Summer Decorating Ideas {Summer Home Tours}

I love summer so much. It is absolutely my favorite time of the year, even when it’s hot (I kind of prefer it that way!). I know not everyone agrees with me, but I could completely skip winter and be perfectly fine. Since I have been enjoying the warm and sunny weather we’ve been blessed with recently, I thought today I’d feature some of the summer decorating ideas from the home tours we shared on the blog over the years. Above is an image from the last home tour I shared in our former home.

Our outdoor space looks completely different in this house, but I loved our raised deck in our former home and we spent so much time out there. We fortunately had it completed just as the pandemic began, and it helped us during that time to have an outdoor space to enjoy. You can see the post about the decor here and the construction of the space here.

Last summer, just before they packed up and moved back to the United States, Christy shared her apartment in Germany. I love how she uses trays, greenery and of course, blue and white. It was styled perfectly for summer!

Our kitchen is still blue and white, though this image is from my summer home tour a few years back. I have collected the Blue Willow china for years and mix it with our everyday white plates, it’s perfect for summer dining. We sold most of the furniture above with our last home, and that wall became a entertaining bar a year or two later.

Christy’s friend Mary graciously allowed us to share her home in the summer of 2020 when we all needed a bit of inspiration. How gorgeous is her tablescape with the symmetry of the blue and white ginger jars? Her chandelier is also stunning, and I love the design element of the dark cabinet filled with light china. You can see more of her home here and her new home in Texas here and here.

It is fun to look back on how I decorated just a few years ago. Our last home was definitely more “coastal” in feel, which I think suited the style of it well. Our current home is more traditional in feel, and my decor has evolved in that direction. This home tour dates from 2019, so we did quite a bit more to our home in the four years we were there, you can see the summer home tour here.

I also shared our summer bedroom as part of a home tour in 2020, this room was decorated with very affordable sources.

Christy lived in several cottages in North Carolina prior to their time overseas, and the homes all had charming details. You can see her home tour here from her time in the affectionately known “MCC house”, those of you who have been around for awhile know that it was called that as the exterior was light green with brown trim. That may sound unappealing, but it was really a darling house!

Another favorite space was their North Carolina home that had large decks overlooking a golf course. This space was featured as part of a summer evening themed home tour sponsored by Balsam Hill, you can see the post here.

For smaller space decorating ideas, this post showcased our small screen porch in our former rental home. Someday we hope to add a small screened porch to our current home, they are so nice to have almost all year round.

My parents had a beautiful screen porch in their former home (and, lucky that they are they have an even bigger one now), in this post I shared their spaces. You can see I get my affection for blue and white decorating from my mother, I come by it naturally!

The same post also has this black and white tablescape we created on their deck, which is a classic combination.

Finally, another home tour that is filled with creative inspiration (both indoor and out), is another friend of Christy’s who graciously has allowed us to share their home. You can see this beautiful home here, it belongs to Mark Wesley Parson and his family, Mark is a very talented architect and landscape designer. We shared this home tour last summer, you can also see the interior here.