A Home Tour with Summer Inspiration and Design Ideas

I was so honored to have Farmhouse Living film my home as part of their summer home tour series. They had so many wonderful shots of my home so I thought I would share a home tour with summer inspiration and design ideas with you.

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I love sharing home decor ideas, DIY’s and an occasional favorite recipe with you.

I have such a passion for design and decorating my home for the seasons.

One thing I love the most is trying to think outside the box and use things in unexpected ways.

If you have been following my blog for long, you know that I love a neutral pallet in my decor.

Even though I don’t use much color, I create interest by layering fabrics and textures. I also incorporate one of a kind vintage pieces.

However, I discovered a couple of years ago, that I enjoy bringing in a few pops of blue for the summer months.

I remembered I had my great grandmother’s blue transferware. I pulled some pieces out to decorate my kitchen hutch and was immediately smitten with the classic look of the blue and white.

Ever since then, I have incorporated bits of blue and white in my home for summer decor, including my front porch and back patio areas.

So, let’s get started on this summer home tour. I can’t wait to share ways I like to incorporate fresh and dried flowers, baskets, gardening elements, and hints of blue.

welcome to my home – a home tour with summer inspiration and design ideas

If you would like to see the full home tour video…..

front door decor – summer inspiration

When my husband and I were building our home about 8 years ago, we started collecting architectural and vintage pieces. We wanted to make our home unique and also add lots of character.

The front door was one of those finds.

It took me quite a while to find a door that I really liked and that was in our budget. When we stumbled across this one at a salvage place in Dallas, l immediately knew it was the one.

It is a little wider than usual and had original hardware as well as a brass mail slot.

Originally, I had the door painted a dark gray, and I loved it for about 6 years. But, last year decided I wanted a change so I painted it a light green color. It has been a fun change, but honestly, I’m itching to change it up again.

I love to change up the front door decor with each season. For my summer decor this year, I used a woven wall basket filled with faux flowers that look very realistic.

Last summer, this basket was filled with small American flags.

front porch – summer decor

Our porch is fairly long, and is set up with a seating area to the left of our front door. And to the right of the door is a table for eating along with lots of plants.

This is where my husband and I enjoy sitting in the mornings for coffee when weather permits.

The two black wicker chairs were a resale shop find years ago. The seat covers are removable and make it easy for washing. I like to change up the throw pillows seasonally.

A black wicker side table is between the chairs.

I love lamps so I have a lamp on the table. But since this area gets dirty easily, I removed the fabric on the shade and left the lamp spine exposed.

There is also a topiary and candle on this table. I enjoy lighting the candle anytime we are sitting outside.

The lamp and candle add a coziness to the experience of front porch sitting.

We decided to use brick pavers on our front porch and I love the character that it added.

The light fixtures were another purchase from the salvage store where we found the front door.

They are vintage copper fixtures and were a steal at $75 each.

A chippy vintage door leans against the wall of the porch and is a perfect backdrop for seasonal artwork.

Different types of plants and flowers are inside baskets, urns and aged flower pots. These are changed out occasionally and with the seasons.

On the far end of my porch is a small garden table. It is perfect for seating two and was purchased on Facebook marketplace last year.

The chairs are actually slipcovered plastic garden chairs.

I have a “thing” for topiaries and have much better luck with them outside, so I created a table vignette using a collection of them.

And the large ones behind each chair are in large white urns and add some height and interest beside my kitchen window.

shop the front porch

dining room table centerpiece – summer inspiration

Just beyond the front door of my home is our main dining area.

I thrifted this large round table years ago, and it is one of my favorite pieces. The chairs are white slipcovered IKEA chairs and are comfortable and easy to clean.

Tablescapes and centerpieces are some of my favorite things to decorate and create.

This is a place that I really love being creative and using things in unexpected ways.

For example, this centerpiece I put together for summer decor is an iron plant holder filled with cuttings from a Vitex tree in my yard.

I placed a small concrete swan with a cloche over it and added some height with a large vintage book.

Lastly, I added a large white chippy frame over the top of the display. It added just a bit of whimsey and unusual element to my table centerpiece.

shop the dining room

breakfast area & kitchen – touches of blue and gardening elements for summer

I don’t change up the kitchen or breakfast area a lot for summer. But, these are a couple of places I started incorporating pops of blue.

Blue transferware is scattered between my kitchen hutch and china cabinet in the breakfast area.

The kitchen hutch is another one of my favorite pieces in my home, and I love changing it up for the seasons.

I often display different things on the top of the hutch and also wall decor above it.

For my summer look, I added a collection of straw hats over the top and vintage books grouped on the top.

A couple of the hats are actually ones I wear and the others were picked up at thrift stores for $4.00 or less.

breakfast area decor

The china cabinet has a collection of white ironstone and I added a few pieces of the blue transferware.

Gardening elements and plants make great summer decor, so I used a couple of vintage garden tools as wall art, and a collection of topiaries on top of the hutch.

photos by Farmhouse Living

shop the kitchen & breakfast area

back patio – outdoor spaces summer inspiration and design ideas

Our back patio is an extended living area to our home when weather permits.

It opens up from our living area and kitchen with french doors, so we can open up the house and overflow onto the patio.

It is enclosed with 2 glass garage doors, that we can open and close easily depending on the weather.

In warmer months it stays open. But in colder months, we can close them and heat the space with the fireplace fairly quickly.

One end of our patio has a living area and fireplace. And the other has a patio table for dining and a sink area.

We love to be outside and also love hosting friends and family so this back patio is used often.

To add a bit of summer decor to the patio, I filled the fireplace with lots of old terra cotta pots I had stored in the garage since it won’t be used this summer.

photos by Farmhouse Living

I added blue and white throw pillows to the white slipcovered sofa.

And a bench I found on FB marketplace recently stands in as a coffee table.

shop the back patio

We were so honored to have our home featured in the summer issue of Country Sampler Farmhouse Style magazine. Our back porch was the cover photo of the magazine.

I didn’t spend a lot of money or even go to a lot of trouble to transition my home for summer.

Using things that really speak “summer” to me and that I already had on hand made my home summer ready in no time.

I hope you enjoyed “a home tour with summer inspiration and design ideas” and found some ideas to incorporate in your own home.

blessings and happy summer,

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You might also like this post about adding character to your home with thrifted finds….

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