Five Easy Ways to Update Your Home for Summer

Hi everyone! I’m so excited to be participating in the Loveliest Looks Of Summer Tour hosted by Summer Adams & A Blissful Nest. As you’ll see below, I’m sharing five easy ways to update your home for the summer season. Once you’re done reading my post, I’d love for you to continue on the tour (all of the participating ladies are linked towards the end of the post).

First, I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself in case you’re new to Born on Fifth. Welcome! I’m Emily and am mama to two-year-old Eloise (we call her Elle for short). After a nearly decade-long career at Spanx, I started my blog around Elle’s first birthday. You can read more about it here. I was born at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York (which just so happens to be on Fifth Avenue) on October Fifth. Elle was born on February Fifth…so you can see where the name comes from.

Ok, enough about me. Let’s talk summer! While I love sitting by the pool, I have become more of an indoors girl when it gets super hot (which it certainly does in Atlanta) and am always fiddling with things around the house. Here are some easy ideas to freshen your decor as the weather warms up. You’ll notice that I’m very into lemons at the moment. I was just in Italy (read all about my trip here) and was beyond inspired!

Now for five easy ideas to update your home for summer…

Change Out Your Art 

These palm prints are the perfect way to add a summer vibe to rooms that may feel more formal or otherwise wintery. One of my favorite tricks is to look for prints that are similar in size so you can repurposes frames!

I’ve put these prints everywhere from our bedroom to my office to where they sit now, in our family room. Mine are 20×30 and you can find them here. Similar prints here and here. Always get a lot of questions about the lamp in this room, so linked it for you here.

Much like the palm prints, this outfit screams summer. I love that the pieces are separates…I’ve even worn the skirt as a bathing suit cover up! You can find it here. This dress is a similar print (a fraction of the price), as is this one. Another more evening yellow dress is linked here. While this skirt isn’t yellow, it’s part of a two-piece set (I have and LOVE it!).

Forage In Your Own Backyard

Sometimes the best place to look is under your nose. These hydrangeas are a beautiful way to brighten up our kitchen.  I’ve placed them in a ginger jar (which has a glass vase inside as to not damage the porcelain).

I also added some blooms to Elle’s table, of course. This table was a hand-me-down and is one of our favorite recent additions to the kitchen. Here I’ve used a mint julep cup to ensure if it gets knocked over, there’s no broken glass.

Isn’t this dress perfect for summer foraging. I love the floral print and it certainly conceals all of the extra gelato I had on my trip to Italy (I did order it a couple sizes up as it was the only one in stock, but they’ve since added all sizes…adjustable straps for the win!). You can find it here. Also love this printed dress and this one too.

Wanted to mention that another easy update is changing out the plates or dishes you display (if you have open shelving). We usually have a white theme, but I brought in some green accents to switch things up.

Add Something So Fresh + So Green Green 

As you can tell with all the lemons, I’m beyond inspired by my recent trip to Italy. How fun are these earrings I wore on my trip? I also want to pre-order this pair!

Because I wanted to bring a taste of la dolce vita home with me, I bought a dwarf Meyer Lemon tree and have placed it in our entryway (hopefully it will produce lemons soon!). For now, I’m loving the green. Because I wanted a pop of yellow (and as you’ll see next), I added the color to the facing room, which brightens up our entryway too.

The colors in this dress remind me of the painting in our entry. I’ve developed a strategy where I like to wear white or neutral colors in casual situations where I want to look pulled together (for example, walking around Italy) and play with color and print for parties and in the evening. This is a fun site for pretty dresses and they’re having a major sale right now.

Update Your Coffee Table + Lamps 

Perhaps the easiest way to change the color story in a room is to update your coffee table books. I like to ask for strategic gifts. For example, I knew that yellow was a color I wanted to incorporate (and I always love pink), so I asked for two specific coffee table books for Mother’s Day.

I’m also a big fan of the idea of buying pieces you love and playing with them throughout your house. I bought these lamps from Huff Harrington Home for our bedside tables, but felt they added a nice pop to this room for summer. I’ll switch them out come Fall! Similar lamps linked here.

Freshen Your Bar Cart 

My new favorite fruit, lemons are a lasting way to add a pop to your bar cart! I love the idea of serving lemonade on a hot summer day, and this citrus makes for a beautiful color infusion. You can add flowers as I did here, but certainly don’t have to.

I got this linen dress in Capri as it was a perfect combination of one of my old loves, blue and white, and my new loves: lemons! If you want to order it, email [email protected] and they will ship it to you. Check out this Draper James style I just found. How funny! This one is pretty too.

Finally…

It’s worth noting that sticking to a theme, even loosely, can be helpful as you update. I love yellow and you can see that with lemons, flowers and my wardrobe, I was able to achieve a sense of consistency throughout my home and looks. If, for example, you’re throwing a party and need an extra pop of color, choose an outfit that complements the theme. It’s one of my favorite ways to really make everything come together.

Hope you found some inspiration, be it for your home or your wardrobe! Would love to see you on Instagram, LiketoKnow.It (a super easy way to shop my looks) or around the blog. Thanks for stopping by and ciao for now. Don’t forget to check out all of these lovely ladies for their ideas and inspo!

Summer Adams | Curls And Cashmere | Kristy Wicks

 

The Lush List | A Blissful Nest | House Full of Summer

 

J. Cathell |Born On Fifth | Going For Grace

Recap: Five Easy Ways to Update Your Home for Summer

1. Change Out Your Art
2. Forage In Your Own Backyard
3. Add Something So Fresh and So Green Green
4. Update Your Coffee Table and Lamps
5. Freshen Your Bar Cart

Bonus…Stick to a Theme!