Stay Cool With These Summer Decorating Tips

With the scorching heat and humidity that we're currently experiencing, there's no doubt that it's August in Iowa.  There is something about this kind of weather that always takes me back to memories of my childhood....early morning berry picking in Grandma's garden, long days at the city pool, the welcome sound of the ice cream truck, slushies from the Dairy Queen.

It's funny how memories of hot, humid summer days in childhood seem pleasant and make us nostalgic for those times, however those same weather conditions in the present tense are mostly just plain miserable.  And most often we're even surrounded by cool, conditioned air, now!

When the weather is steamy outside, there are a number of relatively easy changes that we can make to our interiors, which will go a long ways toward making us feel more psychologically refreshed. 

Think about how even the sight of a warm fuzzy blanket in winter makes us feel all cozy inside.  In the heat of summer, you can use that same concept to get a wonderful sense of coolness, by placing pretty sheer draperies at your windows.

The vision of those light, ethereal fabric panels gently blowing in the breeze (even if that breeze comes from your air conditioning vents) conjure memories of waking on a cool summer morning in Grandma's farm house, with her curtains gracefully fluttering at the windows.

Speaking of those summer sleeping memories brings to mind the childhood habit of frequently flipping our pillows during the night, to temporarily experience the cooling sensation of the pillow's other side.

Playing off of that idea, try switching out your bed linens for summer.  Strip your bed's dressing down to the bare minimum by storing everything that isn't needed right now for warmth.

Then re-dress the bed in some fabulous, crisp new sheets and pillow cases.  Treat yourself to linens that not only look beautiful in and of themselves, but whose fabric has a really great 'hand', high thread count, and light, summery color too. These will become the basis for an entirely fresh summer look on your bed.

Next, remove the comforter insert from your duvet cover, fold the cover into quarters or thirds lengthwise and place at the foot of your bed for a very stylish new 'bed scarf' look.  Add matching pillow shams and throw pillows at the top of the bed, and you're good to go.

In your living and family rooms, think about creating more of a pared down look for summer.  Consider putting area rugs into storage, as well as dark or heavy-looking accessories. Swap your winter throw pillows for some that are lighter and brighter.  Move large houseplants outdoors.  Wherever and as often as possible, accessorize for summer with fresh flowers.

If you use candles, remove them from heavy candlesticks and place into a bed of sand on a platter or in a bowl, then scatter clear florist's stones or sea shells around.  Alternatively, float candles in water with decorative stones in the bottom of the vessel. 

We can create more of a cool, breezy feeling not only by making visual changes in our homes, but by alternating our other sensory input as well. The previously mentioned fresh flowers are one obvious and wonderful way to bring summer aromatherapy inside.  You might also want to utilize scent diffusers of one type or another,  choosing a light fresh air or linen scent.

Appealing to your sense of sound, place a really nice wind chime outside near a window where it will catch gentle breezes, and fountain indoors where you can enjoy the very therapeutic sound of trickling water.

No doubt about it; it's hot outside.  Thankfully, most of us do have access to air conditioning at least much of the time, and by making some minor changes to our interior decorating scheme we can cool down our psyches as well.  And, soon enough, we'll be thinking of ways that we can 'cozy up' our homes for the winter season.