Summer Home Decorating Ideas: Tour 2018

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Hi friends! Summer is almost here and I'm trying to soak in every second of it! I feel like it doesn't last long around here anymore. Let's just say that I hate snow, so summer is my favorite season and I wish it lasted all year! Today, I'll be sharing some rooms in my house for the Summer Home Tours hosted by the wonderful Marty from A Stroll Thru Life. If you are new here and stopping by from Thistlewood Farm, welcome! I have been a big fan of Karianne's for awhile, go check out her beautiful home if you haven't already!  A little background on my home, I have lived in our custom built house for almost 10 years! Crazy how fast time flies. I have had my ups and downs about moving and finding a place a little more suitable for us, but for now, we are staying. I've slowly been adding the character that I love to our house. We bought it with all beige walls, carpet and tile. Luckily, I've come to adore the walls, we ripped up most of the carpet, and I'm just ignoring the tile :)

You'll notice through this tour that I'm a lover of all things neutral. I do have two kids and a pup...and my husband for that matter...so as you can tell, my stress level is probably pretty high from trying to keep a white house white! haha :) It's really not though :) We live in a comfortable house; I try to not freak out over the little things. In our front room, I'm pretty sure there are like 3 dirty paw prints on the couch that I didn't notice before. My dining room table shows some crazy love from all the years of eating and crafting on it with my children. I'm sure if you look closely in any picture, you'll notice that our house is actually lived in and not perfect. But, it's just the way I like it.

For the summer, I kept this relatively the same from the spring. If it's still making me happy, why change it? I have had some notable changes in a few rooms, so lets get on with the tour :)

My front room does a load of work functioning as a living room, guest room, and play room; it's the first room you'll see off our entry way. 

Barn Doors: Tutorial

You would never guess that this room is trashed with toys three quarters of the day :) 

Wood Sunburst Mirror: Tutorial

This ladder adds the perfect functional touch during summer housing away all the blankets. 

Farmhouse Ladder: Tutorial

This bench was the best decision ever. It houses all the play kitchen toys. It's functional and pretty! As for the gallery wall, all these pictures are of my oldest. I decided to create a gallery wall in a special place somewhere in the house dedicated to each child.

Faux fireplace DIY: Tutorial      Wire Hamper: Amazon    Bench: Target

If you read my blog, or heck, even just look around my home, you will quickly notice I am obsessed with pillows and blankets. So, having a place to stash my collection in every room is a must. Most rooms, I have like five places to stash them :) This hamper was an awesome find and adds the perfect charm to this room.

One of my favorite new accessories in here is this bread bowl. This thing is massive! I still need to figure out how the heck to style it. For summer, I just added a whole lot of greens.

An addition to this space is my wood sunburst mirror that I made years ago. It was a staple in my dining room, but I decided I wanted a little change in there. So, I moved it back in here. I love how massive it is :) 

The topiaries were an awesome yard sale find from a interior designer clearing out her inventory. 

I added some new euro pillows to this sofa bed along with a macrame round one. For some reason, these totally speak summer to me :)

Speaking about the sofa bed, this is one from Ikea. You wouldn't believe the amount of storage it has under it! It's the perfect addition to make my front room easily convert into a guest room. 

Console Table: Target     Sofa Bed: Ikea      Bench: Target     Rug: Rugs USA

Here's a quick glimpse at our entry way. I had it in me to paint all my natural knotty alder years ago and I'm so glad my husband talked me out of it. I just love it now! 

Let's get on with the tour and check out my dining room. This is the room where messes happen. It rarely looks like this. My oldest is like a tornado of chaos and this is her stomping ground. I had to peel off so much tape from this table before taking the pictures haha. and don't mind all the nicks and dings...oh, and craft paint. I love the color of it, and I'm so not ready to paint it yet, but it sure shows it's age :)

Jute rug: Amazon    Farmhouse Chairs: Amazon     Striped Turkish Towel/Blanket: Amazon

I obviously like Amazon ;)

My addition in here is the gallery wall full of dried lavender I picked from my garden. I actually loved my sunburst mirror in here, but thought after 5 years of having it here, it was time for a little change. I'm so glad that I love these just as much!

For the table scape, I kept it simple with faux greens and white vases.

The addition of these slipcovered chairs in here made a huge difference in this space. It's like a casual elegance. Plus, I'm all for white stuff that can come off and get washed! Makes my life a whole lot easier :)

As I mentioned before, my other rooms have stayed pretty much the same since the spring tour. Welcome to my living room:

Shiplap: Tutorial     Media Console: Tutorial      Builtin shelves: Tutorial

Wreath: Tutorial

 I had high plans to add some additional board and batten around all the walls in my living room, but ran into a hiccup with things. Until I figure that out, it's going to be staying like this. 

 Here's a glimpse of the gallery wall for my youngest. My husband once accused me of never having any actual pictures of the family in our house. Now I bet he will keep his mouth shut :) I about have a gallery wall full of pictures in every single room. 

 You may have noticed in this picture that I am a little obsessed with stripes at the moment. I wasn't so sure about adding the striped pillows in here with the striped rug, but I never notice it clashing, so I say it's good ;) 

Rug: Amazon      Clock: Tutorial     Ruffle Pillows: Amazon

 Welcome to my bedroom....which never looks like this. I did really good for about 3 months making the bed every single day and keeping up with laundry. Well, let's just say that that ship has sailed :)

 But, it's totally fun to look at pictures and remember what it could look like. 

Ruffle Pillows: Amazon      Bedding: Crane and Canopy      Lamps: Target      Nightstand: Tutorial

 This looks eerily similar to that in my dining room. I was thinking about taking these frames and putting them in my dining room instead of building new ones. I'm glad I didn't. They just make this room. 

Well, I hope you enjoyed the tour! Keep an eye out next week, I'm going to be raw and take you on a tour of my real-life house. Like, old cups, food, toys, dirty clothes, all of it...even my kitchen which I never show! :) No holding back on this one. It's fun to look at blog worthy and instagram worthy photos, but I realized how it's completely hard to hold yourself up to those standards, sometimes just plain ruining your day not thinking that you are good enough or that your house is good enough. It's great for inspiration, but sometimes, you just have to know the real life behind those photos, you know? Trust me, we live here and are making memories. My house only looks like this 4 days of the year....and that's probably not every room. If I actually managed to clean every room and keep them all looking nice at the same time for more than 3 seconds, I deserve some sort of award :) 

Next on the tour is Hymns & Verses, you won't be disappointed! Go check her beautiful house out :) And if you want to continue on and see the rest of the tours from this week, check them out below: 

Monday – June 11

A Stroll Thru Life

Pink Peppermint Design

Setting For Four

Nesting With Grace

Cuckoo4Design

Southern Hospitality

Tuesday – June 12

ZDesign At Home

Inspiration For Moms

Clean & Scentsible

Simple Stylings

Life On Virginia Street

Remodelando La Casa

Wednesday – June 13

Our Southern Home

House By Hoff

Our Fifth House

Dimples & Tangles

Decor To Adore

Follow The Yellow Brick Home

Thursday – June 14

Haneens Haven

Monica Wants It

Duke Manor Farm

My Sweet Savannah

11 Magnolia Lane

Life Love Larson

Fri –June 15

Decorating Delirium

Thistlewood Farm

Thrifty & Chic

Hymns & Verses

Starfish Cottage

Far Above Rubies

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”