjoy a more neutral color palette, summer is a fun chance to add subtle touches of color.

With the “summer vacation home” thought in mind, subtle touches of blue and green can take you away to those beach or lakeside moments! 

Here are a few ways I add color into my summer décor:

• Throw pillows with a hint of color.  Throw pillows are a great chance to play around with décor because they don’t have to cost a lot, the covers are easy to store from season to season, and they can easily make a big statement in any room!  I added these blue and white striped ones from Olde Tyme Marketplace.  While these are made from vintage fabric, you can find some pillows with great touches of summer color HERE, HERE, and HERE.

• Art.  I enjoy collecting inexpensive, vintage art pieces from flea markets and vintage shops to add to my seasonal décor.  It is a great way to get a curated look and small art pieces are easy to wrap up and store in the off-season!  I look for these at thrift stores, as well as antique malls, and you can usually find some smaller pieces for great deals!  Tuck them into a gallery wall or lean against a book stack on a shelf for a collected, thoughtful touch.

• Throw blankets.  I mentioned this under the texture category as well, but throw blankets are another budget-friendly way to add a little color to your summer décor.  In addition to the one I purchased, you can find some other great options HERE and HERE.  Tossed over a chair or cascading out of a basket, light-weight throw blankets offer the idea and feeling that you can curl up with a glass of sweet tea and a good book, or relax during those long summer evenings with a favorite movie!

#3 Summer Styling Objects

Living in Florida, a little coastal flair is an obvious choice for summer décor and we do have fun with our beach-vibes around our home!  The term “coastal décor” can get interesting really fast, with lots of souvenir-style items.  I prefer to add some coastal touches through natural elements like coral, shells, sponges, and sea fans.

Since we live on the East Coast, it is very unusual to find bigger shells and that type of thing right on the beach.  All of my big pieces are ones that I have purchased from the local seashell shop or from antique stores!  Coral can be very expensive, but adding a few pieces to your summer collection can go a long way in bringing those summer vacation home vibes right into your home!

I also look for creative ways to style coastal elements, in keeping with the vintage look of our home.  Adding a piece of coral to a mortar and pestle or tucking a sea fan in a planter makes an instantaneous summer look and is worth every penny! 

I shared some summer styling ideas over on THIS POST and there are some fun and easy ways to incorporate a few of those objects into your existing vignettes.

You are looking for pieces that you can easily add into your existing décor or styling very simply with your favorite vintage collections!

If you do not live near a coastal area, there are great options for purchasing natural, coastal elements online too!  You can fill a bowl with starfish from HERE or find some specimen coral pieces HERE.

#4 Summer Styling Greenery

Admittedly, this is a super easy one for me, but it may not be quite as natural or easy for you!  Our property is lined with areca palms, so I often cut fresh branches and bring them inside.  There is nothing like fresh palm branches to add a summer vacation home vibe to the dining room or kitchen island!

You may be able to find small palm-style plants at a greenhouse or landscape place.  A fresh palm set in a pretty basket or bucket will make a perfect centerpiece to enjoy all summer long!

No matter where you live, summer is a great time to bring some of the lush, fresh greenery from around your home inside!  Pretty branches tucked into a vintage vessel is my favorite summer centerpiece!

I especially love the vintage, European pickling jars for summer.  The tint of blue/green gives an ever-so-subtle nod to beach glass and just a perfect hint of color!  They make the perfect vases for summer greenery or flowers…or look beautiful all on their own!

#5 Summery Styling Glass

Speaking of pickling jars, glass is another favorite element for summer décor!  I like to use glass décor all year long, but especially in the summertime, I pull out my vintage soda bottles, cloches, glass pitchers, and vintage jars to decorate with.

The vintage soda bottles, rather like the pickling jars, often have a tint of blue or green to them.  This is a great way to add some subtle summer color while investing in vintage pieces that you can enjoy for years to come.